Resolution_PF Agreement_CityofCleElum_FirstStreetOakesProject

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The First Street and Oakes Avenue Resurfacing project directly aligns with the Kittitas County Economic Development Strategic Plan (KCEDSP) goals of collaboration, economic resilience, balanced growth, community investment, and preservation. This project will support tourism by attracting new businesses with the completion of a lengthy downtown revitalization. New businesses will provide more options for employment and an improved downtown will retain businesses longer. The project will support business growth by encouraging more business to fill empty store fronts in the newly revitalized downtown. Economic development will be supported by improved transportation infrastructure with a more pedestrian accessible route and improved roadway quality. With the current and projected growth in Cie Elum, a fully walkable and traversable roadway is necessary for the First Street downtown corridor. The attached vicinity map shows the project location with respect to nearby housing and the Central Business District. 2. Economic Benefit: Describe how the project will foster economic development in the community and/or Kittitas County. Include specific details on its potential to attract or retain businesses, create jobs, and enhance the municipality's appeal to investors. The 2,000 citizens of Cie Elum are only a portion of the population that will benefit from the First Street and Oakes Avenue Resurfacing project. Over 5,000 residents in the neighboring communities of South Cie Elum, Roslyn, Ronald, and Suncadia, known as the Upper Kittitas County area, benefit from the First Street downtown corridor. The regionally significant Downtown Revitalization can meet all Upper Kittitas County's day-to-day needs including retail, dining, medical, grocery, fuel, and other essential services. Tourism is the leading economic driver in the City and in each of the nearby communities, due to the idyllic surrounding wilderness. Cie Elum is less than a 90-minute drive on 1-90 from Seattle, Washington in the major urban area on the west side of the Cascade Mountain Range. A tourism study by Kittitas County, with a predominate sample from Western Washington, estimates 77% of the respondents that visit Cie Elum, return 4-12 times per year, and 69% of the respondents travel to participate in Cie Elum-area year-round outdoor recreation. Tourism numbers do not reveal the long-term economic growth occurring in the downtown core as previously empty store fronts are filling in, as a result of First Street Downtown Revitalization project. From December of 2020 to July 2025 the City of Cie Elum has reported an increase of 157% in new city business licenses. The First Street and Oakes Avenue Resurfacing project will complete the work first initiated in 2017 to revitalize the First Street downtown corridor and will encourage new businesses to