The meeting held Thursday at Gavilan College to allow public comment for the San Benito County draft environmental impact report was sparsely attended but indicated, said Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella, "The project really looks like a very viable undertaking."
"The college really appreciates the community input which helps us to identify the concerns of those affected while also identifying the proper parcel on which to build," said Kinsella.
Kent Child, one of Gavilan's trustees, expressed surprise that more locals did not attend.
"There were 20 or 25 people there representing the public, and five or six spoke. I really expected a greater number to attend," said Child, who noted that all concerns raised at the meeting must be addressed in the final draft of the EIR.
But there is still time to contact Kinsella with issues from San Benito County, said Jan Bernstein-Chargin, Gavilan's spokeswoman.
"People can submit items they wish to have considered in the final EIR through Oct. 17," she said.
Mary Paxton, Hollister's planning manager, said there is another way for San Benito County residents to become involved in this process. She pointed out that the Hollister City Council will be hearing from the planning commission regarding the response, and lack of response in some cases, to concerns the city asked to be included in the draft EIR. The meeting is open to everyone at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hollister City Hall.
"They didn't address the full scope of traffic impacts that we asked be considered in the draft, and there were some secondary impacts such as construction to connect to the city to the sewer," Paxton said.
Bernstein-Chargin went on to say that at the Gavilan meeting last week, some of the issues raised were concerns about dust caused by construction and a concern by a local organic gardener who wanted to know if chemical spraying will affect her crops.
"We know that there will be impacts," said Bernstein-Chargin. "The question is, can those impacts be mitigated?"
Child pointed out that some of the public's concerns had much more to do with the proposed housing development included in the 222-page draft EIR.
"The EIR was prepared to consider the compound impacts of college and housing regarding infrastructure, roadways and so forth," said Child, adding that the prospect of 200 or so new homes was bound to bring up issues. "But I think it is an exciting site, an aesthetically beautiful parcel, for a future campus. It's not perfect, because there are no perfect sites, but it is available and affordable."
Contact information for Kinsella is: telephone at (408) 848-4711; fax at (408) 847-5102; or e-mail at skinsella [at] gavilan.edu.
Jeff Gatlin Jeff Gatlin is a staff writer at The Hollister Free Lance. You can call him at (831) 637-5566 or send him an email.
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