At the latest city council meeting, council members discussed recent city improvement projects. The city council holds meetings on the first and third Monday of each month. There are a few construction projects scheduled for the coming months which will improve on roads and other city utilities infrastructure.

At the most recent meeting, the city council accepted the project to improve the University and Wildcat Way intersection as well as the Main Street extension project as complete. The projects were divided into three portions with a total budget of $2.1 million. Portion “A” was allocated $1.1 million, portion “B” had a budget of $1 million and portion “C” had a budget of about $7,000.

The project improved traffic lights, added left turn lanes and improved some of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) features among other things. 

City council approved funding for the first of five construction projects involving South Willow Street. This project will widen the street and improve the gutters, bike lanes and storm drains while also adding trees and buffer strips to the road. The city awarded about $1.2 million to Belsaas & Smith Construction in order to complete the project. Once this project is finished there will be more proposals to follow in order to obtain funding for the next phases of the project. 

The next four projects all deal with utilities improvements. Schedule “B” will improve water utilities with work on the water main and is estimated to cost $38,000. Schedule “C” will work on the sewer main and is estimated to cost $121,000. Schedule “D” will expand power distribution by installing new electrical conduits under the roadway and is estimated to cost $26,000. Schedule “E” will make some improvements to the gas main and is estimated to cost about $10,000.

There was a plan made in 2014 to build a setback levee along the Yakima Nation property line from West Dolarway Road to University Way. The plan was not completed since an agreement between landowners and project managers could not be reached. Because of this, the project was moved further east. The city was forced to delay the project in 2014 because of an inability to negotiate easements and landowner agreements. The levee will now be constructed in the 56 acres of land north of Center Point Business Park.

The plan is to build a levee, flood swales and a 35-foot bridge which is fish passable. The plan will help mitigate flooding in western Ellensburg and allow for Whiskey Creek to be rerouted and allow for the construction of a pedestrian trail. 

The land purchased by the city for the project is valued at approximately $2.8 million. The plan is outlined with a completion date of 2021.  

The city has a new assistant city attorney and city prosecutor named Aaron Reiman. He was born and raised in Washington and attended college at both University of Washington and Gonzaga University. He has 20 years of experience and has been a prosecutor in the city of Yakima for the past six years. 

Ellensburg also has a new planning manager, Jamey Ayling, who is a CWU graduate. At CWU, he earned a bachelor’s degree in geography with a minor in environmental studies.