2021-09-13-minutes-public-works-study-session

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KITTITAS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT STUDY SESSION DATE: September 13, 2021 TOPIC: Public Works Road Variance Committee ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff LEAD STAFF: Mark R. Cook RECOMMENDATION: Direct staff prepare a code amendment to KCC 12.01.130. BRIEFING SUMMARY: • Issues with the Road Variance Committee are ongoing. • The August 18, 2021, meeting was not attended by a quorum and the variance request was tabled after a committee member was requested to attend. BACKGROUND: Public Works (PW) briefed the Board of County Commission regarding Road Variance Committee operational concerns on 03/27/2017 (EXHIBIT 1). 2020 saw few requests for variance owing to the pandemic. Requests are expected increase in the near future as the County recovers from COVID 19, and public meetings resume. DISCUSSION: The committee continues to struggle meeting quorum requirements. The most recent committee meeting was not attended by the Fire Marshall's Office nor by a committee member (EXHIBIT 2). Another committee member responded after being contacted by Administrative Supervisor Leader. The Fire community failed to provide any comment on the request. PW believes it is time to amend KCC 12.01.130. Individuals seeking variance to our standards are not being given the respect they deserve. PW proposes having all requests ruled upon by the County Engineer, with any desired reconsideration being conducted the Public Works Director. An appeal to the Director could then be heard by the County's Hearing Examiner. An additional code amendment to KCC 15A.01.040 is required allowing the inclusion of Public Works administrative decisions to be appealed to the Hearings Examiner. FISCAL IMPACTS: None forecast at this time. Page 1 of 4 Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2021