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2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan Kittitas Gounty, Washington communities, updated existing mitigation actions/strategies from the 2019 Plan, and worked with their Local Planning Team to identify new mitigation actions. Through a combination of ranking exercises, worksheets, and discussions, workshop participants evaluated hazard risk results, action plans, and rankings; and selected options for mitigating specific hazards to be included in the 2025 Plan update. ln summary, the planning process consisted of the following key tasks: Task 1: Organize Resources Kittitas County Public Works created a Core Planning Team to attend meetings, gather data and historical information, review drafts, and participate in mitigation brainstorming sessions. Additionally, a Steering Committee was formed to provide overall guidance and direction throughout the mitigation planning process. A series of Steering Committee meetings were held throughout the Plan update process. Participating jurisdictions were invited to form Local Planning Teams to ensure their jurisdiction's mitigation needs and priorities were addressed. Refer to the Plan Participation section under Chapter 1 (lntroduction) for a list of Core Planning Team and Steering Committee members. Task 2: Risk Assessment The Core Planning Team identified the hazards to include in this Plan, as well as hazard profiles to address the probability, extent, vulnerabilities, and impacts associated with each hazard. Furthermore, the Team used local resources to inventory Kittitas County's assets and estimated losses. The Core Planning Team and Steering Committee provided input and subject matter expertise throughout this process. Task 3: Public Engagement The public was given an opportunity to be involved throughout the planning process via a public survey, in-person public meetings, and public engagement activities to review the Plan draft. The public was invited to attend one (1) of two (2) Public Meetings to review the risk assessment results and discuss mitigation strategies. The Public Meetings were advertised locally in advance. A comprehensive Public Survey that reached 158 residents and resulted in 108 complete responses, up until March 15,2024, was also conducted. The Survey results were used to inform the hazard risk prioritization process and to ensure the Plan adequately addresses the public's concerns and priorities. The complete survey and a summary of its findings can be found in Appendix G. Once the draft Plan was completed, the public was given an opportunity to review and provide comments on Volume 1 (Countywide Planning Elements) and each of the jurisdiction annexes. The public comment period began on October 7,2Q24. The Plan was posted on the Kittitas County Hazard Mitigation Plan website, and the public was invited to review and provide feedback via a County press release and advertising through social media (i.e., Facebook). Kittitas County and plan participants advertised the various opportunities for public involvement via Facebook and the County's website. Further details on public engagement and participation along with supporting documentation can be found in Appendix G. To further facilitate continued public involvement in the planning process, the public will have an opportunity to provide continual feedback and input. As future needs and concerns arise, or if the public would like to provide feedback regarding the latest version of the Kittitas County Hazard Mitigation Plan, the public is invited to use the form provided on the County's Hazard Mitigation Plan website to provide comments. Task 4: Develop Mitigation Strategies The Core Planning Team met with representatives from each community (i.e., Local Planning Team) to develop and prioritize mitigation strategies and action items that would reduce the costs of disaster response and recovery, protect people and infrastructure, and minimize overall disruption to the County Chapter 2: Planning Process 12