HomeMy WebLinkAboutRepps Letter responding to Health Dept. letter WestStar
1570 Robinson Canton Road
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Mark Larson and Tristen Lamb
Kittitas County Health Department
507 N Nanum Street
Suite 102
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Dear Mark and Tristen:
We received your letter voicing concerns with water and septic at WestStar. We
would like to address these concerns. We have a Summer Series and an Open
Roping.
Summer Series. The jackpots we put on during the summer have 3 separate
jackpots. The higher numbered ropers enter the 1st jackpot and some enter the
2nd jackpot. The lower numbered ropers enter the 3rd jackpot. It is very rare that
a roper would enter all 3 jackpots. Therefore, these ropers are at WestStar for 2‐
3 hours. Complimentary bottled water is provided at each jackpot. There is a
refrigerator next to the roping office that we fill with cases of water before each
jackpot. No food is served and no ropers spend the night.
Open Roping. This roping is a one‐day event that lasts approximately 6 hours.
Again bottled water is provided. Our pasture is not a commercial RV park for the
general public. The ropers who stay with us during our open roping are our
guests and are not charged any kind of fee to do so. We are happy to provide a
location for them while they participate in our open roping and the Ellensburg
Rodeo.
Septic Concern. Wastewater Solutions Septic System Specialist brings a truck out
several times to empty the bladder of trailers. Mark Loane charges each trailer
$20 and when he comes, there is a line of people who hire him. He has been
coming out for a number of years and we would like to continue working with him
to provide this service for the ropers. See attached contract where Mark has
agreed to provide this service again this year.
Grey water. We were not aware that grey water cannot go into a pasture, but
since this has been brought to our attention, we have asked our open ropers to
please make sure their grey water stays closed. We will continue to pass out the
county’s brochure to help educate each roper.
Black water. It was reported that a single incident has occurred for the last two
years. It happens to be the night of our open roping but it also happens to be the
night before slack at the Ellensburg Rodeo. There are many trailers, with
contestants from a number of events that stay in our area. Without someone
actually seeing this happen, it cannot be determined who is actually responsible
for this. We do not approve of this dumping and have spoken to the ropers who
stay with us. They are adamant that none of them would dump sewage on the
roadway.
Water Concern. There are 11 frost free spickets at WestStar for well water. Each
frost free spicket has the ability to place a lock on it to restrict access. We are
willing to lock each frost free spicket for every roping event so that water is not
available to the public. All beverages are obtained through The Palace
Restaurant which is set up adjacent to the food vendor.
We are at the age that we are not going to put on ropings much longer. It would
not make since financially to become an event center or to put in a community
water system or septic system. As long as people do not have access to water and
septic services are provided, we feel that we have met your concerns.
Hopefully, this has answered your concerns. If you need additional clarification,
please let us know. We are more than willing to work with the Health
Department to ensure our event continues to be safe for the general public.
Sincerely,
Scott and Jo Repp
Cc Kittitas County Commissioners