FREESTONE — Freestone has working fire hydrants again thanks to
a pull-yourself-up-by-the bootstraps community spirit by a trio of
area merchants that got the town’s ancient water tank up and
running after it was condemned more than a year ago, leaving the
hydrants useless.
A ribbon cutting involving local residents, businesses and
county officials, was held Saturday to commemorate the event.
“We pulled together as a community to create a solution to our
water system problem,” said Michael Stusser, owner and founder of
the Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, of the effort by town businessmen to
restore added fire protection to the community.
The issue began when the town’s water storage tank, built in
1871 to provide water for the narrow gauge train that used to make
its way through town, was condemned when the roof, which was
rotten, began to cave in, and the tank drained.
Although protected by a station in town run by the Gold Ridge
Fire Protection District, available water supplies were reduced
from the old tank’s 46,000-gallon capacity to about 10,000 gallons
recently stored in two temporary tanks put in by the Russian River
Utilities District near the fire station.
“That wasn’t enough,” said Stusser, who added he, and other
community members were told by county officials that it would take
two years and some $200,000 to fix the old water tank, which was
still in usable condition except for the roof.
“Frankly I was quite surprised to learn that the roof on the
Freestone water storage tank was condemned over a year ago when
parts of the roof started falling into the water,” he said.
The old roof, put in by the county in the 1990s, was made of
Douglas fir, instead of redwood or cedar, which Stusser said would
have lasted for many years.
That meant, he said, that in addition to inadequate water
storage for the town, not only were the hydrants non functional but
in the summer months residents would have to pay to have water
trucked in until the big tank was repaired.
Unwilling to wait for two years with what he considered
“inadequate” fire protection, Stusser and two other local
businesses, the Wildflour Bakery and Freestone Vineyards, along
with help from the Russian River Utilities District and with input
from 5th District County Supervisor Efren Carillo’s office, came up
with a plan to fix the problem for the lesser sum of $27,000 and in
two months, the results of which were celebrated Saturday.
“We’re excited,” Stusser said. “It’s a great example of how a
community and come together and people can do exciting things. It’s
empowerment.
