Alma CDF station to lose lease next spring
Cunneen, others scramble for enough funding
By Nathan R. Huff
The Santa Cruz Mountain's first line of fire defense and the only firefighting helicopter in the area may be relocated, if the California Department of Forestry loses its lease on the Alma Station next spring.
An Oregon-based logging and real-estate company--the fourth Oregon company to have its hands on the land in the last three years--is in the process of selling off a number of adjoining properties as sites for future luxury homes.
CDF, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) and Assemblyman Jim Cunneen are all working together, trying to cut a deal with the land's owners, the McDougal brothers and their corporation LeeLyn Inc., to save the station. However, considerable distance between the property owner's asking price and the state's offer remains.
LeeLyn Inc.'s property manager, Phil Veely, in Idaho on business, told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times he would call back after checking company files on the property. Follow-up calls were not returned, however.
The 50-year-old station at the Lexington Reservoir serves as a critical firefighting base for mountain residents, and the 10-person helicopter unit has played a role in virtually every fire in the area in the last 15 years. If the station were to lose its lease, personnel and equipment would be moved to the next nearest available site, which could be as far away as Alameda.
"I can't imagine we can lose that heliport up there for luxury homes," said Rea Freedom, a mountain resident who witnessed Alma station firefighters stop a forest fire at her mailbox several years ago. "The worst part is none of the neighbors know this is even happening."
The helicopter, which uses the adjoining reservoir for its water source, also played a role in Los Gatos firefighting efforts, dumping thousands of gallons on the 1997 Cats fire. The helicopter played a role in extinguishing a number of the arson fires in 1998, as well.
The station, staffed from May through November each year, also has a three-person fire engine company and living quarters for 20 firefighters. Its location off Old Santa Cruz Highway is particularly strategic because it keeps fire engines from having to use Highway 17, which is often closed during mountain fires.
"Obviously any move in the area of more than five miles is going to have an impact on response time," Chief Steve Woodhill of the Santa Clara County Ranger Unit said.
"It's of interest to us," said Craig Britton, general manager of MROSD, "but it's of much more interest to mountain residents." MROSD owns more than 200 acres of bordering open-space property it acquired from Arlie Land and Cattle Co. last year, the same company that then owned the fire station property.
MROSD, which would like to acquire a portion of the lakefront property adjoining the station, has offered to contribute $1 million toward CDF's attempted purchase of the station land.
District 24 Assemblyman Jim Cunneen has also leapt to the defense of the station. He is attempting to get the governor to sign onto a $500,000 add-on to the $900,000 already budgeted into CDF's total property acquisition fund, some of which could be used for the station. The bill is now on the governor's desk as part of the state budget.
That total brings the state close to the $1.3 million property owners are reportedly seeking for the 4-acre property, but negotiations are moving very slowly. The brothers purchased the property last April for $650,000. All the talks may be fruitless, anyway, if the state's department of general service--which assessed the property at $750,000--finds the land is not worth whatever the final cost is.
"The [department of general services] may not completely understand the real-estate situation out here," Bob Hines, spokesman for Cunneen, said. Repeated calls to the property acquisition services division of the state's department of general services were not returned.
Woodhill said CDF has been trying to buy the property for the last four years, but has had no luck agreeing on a price with previous or current property owners. Woodhill said Alma Station personnel had no choice but to prepare for the worst. "What we're seeing and being told is that they can't agree on the price," Woodhill said. "It appears we will not be able to purchase the property." The station is already being forced to relocate a hangar--which sat on the edge of a parcel recently sold as a home site--to a different site at the station.
Britton's outlook is equally skeptical. "It's really the state's project," Britton said. "They seem to be saying, 'Oh well, we're not going to be able to buy it, so we'll move it.'"
Oakmont Drive resident Freedom hopes that, as mountain residents become aware of the issue, their outcry will have an effect. "There is money in this valley," Freedom said. "If enough people know, maybe we'll be able to find the money."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
