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Kittitas County Fire District #3 May 24,2021 Page l2 During these years, ERLC has repeatedly asked the District to illustrate its needs. These requests were funneled through the Fire Chief as the Commissioners have no apparent avenue for direct contact, and ERLC had no reason to believe the Fire Chief did not relay these messages or speakfor the District' Expectations were that conversations with the Fire Chief reached the Commissioners; ERLC had no way of knowing this was not the case. Indeed, they may have been, but years have passed while ERLC prepared its final application materials, and progress made now appears to be lost. In May of 2018, shortly after the county approved the preliminary plar of Marian Meadows, discussions by an ERLC representative took place with the Fire Chiei. Witt,in this meeting, Chief Jensen rnade it very clear he was concerned about how his volunteer depaftment could proiide the resources needed for the Marian Meadows plat. ERLC explained the measures and means that Marian Meadows was committing to (automatic fire suppression and a fire prevention plan), and that this was an intricate part of the approval. Witlr these assurances, Chief Jensen injicated his concerns were addressed. Based on this information, ERLC directed its efforts toward working with the water district and helping bring the water system back into state cornpliance; this is very much inclusive of fire district flows and District needs. Only now, to the detriment of ERLC, theDistrict is ignoring these commitments. From ERLC's perspective, the District's Commissioners never engaged wirh ERLC or in this process until the final hearing, and now assert that more time is needeJ unless ERLC accepts the Districtls trnjustified demands. ERLC only heard directly from Commissioners in inforrnal settings to say that they sirnply do not support Marian Meadows, rnitigation or not. The last rneeting, when a Fire District Contmissioner appeared at the hearing indicating a lack of transparency by-'eRtC, was the first time in several years that ERLC heard anything from a District Commissioner, despite public cornment opportunities and ERLC reaching out to the only public-facing figure of the District, Chief Jensen. In addition to a lack of recognition for the above history of negotiation, since December 2020, the District has only added to its list of requirements and continues to make assefiions without context. Regarding RCW 82'02.100, your t'efercnce to "emergency response services" is misleading. The statute actually states:"A person installing a residential fire sprinkler system in a single-Farnily home shall not be required to pay the fire operations portion olthe impait fee. The exeirpted fire operations impact fee shall not include the proportionate share related to the delivery of emergency medical setvices." (Emphasis added). Thus, for the single-family homes, the most significant portion of Marian Meadows by far, the only appropriate discussion is limited to medical ,irponr", rather than at / emergency service. This is why the District's fire-engine needs appear vastly over- weighted, as the District has not identified other significant financiat needs. ERLC can easily add the requiretnent for individual homeowners to maintain their fire suppression systems, but we knsw of no comparable standard that requires homeowners to submit io annual inspections' This, again, is inappropriate in regards to single-family homes because mitigation should be limited to emergency medical services. ERLC's Fire Prevlntion plan already includes sprinklers in all facilities, not just the homes. JoHNs.MoNRoE MtrsuNAGA.KoLousKovA . ptrc