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SUBMITTED VIA ONLINE COMMENT FORM <br /> 3/1/2026 AVAILABLE ON THE PROJECT WEBSITE <br /> (KittitasCounty2026.com) <br /> Comment #005 <br /> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 <br /> a. Commission or include a basic market analysis as a recommended action within the first year.This does not need to be <br /> expensive, EDA Planning and Technical Assistance Grants (up to $300K) or USDA Rural Business Development Grants (up to <br /> $500K) can fund feasibility studies for rural commercial development.The analysis should assess:what types of businesses are <br /> viable given year-round and seasonal population,what the 1-90 traffic volume (30,000+vehicles per day) means in terms of <br /> capture potential, and what infrastructure prerequisites must be met before businesses can operate. <br /> b. Tie the economic development goals directly to the wastewater infrastructure constraint. The plan acknowledges that the lack of <br /> a sewer or septic system is the primary barrier to development and school expansion (Section 5.3). No amount of vision-boarding <br /> will produce a coffee shop or restaurant on Railroad Street if there is no wastewater system to support it.The economic <br /> development section should state plainly that securing wastewater infrastructure funding is a prerequisite to Railroad Street <br /> revitalization, not a parallel effort. <br /> c. Include job creation targets. The plan should set a measurable goal, even a modest one such as 15-25 new permanent jobs <br /> within five years from small businesses, cottage industries, and recreation-related services within the LAMIRDs. <br /> d. Replace or supplement the walking tour and vision board actions with concrete steps:apply for an EDA Planning Grant for a <br /> Railroad Street market feasibility study within the first year; identify three to five specific business types the market will support and <br /> actively recruit them; and coordinate with the Kittitas County Economic Development Committee to integrate Easton into the <br /> county-wide economic development strategy currently being developed. <br /> 9.3 Wastewater Infrastructure:The Single Most Critical Prerequisite <br /> The Subarea Plan identifies the lack of a septic or sewer system as the primary barrier to development and school expansion. <br /> Community members have raised this repeatedly in the March 2025 open house, in the April 2025 community meeting, and in <br /> ongoing discussions. It was the very first comment at the open house: "Need a large scale septic system to move Easton forward." <br /> And yet the plan does not include a single recommended action, timeline, or funding strategy for securing wastewater <br /> infrastructure. <br /> This is the linchpin. Without wastewater infrastructure, Railroad Street revitalization cannot happen. New businesses cannot <br /> operate. Housing expansion is constrained.The school cannot expand.The plan needs to state this clearly and include a concrete <br /> path forward. I recommend the following: <br /> a. Add a new goal:"EG 5.1: Secure funding for a community wastewater system to serve the Type 1 LAMIRD, enabling economic <br /> development, housing expansion, and school facility improvements." <br /> b. Include specific federal and state funding programs in the recommended actions: USDA Rural Utilities Water and Waste <br /> Disposal Grants and Loans (up to $5M per project for rural communities); EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund through <br /> Washington Ecology; Washington Department of Commerce CERB infrastructure loans ($5M maximum at 1% interest); and USDA <br /> Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants through local utilities. <br /> c. Add a Year 2 implementation action:commission a wastewater feasibility study to assess system options (community septic, <br /> small-scale treatment, or decentralized cluster systems), estimated costs, and the most competitive federal or state funding <br /> programs.This study is a prerequisite to any grant application and should be prioritized alongside the communication networks <br /> and inventory milestones already in the implementation timeline. <br /> d. Add wastewater infrastructure as a milestone in the implementation timeline (Section 7.6), targeting feasibility study completion <br /> by Year 2 and grant application submission by Year 3. <br /> e. Change language where"restrooms"are mentioned to "tourism support services" <br /> 9.4 Wildfire Mitigation:The Plan Should Pursue Firewise Designation and Federal Funding <br /> Section 6 of the Subarea Plan correctly identifies wildfire as a serious threat to the Easton community, noting that the USDA <br /> classifies risk to homes in Kittitas County as greater than 97%of counties in Washington. The plan includes a policy to"Create a <br /> Firewise Community Plan" (EP 6.1) and recommends seeking funding for fire mitigation. However,the recommended actions are <br /> limited to quarterly consultations, hosting an awareness day, and seeking general funding opportunities. These are awareness <br /> activities, not a funded mitigation strategy. <br /> Kittitas County already has a strong foundation through KFACC (Kittitas Forest and Fire Adapted Communities Coalition), which <br /> has secured $10 million in federal funding for forest thinning and has established 18 recognized Firewise Communities in the <br /> county. Easton should build on this existing infrastructure rather than starting from scratch. I recommend the following additions: <br />