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KITTITAS COUNTY" <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMNIISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: March 12, 2018 <br />TOPIC: YBIP Funding towards Protected Acquisitions near Hansen Pits <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Authorize the Chairs Signature on the Requested Letter <br />of Commitment <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />REC OA&IENDATION: <br />Authorize the Chair's signature on the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan (YBIP) Habitat <br />Subcommittee (HS) requested letter of commitment acquiring land near Hansen Pits. <br />BRIEHNG SUIVIMAR.Y: <br />• YBIP HS is offering $1,200,000 towards acquiring land south of Hansen Pits <br />• HS is requesting a letter of commitment from the Board of County <br />Commissioners (BOCC) <br />Staff recently concluded discussions with HS lead representative as facilitated by <br />Trust for Public Land <br />The terms described in the requested commitment letter are acceptable to staff <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Recently, the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan (YBIP) Habitat Subcommittee released its <br />proposed funding plan based on the adopted 2017-2019 state capital budget. The HS is <br />requesting a letter of commitment from the BOCC. Staff has working with the lead HS <br />member on the project finalizing the wording of the requested letter. The acquisition <br />effort has been going for the past several years and is nearing completion. Trust for <br />Public Land is leading the acquisition effort with the understanding that the County will <br />provide the balance of acquisition funding izz the next couple of years. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />The central issue delaying final language of the requested letter centers around the <br />County's ongoing use of twenty (20) acres of land immediately south of Hansen Pits. <br />The land is currently leased to Twin City Foods supporting land application of waste <br />water effluent. The original HS request was for 12 acres of the 20 dedicated to restoring <br />the Yakima River once the inevitable avulsion into the pits takes place. The BOCC may <br />recall that the inability of the County to maintain the levee at Hansen Pits has allowed the <br />river to encroach towards the ponds. The likelihood of avulsion into the pits is high. <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION ST"F REPORT <br />