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Fire safety was addressed in two San Juan Bautista City Council special meetings over the past week.
In its June 9 meeting, the council approved a revised fire services contract proposed last week by the Hollister City Council. During the June 4 meeting, the council discussed the latest Fire Hazard Severity Zone map and its implications.
On June 4, Hollister Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding presented the council members with the latest fire hazard map, produced by CalFire.
Goulding said that two bills passed in 2022, AB 642 and SB 63, require Cal Fire to update maps for local response areas and include “moderate” and “high” designations. The fire maps for San Juan, he said, had last been updated between 2008 and 2011.
The map presented to the council indicated that a large section of the city is in a high fire risk zone (orange), starting along Sixth Street and extending southwest, as well as the area between the southern border of the town and Hwy 156, including the Lang Street area and Hotel de Leal.
An area indicated on the map as a moderate fire risk zone (yellow) runs south from Fifth Street and borders the high risk area, encompassing approximately half of the Copperleaf development.
Goulding said that areas designated as “moderate risk” require no special attention by the city beyond adopting the zone map. However, different planning considerations are required for any new construction in a high risk zone.
Goulding said the city could not dispute the designations to lower the risk assessment, but it could vote to expand any of the areas, though he recommended against it, due to the time and money it would take to justify the changes.
“Cal Fire has an extensive modeling used to make these determinations,” he said. “We don’t have the staff to come up with a determination as to why we would increase those designations.”
Councilmember Jose Aranda expressed concern that adopting the map might impact fire insurance policies for homes already built in high risk zones.
Goulding said that, while the maps should not affect anyone’s fire insurance, “the reality is fire insurance companies are going to do what they do, however they want to do it.” He said that, ultimately, the city is required by government code to adopt the maps, regardless of any concerns over the designations.
“The insurance commissioner had stated,” he said, “along with the State Fire Marshal’s office, that these maps are a different set of maps than what the insurance companies use. I would say it’s highly likely that they’ll use these maps, but I think they’ll use these maps whether you approve them or not.”
The next step in adopting the maps will be a formal vote at a future City Council meeting, after which they will be transmitted to the state to complete the process.
Meanwhile, on June 9, the council voted to accept an amendment to the fire protection agreement between the city of San Juan Bautista, the city of Hollister, and San Benito County.
The council rejected a revised framework for the fire contract previously proposed by the Hollister council on March 21. A previously negotiated contract, which the council voted to reaffirm on April 17, calls for a payment of $418,279 for fiscal year 2024-25 with an up-front payment of $150,000.
The contract calls for annual increases of 11% through fiscal year 2027–28, which the city staff report describes as unsustainable over time. The rates increase as follows:
2024–25: $418,279
2025–26: $464,289
2026–27: $515,361
2027–28: $572,051
2028–29: $634,976
The contract requires a minimum two-person staff at the San Juan Fire Station, designated as “Station 4,” and may be terminated only for nonpayment with a 90-day notice. The agreement sets the county’s costs at $3.4 million for fiscal year 2024–25, along with a one-time payment of $1.1 million, which includes a 3% annual escalation clause.
At a Sept. 10, 2024 council meeting, then-city manager Don Reynolds said that while San Juan pays for approximately 1.7% of Hollister’s total cost, its actual share of the total is between 3% ($480,000) and 5% ($800,000), leaving Hollister responsible for increased costs between $212,000 and $532,000.
At the San Juan Bautista Fire Services Town Hall on Feb. 22, Goulding said that of the 626 calls made in 2024 which had been responded to, only 281, or 45%, were within San Juan’s city limits.
The low staffing for the station was the subject of multiple questions by the council. During his comments, Goulding said, “I have stated all along that I think three personnel is critical and I do not intend to staff any engine with less than three people.”
“If we’re going to staff with three,” Aranda said, “why not just put it in the contract? I feel like this is just a little rushed, because this deal might not be that great.”
Councilmember E. J. Sabathia also said that he was concerned by “the quickness with which we were asked to review this contract.” He said he would have liked to have an extended conversation about the contract at a regularly scheduled meeting.
“How the heck are we paying for the rest of this?” he said. “Like, it’s $2 million. We don’t have that. We don’t have a plan for getting it. And we have not had productive conversations about doing the kinds of things we need to do as a city in order to pay for it.”
Before the vote, Hollister City Manager David Mirrione reiterated that his city is committed to staffing the station with three personnel.
“We’ve worked through this,” he said. “There have been discussions not only with the fire chief and myself, but with the command staff and the union president as well.”
The council voted 5-0 to adopt the contract, which will now be sent to the city of Hollister to be ratified.
In a post-meeting statement, city staff outlined the following steps to be taken:
1. The city of San Juan Bautista will make necessary budget adjustments for the new fire protection agreement by the next meeting on June 17.
2. City Manager Ashley Collick will initiate the fire services district feasibility study.
3. City manager will review long-term fiscal strategies for fire services.
4. The city of San Juan Bautista will continue coordination with Hollister and San Benito County on fire protection services.
5. Fire chief will maintain three-person staffing on all fire engines, despite the contract specifying 2.0 minimum staffing.
6. The city of San Juan Bautista will explore revenue generation options to fund the increased fire protection costs.
Meanwhile, on June 10, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors also voted in favor of amending its fire services contract with Hollister. The board also agreed to use the four-year contract extension that runs through June 2029 to explore the feasibility of a countywide fire district.
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