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Chelan council authorizes mayor to sign 2026 county emergency management plan
Summary
Council approved a city signature on the Chelan County 2026 Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan after county emergency management staff described the plan's required updates and the state's five-year review; council questioned local references and evacuation-route wording before approving.
Chelan City Council voted March 10 to authorize the mayor to finalize and execute the 2026 Chelan County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan after representatives from the county's emergency management office presented the document and explained recent state review comments.
Jason Reinfeld, a sergeant with Chelan County Sheriff's Office Emergency Management, told the council the plan is required by law and is updated continuously; the county submits updates annually and sends a full plan to the state for five-year review. "This plan is required by law," Reinfeld said, describing recent state recommendations that were incorporated.
Council members raised two specific concerns: a mistaken local-reference in the Public Works appendix that listed Cashmere where Chelan should have been, and the plan's absence of predetermined evacuation routes. Reinfeld and county staff explained the county typically avoids listing fixed evacuation routes because wildfire threats vary by incident and routes are selected case-by-case when evacuations are ordered.
After clarifying language and noting the county commissioners had already promulgated the plan, Councilmember Higgins moved and the council approved authorization for the mayor to sign the plan.
Why it matters: The comprehensive emergency management plan formalizes multi-jurisdictional response roles and helps unlock state-level support and coordination during disasters. By signing, the city affirms alignment with county-wide emergency policies and enables compliance with state review requirements.
What happens next: The mayor will sign the plan on behalf of the city; staff indicated the city would keep receiving the county's annual update records and incorporate any necessary local appendix corrections.
