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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 22, 2021 <br />TOPIC: Washington State Department of Transportation Public Works <br />Emergency Response Assistance Mutual Aid Agreement <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Amend the agreement to eliminate any aid on Interstate 90. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is requesting a mutual <br />aid agreement with Kittitas County Department of Public Works (PW) <br />• PW is willing to assist on state highways in the County as resources become <br />available (HWY 903, 907 and 10) <br />• PW is concerned about providing support for Interstate 90 <br />• PW desires supporting WSDOT on all highways but not I-90 <br />BACKGROUND: <br />PW recently received a mutual aid agreement request from WSDOT. PW is familiar with <br />snow and ice operations on two lane roadways. PW is not experienced on managing <br />snow and ice removal operations on multi -lane roadways. The supplied mutual aid <br />agreement does not contemplate removing multi -lane roadways from the agreement. PW <br />believes the recent reduction in force at the WSDOT Bull Frog maintenance facility is <br />driving the request for assistance. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />PW supports assisting WSDOT on two lane highways. The indemnification clause <br />(Section 7) of the standard mutual aid agreement provides broad protection for all but <br />"sole negligence of the Responding Agencies or their authorized agents or employees". <br />PW is confident that our standard business practices managing snow and ice on two-lane <br />roadways provides for a high likelihood of compliance against sole negligence. Our <br />concern is our lack of experience or understanding as to how WSDOT manages snow and <br />ice removal operations on I-90. It is common to see snowplows working multiple lanes <br />in tandem with one another. PW is not versed in how these operations are conducted. <br />We could easily find ourselves "over our heads" and get into a "solely negligent' <br />positions without even understanding how we got there in the first place. <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2021 <br />