crystal springs sno park

[Snomofo]

I was forwarded this email tonight---



> Just for your information in case you are interested in winter
> recreation
> and public access out of Crystal Springs Sno-Park, specifically Forest
> Service Road #5400. There will be a public meeting on Saturday
> November,
> 1, 2008 at 12:30pm at the Kachess Community Clubhouse located at 2930
> Via
> Kachess Road. This meeting will be held by the Kittitas Fire District
> #8
> to consider a resolution of the Kittitas Fire District #8 Board of
> Commisioners authorizing through negotiation and/or the exercise of
> eminent
> domain (condemnation) the acquisition of the easement granted by the
> United
> States to Burlington Northern, Inc, dated January 6, 1975. This
> easement
> covers FSR 5400 from its beginning off of Interstate 90 to the Fire
> Station
> #83 at the junctions of Forest Service roads 5400(Stampede Road) and
> 5480
> (Lost Lake Road). This meeting will discuss the "seasonal access" of
> the
> 5400 road and its impairment of the district to access the station in
> the
> winter months. As many of you know who are familiar with the Crystal
> Springs Sno-Park and the winter recreation uses out of there the access
> to
> the fire station, (ie plowing the 5400) is an on-going issue. This will
> be
> an opportunity for the public to hear more about this proposal from the
> fire district.

 

[yammadog]

thanks for the info....I think sledders need to be there in volume!!

 

[chief 8101]

I hope that the snowmobile community does attend this meeting. I think that would go a long ways in helping to quash the rumor mill and half truths that are being spread around about what the fire dept has tried to do in the past regarding winter access and what their proposal is at this time.

I think that if most sledders were to have all the facts, then they wouldn't have a problem with what the fire dept is wanting to do on FS Road 5400.

 

[Snomofo]

I hope that the snowmobile community does attend this meeting. I think that would go a long ways in helping to quash the rumor mill and half truths that are being spread around about what the fire dept has tried to do in the past regarding winter access and what their proposal is at this time.

I think that if most sledders were to have all the facts, then they wouldn't have a problem with what the fire dept is wanting to do on FS Road 5400.

Sounds good---see you there

 

[ruffryder]

I thought the whole point of the guy wanting this (the one that owns the fire house at Stampede) was so he could plow it to his house, which is located close to there... Seems he is using the reason for the fire house as an excuse to plow......

Please correct if wrong....

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

I thought the whole point of the guy wanting this (the one that owns the fire house at Stampede) was so he could plow it to his house, which is located close to there... Seems he is using the reason for the fire house as an excuse to plow......

Please correct if wrong....

I think that is the point in attending this meeting Ruffy, To get the facts and maybe be heard on your concerns too???

This should help to get the truth out even if the truth is this guy wanting free access to his home. At least we'll know.

 

[fassteddie]

ruffy is 100% correct. that way mel and his brother can drive in they live there year round. i also herd that if the road is open to the fire sta. that others will start plowing from there to there homes could be messy.

 

[ruffryder]

Cool... I just wanted to see if what I heard was correct... assumptions and the like, you know... just make me an arse...

I like to have some idea of what is going on before any meetings, at least to try and be a little informed.

Thanks for the info and the notice.

 

[FlyZ28]

Thanks for the heads up on the meeting. I'll try to round up some people.

 

[chief 8101]

Just for your information, the fire district has been in constant ongoing negotiations with the forest service and state parks regarding this issue and it appears that a solution that is agreeable to all the parties involved has been reached and the condemnation hearing may be cancelled indefinitely.

I can't say for sure that it is cancelled until the board of commissioners reviews the proposed agreement on Saturday at 1230, but the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and myself are both going to recommend accepting the proposed agreement and postponing/cancelling the condemnation hearing.

Everyone is still more than welcome to attend just to make sure and to hear what the agreement is, but I just thought I would update you all so you didn't make a long drive and waste a Saturday if not needed.

 

[ruffryder]

You mind giving some more details of this issue? Motivation and all that...

 

[yammadog]

You mind giving some more details of this issue? Motivation and all that...

Yeah, some more info would be helpful in making that decision to make the trip. Is it good for "everyone" or just the parties involved. In other words do we still have access to riding from that snow park without driving down gravel?

 

[chief 8101]

The proposed agreement would have the fire dept moving into one of the snow groomer buildings until such time as State Parks can come up with some land for a new fire station location near the entrance to the sno park. At the time the land is available, we (KCFD 8, USFS, State Parks) would try to secure grant funding, donatioins, etc. to build a new fire station at that location. (This is the basic idea of the agreement without going into all the specific details to save time.)

Basically that would turn the current station into something that can be used during non-snow months as a station and during the winter the brush trucks and other equipment not needed in winter months could be stored in.

Worst case scenerio for this winter would be if the power and heat could not be installed in the old snow groomer building before the snow flies. If that is the case, then the fire dept would be allowed to plow to the current station until the old snow groomer building has power and heat. When plowing, the agreement was that a minimum of 4" of snow was maintained on the roadway for snowmobiles to run on etc and that all ingress and egress from the plowed area be sloped so there were no drop offs. This is the same standard as will be used in 2010 when the USFS allows logging during the winter up the 54 road.

At no time in this process did any of the fire dept proposal's ever have anything to do with stopping the use of the sno park by winter recreationalists. All that was ever asked for was that the fire dept be allowed to plow a 12-15' wide emergency vehicle lane from the entrance of the sno park to the fire station. The narrowest portion of that roadway in the winter is over 40 feet wide so in the fire dept's opinion there would have been plenty of room.

We tried to come up with a compromise between all the agencies that would satisfy each agencies need to serve the public in their different capacities.

 

[Snowlover]

Spring conditions will be when the issue gets bad. Last year there were reported arguments/discussions about going up he road and parking.

Hopefully the power can be put in place to keep the fire bldg @ the snopark.

 

[snojunkee]

why?

my only 3 question are WHY did they build a fire station in a location that has NO winter access to wheeled vehicles?did they not know they would be snowbound when they bought properties on a groomed snowmobile route?is there not a fire station at the top of the pass,7 miles away,with better access to I-90? food for thought,why starve?i hope that i can make the meeting...

 

[yammadog]

Spring conditions will be when the issue gets bad. Last year there were reported arguments/discussions about going up he road and parking.

Hopefully the power can be put in place to keep the fire bldg @ the snopark.

I'd be willing to donate something to get power put in and keep the road from being plowed....

 

[chief 8101]

my only 3 question are WHY did they build a fire station in a location that has NO winter access to wheeled vehicles?did they not know they would be snowbound when they bought properties on a groomed snowmobile route?is there not a fire station at the top of the pass,7 miles away,with better access to I-90? food for thought,why starve?i hope that i can make the meeting...

Let me try to answer your three questions:

1 - At the time the fire station was built, we had received some left over grant funds from another district that had to be used by a certain date or they would be lost. The current station location was the only place that was available to us at the time or we would have lost the funding for a station at all. At the time the station was built, winter access was not that big of deal because we couldn't afford to insulate or heat the building for the first couple of years anyways and the station had minimal equipment in it at that time. As time progressed, that station soon became the busiest station in the district and it became imperative that it was in service year around.

2 - Again, at the time the station was originally built it was the only location available to us and any station is better than no station and we had to have something that served that side of the district.

3 - The fire district at the top of the pass is a totally different fire department. Their station is actually located next to the Chevron station on the summit so they are about 11 miles away from Exit 62. I agree that they have better access to the section of I-90 near the summit, but we cover I-90 clear to the top of Easton hill. Also, the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau require that stations be within 5 road miles of a residence to give it any credit for homeowners insurance purposes so we had to have a station on that side of I-90 for our district's residents in that area to have protection and credit and a timely response. The fire dept at the pass is dispatched and primarily runs out of king county, they don't even have the same 911 call center etc.

I hope that this starts to answer some of your questions.

 

[chief 8101]

I'd be willing to donate something to get power put in and keep the road from being plowed....

Yammadog,

Any donations to help run the power in would be greatly appreciated. Just the fire dept's portion of the cost will be $6000.00

Thanks for the offer.

 

[MOB]

Let me try to answer your three questions:

1 - At the time the fire station was built, we had received some left over grant funds from another district that had to be used by a certain date or they would be lost. The current station location was the only place that was available to us at the time or we would have lost the funding for a station at all. At the time the station was built, winter access was not that big of deal because we couldn't afford to insulate or heat the building for the first couple of years anyways and the station had minimal equipment in it at that time. As time progressed, that station soon became the busiest station in the district and it became imperative that it was in service year around.

2 - Again, at the time the station was originally built it was the only location available to us and any station is better than no station and we had to have something that served that side of the district.

3 - The fire district at the top of the pass is a totally different fire department. Their station is actually located next to the Chevron station on the summit so they are about 11 miles away from Exit 62. I agree that they have better access to the section of I-90 near the summit, but we cover I-90 clear to the top of Easton hill. Also, the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau require that stations be within 5 road miles of a residence to give it any credit for homeowners insurance purposes so we had to have a station on that side of I-90 for our district's residents in that area to have protection and credit and a timely response. The fire dept at the pass is dispatched and primarily runs out of king county, they don't even have the same 911 call center etc.

I hope that this starts to answer some of your questions.

what of the fire station/location across the highway on the Kachess side?...it also has plenty of 'residents'...and is less than 5 road miles from the Kacheless 'residents'...

 

[Snowlover]

Thanks for your input chief. How does the fire house on the north side of i-90 (Kachees) inpact this. Isn't that road plowed out all year to the snowpark turnaround?