Kittitas County amends Kimley-Horn contract to add $790,000 clean-energy siting study

Kittitas County commissioners on Feb. 9 approved a resolution to amend the county's professional services agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates to implement a Clean Energy Siting and Permitting (CESP) grant.

Director Chad Bala told the commission the CESP grant will fund a countywide environmental impact analysis (EIS), identify potential siting areas for clean energy generation and manufacturing, map permitting requirements, and establish draft code and mitigation standards the county can use when project applicants arrive. Bala said the county plans to kick off the project at the end of February.

Chairman Cory Wright asked about the grant amount and whether community engagement for the project would duplicate the county's current comprehensive-plan process. Bala said the grant totals $790,000, with $540,000 budgeted for Kimley-Horn's consultant work and $250,000 allocated to county staff, and he said the community-engagement effort for this grant will be a separate process from the comprehensive-plan update.

Commissioner Laura Osiadacz moved to approve Resolution 2026026 to amend the professional services agreement with Kimley-Horn; Chairman Wright seconded the motion. After discussion in which Wright praised the consultant work and noted the study is among the first of its kind in the state, the motion carried.

There were no citizen comments on the item. No further business was raised and the study session adjourned at 2:34 p.m. The county will proceed with the consultant contract amendment and begin project kickoff work as scheduled.