Following the water main break between South Street and Seventh Street on Nov. 19, the city of Hollister experienced another water main break on Nov. 20. It’s the second break on San Benito Street in two days.
The Nov. 20 water main break occurred on San Benito Street between Third and Fourth Streets.
According to the city of Hollister Facebook page, businesses will be affected due to water shut off.
“Staff is working hard on conducting repairs,” the post said.
The water main break between South Street and Seventh Street was repaired last night, with water service restored by 8 p.m., according to Mike Chambless, city management services director. Clean-up of the area and patch paving are expected to take place over the next few days.
“We will also need to coordinate our work with PG&E because we discovered one of their gas valves that was buried by several layers of asphalt near the break,” Chambless said.
BenitoLink asked Chambless if the water lines on San Benito Street were replaced when the city repaved the street a few years ago; Chambless said the water line has never been replaced.
“San Benito Street was not ‘repaved’ a few years ago,” he said. “A slurry seal of oil and sand was applied to the street to fill micro cracks and extend the life of the pavement. Approximately five years ago, a previous council decided not to include the water line replacement in the water fee calculation (the water treatment projects were funded instead). The water fee study is due for renewal. The Finance Department is currently in the process of bringing in a consultant to complete that work. I am requesting that the CIP projects identified in the Water master plan be included in the new fee calculation. The San Benito Street replacement is one of the projects.”
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