The basics

THE BASICS

Whether you live in the city or country, it helps to know the ropes when it comes to power, irrigation, garbage and recycling in Kittitas County.

UTILITIES

ere are three major public utility agencies that bring electrical power and natural gas to residential and business customers in Kittitas County.

Puget Sound Energy, a private company, covers most of the rural areas of Upper Kittitas County and areas of the Upper County’s three cities, along with a large section of Lower County. It supplies natural gas and electricity.

Kittitas County Public Utility District 1 supplies electrical power to rural residents and businesses throughout the county, outside the limits of local cities. e city of Ellensburg is the only incorporated city in the state of Washington that provides both electricity and natural gas to residential and business customers within its city limits, and in limited areas immediately outside city limits.

To contact the utility agencies for services:

Puget Sound Energy: electricitynatural gas Kittitas Service Center 509-964-2555, 8400 S. orp Hwy

Ki itas County Public Utility

District 1: electricity Ellensburg o ce 509-933-7200, 1400 Vantage Hwy

City of Ellensburg: electricitynatural gas Ellensburg City Hall, 962-7204 or 962-7124 501 N. Anderson St., Ellensburg

City of Cle Elum: 509-674-5890

GARBAGE

Residents can bring their garbage to one of two solid waste transfer stations — in Ellensburg at 1001 Industrial Way, phone 509-9627072, and between Cle Elum and Roslyn at 50 No. 5 Mine Road in Upper Kittitas County, phone 509-674-5890. Per-weight fees are charged for solid waste disposal.

Certain recyclable items also can be brought for drop o without a fee to the transfer stations that are owned by Kittitas County government, and operated through a contract with the private rm Waste Management of Ellensburg.

In addition, yard waste can be taken to the stations for a fee. Compost is available for sale at the Ellensburg station.

Hazardous materials and certain bulk materials and appliances also can be received for a fee. Call 509962-7542 or the transfer station numbers above for guidelines.

Certain kinds of home and business construction or demolition wastes also can be received at the transfer station for a fee.

For full information on transfer station services go to www.co.kittitas. wa.us/solid-waste.

Waste Management of Ellensburg o ers residential and business pick up of solid wastes and recyclable items throughout the county. Call the company at 649-3118 in Upper County, and 925-9688 in Lower County.

At least once a year, the Kittitas County Sheri ’s O ce will sponsor an event to dispose of medications and shred documents.

RECYCLING

Recycling services are o ered through Kittitas County government’s solid waste transfer stations and through private, local businesses.

Some recyclable materials can be dropped o without a fee into special bins at the two county transfer stations in Ellensburg and Cle Elum. Accepted recyclables include newspapers, clean cardboard, magazines, tin cans, aluminum cans, plastic pop bottles, plastic milk jugs. Glass is no longer accepted for recycling, whether at the transfer stations or curbside pickup.

Go to the Kittitas County Solid Waste website for detailed information about recycling cell phones, household batteries, liquid wastes, sharps, uorescent lights, mercury or petroleum contaminated soils.

Goodwill in Ellensburg o ers free recycling of TVs, monitors, laptops and computers.

Waste Management of Ellensburg o ers home and business pick up of certain recyclable items in certain areas of the county: call the company at 6493118 in Upper County, and 925-9688 in Lower County.

In addition, the private rm of Kittitas Valley Recycling Center, 320 Railroad Ave. in Ellensburg, 509-9294136, provides a full range of metals recycling services.

SNOW REMOVAL

Each local government jurisdiction in Kittitas County has its own snowice removal rules and road plowing policies and equipment for clearing public thoroughfares.

When winter snow clogs a street or road you use, and you want to know about snow or ice removal and plowing of the roadway, contact the jurisdiction within which you live:

Kittitas County Public Works Department, 962-7523, or go online to www.co.kittitas.wa.us/public-works/ default.aspx. • City of Ellensburg, 962-7204 or go online to www.ci.ellensburg.wa.us. • City of Cle Elum, 509-674-2262, or go online to www.cityofcleelum.com. • City of Kittitas, 968-0220, or go online to www.cityofkittitas.com. • City of Roslyn, 509-649-3105, or go online to www.ci.roslyn.wa.us. Town of South Cle Elum, 509-6744322.

Each jurisdiction has minimum snow-fall levels that must be reached before snowplow crews begin to work, and there’s a priority as to what stretches of roads are tackled in what sequence. e city of Cle Elum updated its winter parking rules in November 2017.

City of Ellensburg residents can sign up to receive email or text messages about snow removal by subscribing to the alert center through the city’s website.

SNOW SHOVELING

Keep your sidewalk clear during the winter. Municipalities with city sidewalks place the responsibility on the adjacent property owner to remove ice and snow from their stretch of sidewalk.

In addition, county and city governments have ordinances that prohibit landowners or renters from pushing snow from private property on to public streets, roadways or sidewalks where snow mounds can create tra c and pedestrian accident hazards.

WEEDS

Each local municipal government in Kittitas County — cities and county — have rules on the required control of weeds and other nuisance plants on private property and near street rights of way.

To nd out the rules for your city property, contact the city halls of Ellensburg, Kittitas, Cle Elum, Roslyn and South Cle Elum. e Kittitas County Noxious Weed Control Board deals with weeds in non-city areas of the county. Its goal is to protect and preserve the agricultural lands and natural resources from invasive noxious weeds, according to

its website. e sta works with private landowners to curb infestations and assist with weed eradication programs.

For questions on weed control on rural residential lands, call 962-7007 or go to www.co.kittitas.wa.us/noxious-weeds.

KITTITAS COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

If you drive on rural, country roads in Kittitas County where residences are located — outside local cities — it’s most likely those roads come under the jurisdiction of Kittitas County Public Works Department.

County government, through its public works o ce, has responsibility to maintain more than 550 miles of paved road, completes resurfacing those roads with a rock-chip seal every six to seven years, has 68 miles of unpaved gravel roadways and 267 bridges of all sizes. e department also maintains the county airport north of Ellensburg named Bowers Field and the ood control zone district. e department also is responsible for snow plowing on county roads in winter to make sure they are drivable.

For more information, call the department at 962-7523, email publicworks@co.kittitas.wa.us or drop by o ces at 411 N. Ruby St., Ellensburg.

IRRIGATION SERVICES

It’s estimated that more than 90,000 acres of land in Kittitas County is irrigated by public and private irrigation districts, agencies and companies drawing water from the Yakima River system. ere are several other entities that operate irrigation services from water taken from creeks, or tributaries of the Yakima River. e water is mostly used by farmers, ranchers or orchardists, but also goes to some rural residences.

To nd out if your rural, residential land, or land you are planning to purchase, is serviced by irrigation entities, rst ask your real estate agent, or call the Kittitas County Conservation District at 509-925-3352.

Conservation district personnel can print o a GIS map of your property that shows boundaries, irrigation ditches, creeks, rivers, roads, and other geographical features related to natural resources and irrigation services.

Landowners also may want to call some of the larger irrigation entities in the county: Kittitas Reclamation District-925-6158; Cascade Irrigation District-962-9583; Westside Irrigation District-925-1565 or 925-6369, and the Ellensburg Water Company-925-5498.

Another source is to go online to the Kittitas County Assessor’s O ce web pages and, with a legal parcel number, look up whether the land is served by irrigation. An online interactive county map with irrigation entity boundaries can be accessed at gis.co.kittitas.wa.us/maps/

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Country Living

Owners of rural country acreages, sometimes called hobby farms or ranchettes, have two main sources of help.

Sta members with the Ellensburg o ces of Washington State University Extension in Kittitas County and the Kittitas County Conservation District provide information on everything from weeds to preventing the spread of wild res.

KCCD

e Kittitas County Conservation District, at 2211 W. Dolarway Road, Suite 4, or 509-925-3352, can assist with improving irrigation water and soil conservation, weed control and many other issues including improving streamside habitat. e district also helps with maintaining water quality in local streams and rivers, improve sh passage and ood control measures and guide rural homeowners on how to prevent wild res from reaching their homes or spreading from res on their property. e district o ers on-site visits to evaluate a landowners’ management of natural resources. e conservation district’s website is www.kccd.net.

FIREWISE

Wild res have caused signi cant damage to rural areas of Kittitas County in past years, and help is available for residents who want to protect their homes and property. rough the Firewise program, the Kittitas County Conservation District o ers a free home risk assessment to help landowners recognize re hazards and incorporate Firewise planning into homes and communities. Every year the KCCD also o ers cost-share opportunities for landowners to make improvements suggested by these assessments. Call 509-925-3352 for information.

More information is available at www. rewise.org or www.kccd.net.

WSU EXTENSION

e WSU Extension o ce, 901 E. Seventh Ave., Suite 2, in the Armory Building in Ellensburg, has strong ties with agricultural producers and rural homeowners. e sta provides help to owners of smaller, rural acreages with online information, reprints and brochures, workshops and the availability to answer speci c questions or troubleshoot land management concerns with on-site visits.

MASTER GARDENERS

Master Gardener volunteers in the Extension o ce can guide rural residents to identify plant and insect problems and how to address them.

If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener volunteer, contact the Kittitas County Extension o ce for details. Volunteers complete an initial training combining online education and local speakers, then “donate” their time to conduct public outreach. Call 509-962-7507 for more information.