Drafter
Clerk 07/25/2002
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A MOTION authorizing the executive to enter into a project cooperation agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to address flood hazards in and around the city of Snoqualmie; and authorizing the executive to enter into an interlocal agreement with the city of Snoqualmie to share local sponsorship responsibilities under the project cooperation agreement.
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WHEREAS, flooding has severely and repeatedly damaged hundreds of homes and businesses within and around the city of Snoqualmie, which has the highest concentration of flood-prone structures in King County, and area flooding causes economic damages averaging more than one million six hundred thousand dollars per year, and
WHEREAS, King County has constructed and maintains levee systems to protect other flood-prone communities in the Snoqualmie River Basin, but study has shown that physical constraints in the Snoqualmie area prevent similar levee construction in that community, and
WHEREAS, in 1988 the United States Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE") proposed a channel widening/overbank excavation project along the Snoqualmie River to reduce the depth and frequency of flooding in and around the city of Snoqualmie, and this project would have disturbed one and eight-tenths miles of river channel and cleared seventy-one acres of riparian forest, creating unacceptable environmental impacts, and
WHEREAS, in 1989 King County adopted the Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan, which states that "achieving a long-term solution to flood damages within the city of Snoqualmie is one of King County's highest priorities for this planning area," and sets forth additional policy guidance as to how this solution should be achieved, and
WHEREAS, in 1993 King County adopted the Flood Hazard Reduction Plan ("FHRP"), which identified the flood problems in and around the city of Snoqualmie as a high priority, and recommended hydraulic studies to help narrow the scope of the Snoqualmie channel-widening/overbank excavation project in order to reduce the project's adverse impacts, and
WHEREAS, in 1996, the city of Snoqualmie and King County completed the hydraulic studies proposed in the FHRP, using cost share contributions from Puget Sound Energy and the Weyerhaeuser Company, and the studies identified the most effective portions of the prior proposal, and
WHEREAS, in 1996 the city of Snoqualmie and King County entered an interlocal agreement to share local sponsorship responsibilities and costs for feasibility studies by the USACE based on the new hydraulic findings, and
WHEREAS, in 1996 the USACE and King County entered a Federal Cost Share Agreement for completion of feasibility studies by the USACE, and
WHEREAS, feasibility studies by the USACE found that a reduced channel-widening/overbank excavation project would greatly reduce the frequency and severity of flood damages in the Snoqualmie area while lessening the adverse environmental impacts of the project as originally conceived, and
WHEREAS, in 1999, King County expressed intent to satisfy local responsibilities for implementation of the reduced channel-widening/overbank excavation project ("project"), in partnership with the city of Snoqualmie, and
WHEREAS, the USACE has completed right-of-way and design plans for the project and is prepared to implement the project in cooperation with local sponsors under a project cooperation agreement ("PCA"), and
WHEREAS, the city of Carnation and landowners downstream of the project have expressed concerns that the project would worsen their flood problems, and the USACE has determined that the project could cause a slight increase of one-tenth foot or less to downstream flooding depths in a one-hundred-year flood event, and
WHEREAS, to address the downstream flooding issues the project includes a downstream assistance program, to be administered by King County, that would provide grant funds to cost share with downstream landowners to help them pay the costs of elevating downstream homes and other downstream structures above one-hundred-year flood levels and to take other flood protection and prevention measures, and
WHEREAS, project implementation costs are estimated at three million eight hundred thirty thousand dollars, including three hundred twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars for the downstream assistance program, of which the USACE will pay two million two hundred twenty thousand dollars from federal funds under terms of the PCA, leaving a local cost share requirement of approximately one million six hundred ten thousand dollars, and
WHEREAS, King County is designated as the non-federal sponsor for the purposes of entering into the PCA with the USACE, and
WHEREAS, King County and the city of Snoqualmie, under a separate interlocal agreement, propose to share in the financial and other responsibilities of local sponsorship for the project under the PCA, and
WHEREAS, clearly defined roles, responsibilities and decision-making frameworks are critical to the successful funding, management and maintenance of complex construction projects involving multiple parties, and
WHEREAS, article V of the PCA references a project management plan to be developed by the USACE after consultation with the local sponsor, and
WHEREAS, the project management plan provides a mechanism to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the USACE, King County and the city of Snoqualmie, and to define collaborative approaches to resolving issues that may arise related to unexpected site conditions, change orders and cost overruns, and
WHEREAS, the adopted 2002 budget for the water and land resources division includes capital improvement project number 047101, Snoqualmie river section 205 flood hazard reduction project, with river improvement fund appropriations for King County's share of these local costs, and
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that the project will mutually benefit both the city of Snoqualmie and King County, preventing an estimated eight hundred thirty-seven thousand dollars in average annual flood damages to the Snoqualmie area both within and outside the city, and will provide invaluable and long-term public health and safety benefits by reducing the depth of flood water;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The King County executive is authorized to enter into a project cooperation agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in substantially the same form as Attachment A to this motion for construction of the Snoqualmie river section 205 flood damage reduction project if King County, the city of Snoqualmie and the USACE have reached agreement on the project management plan before execution of the PCA. The King County executive is further authorized to enter into an interlocal agreement with the city of Snoqualmie in substantially the same form as Attachment B to this
motion for cooperatively fulfilling local sponsorship responsibilities for the Snoqualmie river section 205 flood damage reduction project.