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Kittitas County,Washington <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />District One District Two District Three <br />imwret wry Paul Jewell Laura Osiadacz Obie O'Brien <br />February 27,2017 <br />Senator Jim Honeyford <br />112 Irv Newhouse Building <br />PO Box 40415 <br />Olympia,WA 9804 <br />Honorable Senator Honeyford: <br />We are writing to you today to express our support for two Capital Budget requests for prd.jects in Kittitas <br />County:the Kittitas Valley Event Center Facilities Upgrade (submitted by RepresentativeiManweller)and <br />the Washington State Horse Park Covered Arena and Associated Build-Out (submitted by(Senator <br />Warnick). <br />Located in Cle Elum,the i12-acre Washington State Horse Park attracts over 30 thousand visitors per <br />year,95 percent of whom are nonlocal -a statistic that uniquely characterizes the Park's impact:over $2.5millioninovernightstays.Total economic impact ofthe Park.including day visitors,is $3.4 milion.TheWashingtonStateHorseParkisavaluableeconomicassetinUpperKittitasCounty.We ntinue tosupportiteveryyearwithlocalfundingthathelpswithoperationalcostsandprojects.Fur her <br />development of this facility will provide significant additional benefit in our rural county. <br />The Kittitas Valley Event Center is located in Ellensburg and is the home of the World Famous Ellensburg <br />Rodeo and Kittitas County Fair.For nearly one hundred years,this event has attracted tourists to KittítasCountyforseveraldaysoverLaborDayWeekend-nearly 60 thousand in 2016.This facility also <br />operates year-round,providing facilities for a variety of events large and small that create s gnificanteconomicbenefittotheCityofEllensburgandthesurroundingKittitasCounty, <br />in addition to the financial benefits of the Kittitas Valley Event Center and the Washington State Horse <br />Park,both projects embody the vision ofour County's ComprehensivePlan.Agritourism and ruralrecreationopportunitiesplayanessentialroleinthisplanandfacilitiessuchasthesearecoþsistentwithpreservingtheagriculturalindustryaswellasruralcharacter. <br />Thank you for your considerationof these important projects. <br />Respectfully, <br />Paul Jewell Laura Osiadacz Obie O'Brien <br />Chairman Vice-Chairman Commissioner <br />Cc:Senator Judy Warnick <br />RepresentativeMatt Manweller <br />RepresentativeTom Dent <br />K1TflTAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE 205 WEST 5*,SUITE 108 EILENSBURG,WA 98926 <br />(509)962-7508 FAX (509)962-7679 <br />www.co.kittitas.wa.us