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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: February 11, 2019 <br />TOPIC: Whiskey/Mercer Creek(s) Flood Model Update <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Informational Briefing <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Informational briefing, no recommendation from the Board is being sought. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Public Works has been working on a Whiskey/Mercer Creek floodplain model for <br />the past two years <br />• Following a three month delay allowing the City of Ellensburg to hire a third <br />party review of the model, the City accepted modeling results in early December <br />2018 <br />• Shortly thereafter, two local land developers met with PW staff on numerous <br />occasions discussing modeling results <br />• Both developers suggested additional data would likely be beneficial to the effort <br />• PW agreed and has been gathering cost data supporting a more detailed modeling <br />effort in the northern most portions of Ellensburg <br />• Recently, PW received a letter from the City withdrawing their support for the <br />mapping effort <br />BACKGROUND: <br />PW proposed submitting a new flood model for Whiskey and Mercer Creeks in late <br />summer 2018. After briefing City of Ellensburg staff, the City requested that they hire <br />their own mapping expert for a third party review. PW agreed to allow sufficient time for <br />the process to play out. In late November, the City's consultant recommended <br />"concurrence" with the County's mapping effort and the City responded with a letter of <br />concurrence (EXHIBIT 1). In mid December 2018, two local land developers contacted <br />PW expressing their concern for the new model results. PW agreed to pursue a scope of <br />work and fee estimate for updating the model LiDAR data set. Both developers <br />expressed their desire lobbying City decision -makers against map adoption. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />In a letter from the City dated 02/05/19; Community Development Director Sackett <br />requests that the County withdraw the signed concurrence letter from December 2018 <br />Page 1 of 5 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />