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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />SHERIFF'S STUDY SESSION MINUTES <br />BOCC CONFERENCE ROOM/WEBEX, 205 WEST 5TH ROOM 108 - ELLENSBURG <br />Regular Meeting <br />WEDNESDAY 1 8:00 AM November 3, 2021 <br />Board members present: Chairman Brett Wachsmith, Commissioner Cory Wright <br />Others: Sheriff Clay Myers, Inspector Chris Whitsett, Chief Deputy Ben Kokjer, and <br />Public Works Director Mark Cook <br />Discussion on Upper County Shop/SAR: Sheriff Myers mentioned the Search and Rescue needs space in Upper <br />County to reduce response time. A couple options were discussed: (1) the original idea was the County owned <br />building (2) City of Cle Elum owned building on Main Street in middle of town; Sheriff Myers relayed it would <br />be beneficial for SAR to have entire building and can't transfer them into 1600 sq. ft. since it just splits the <br />department; Sheriff prefers the original agreement with City agreeing to the entire city shop because half of the <br />building is not enough space. Director Cook indicated he is going to go back to City for SAR to rent the entire <br />3200 sq. ft. and full yard. <br />Update on Needs Assessment on Upper County Congestion: Chief Kokjer stated the extra patrols are doing <br />good job, and Sheriff Myers indicated that extra patrols are not a long-term solution. Sheriff also communicated <br />the deputy assigned as the one traffic enforcement officer is working on purchasing the scales and attending <br />classes, and that the Upper County will benefit from having this CVO -Commercial Vehicle Officer. <br />Commissioner Wright mentioned there needs to be a transportation planning effort and to have it be a holistic <br />improvement plan. Therefore, the Board will continue to work with the State to widen I-90 to alleviate <br />congestion on county roads. <br />Update on Winter Parking West County to Summit: Sheriff Myers provided an update on the winter traffic <br />issues which is affecting parking flow, which then affects Emergency Response primarily Snoqualmie, but also <br />surrounding areas. He also shared we need to make a viable solution for long-term regarding the parking flow. <br />Director Cook shared the Professional Services Agreement with Diamond Parking where they commissioned <br />twice as many no parking and no loading signs. The group then discussed long-term proposals; such as possible <br />private ownership, securing a lot that was planned on Forest Service land and maybe lease, County to buy land, <br />shuttling citizens to and from parking areas, have an impound yard location with the area serviced by a towing <br />company, a permit system in order to pass through a gate, and/or could funds come from Lodging & Recreation <br />to build a building & facilitate parking issue. Sheriff Myers went on to say there would need to be properly <br />posted towing ordinance and have it visible to the public. He also stated having a plan will have an impact, but <br />it won't solve the problem for a couple of years; fines over time will have an impact. <br />OTHER BUSINESS: No other business. <br />Meeting adjourned at 8:45am <br />Anita Mishina <br />KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON <br />Brett Wachsmith, Chairman <br />