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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: November 9, 2020 <br />TOPIC: Abandon Maintenance Obligations on Klocke Levee <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff Withdraw the Klocke Levee from the United <br />States Army Corps of Engineers PL 54-99 Program <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct staff petition the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) removing the <br />Klocke Levee from the Corps PL 84-99 program. <br />BRIEFING SUNIlVIARY: <br />• Ongoing attempts securing a perpetual access easement to Klocke Levee have <br />failed with the key property owner involved. <br />• Inability securing a perpetual access easement with Burlington Northern Sante Fe <br />(BNSF) railroad have failed. <br />• A programmed repair by USACE in 2017 did not proceed owing to the lack of <br />permanent access easement. <br />• A legal opinion from the Prosecuting Attorney's Office from 1983 affirms that the <br />County is not obligated to ongoing levee maintenance (EXHIBIT 1) <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The Klocke Levee was constructed by the USACE responding to a Yakima River <br />flooding event in 1969. In March 1969, the Board of County Commissioners assumed <br />maintenance obligations from the federal government (EXHIBIT 2). The levee is <br />enrolled in the USACE's PL 84-99 levee maintenance program offsetting maintenance <br />costs to the County. Annual inspections the past several years have noted ongoing levee <br />deterioration (EXHIBIT 3 — 2017 INSPECTION). A 2017 USACE effort to repair the <br />levee failed owing to lack of permanent easement from BNSF. Subsequent efforts by <br />Public Works (PW) staff affirms the lack of perpetual access easement from the key <br />property owner involved. During the past two years, numerous attempts to resolve access <br />issues with the property owner have failed. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />It is highly unlikely that BNSF will grant perpetual easement to Kittitas County over the <br />BNSF mainline at Klocke Levee. It appears that Kittitas County lost access rights over a <br />key property in the most recent property transfer. The error appears to have been created <br />Page 1 of 6 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />