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Background <br />Kittitas County Fire District Number 7 provides emergency services, including emergency <br />medical, fire prevention and suppression, wildland firefighting, hazardous materials <br />response, and technical rescue across a 126 square mile area in Upper Kittitas County. <br />There are 8 stations for this district, including Fire Station 73. Fire Station 73 is located at <br />21 Chepoda Rd in Cle Elum WA, at the I-90 exit 78 interchange and serves the busiest <br />portion of the 1-90 corridor within Kittitas County. <br />In 2010, Fire District 7 initiated plans to replace the existing 2,515 square foot building <br />used for fire apparatus storage with a larger facility to be constructed in 3 phases. The <br />permit record is not clear for the construction of the first phase, which occurred in 2010. <br />This phase of the project constructed a 2,385 square foot building included a day room for <br />staffing, decontamination room, restrooms, an electrical room and 2 apparatus bays. In <br />2014, Phase 2 added 8,350 square feet and provided 6 new apparatus bays, a dry storage <br />bay, an EMS office, exercise/training room, additional restrooms, and 6 sleeper units. The <br />permit record for Phase 2 documents that a floodplain development permit was required, <br />that existing condition site elevations were provided at the time of building permit review, <br />and that County staff requested verification of the datum utilized for the surveyed <br />elevations. Kittitas County issued a building permit requiring the addition to be elevated <br />1.5 feet above the base flood elevation, which based on elevation information provided, <br />was believed to correspond with the Phase 1 floor elevation. The new fire station was <br />elevated on 18 inches of structural fill. A mid -construction elevation check did not occur <br />during the building process. When elevations were verified for final inspection, it was <br />revealed that the structure's floor was over 2 feet below the base flood elevation and over <br />four feet lower than originally documented. Documented conversations with the surveyor <br />indicate that the source of error was utilizing the presumed floor elevation of the Phase 1 <br />structure as the benchmark for the survey. Kittitas County issued a certificate of occupancy <br />for the non -compliant structure. Phase 3 has not proceeded, given the compliance issues <br />with the current structure. <br />The Department of Ecology is conducting a Community Assistance Visit for Kittitas <br />County and has identified the Kittitas County needs to provide a compliance plan for Fire <br />Station 73. <br />Compliance Process and Timeline <br />The compliance process will consist of two separate phases. In the first phase Kittitas <br />County will conduct an alternatives assessment which evaluates the feasibility, pros, and <br />cons associated with three (3) compliance alternatives. This assessment will be conducted <br />in close coordination with Fire District 7. These alternatives include: <br />