Chelan County To Look At Upgrades At Its Wenatchee Operations

Chelan County will focus on making upgrades to its offices and operations in central Wenatchee in the upcoming year. 

Commissioner Kevin Overbay says plans include building a satellite location for the county motor pool to ease overcrowding around office buildings.  

"You have to kind of block the road to get cars in and out, and maybe when the court house was built and the annex was built back in the (19)40's and 50's, that was probably a great place for it, but as times have changed and vehicles have changed, it's no longer as functional as it could be," said Overbay. 

The county will look for a site to relocate its motor pool away from its concentration of offices on Washington Street. 

It will also work towards building a lab for county Coroner Wayne Harris next year to stay in compliance with state law. Overbay said a lab will be required by 2026. 

Among the most pressing needs according to Overbay are major repairs at the county jail.  

"We did find out some not so good news that our jail, plumbing for our law and justice building, is in need of full replacement," Overbay said. 

Commissioners were alerted to the plumbing issue back in September by county director of facilities and maintenance Brian Travis. 

A plumbing problem on the level currently hanging over the jail would require many other buildings to be demolished.  

Travis said the jail's design won't require such a drastic move. He told commissioners there is plenty of space in between walls where plumbing is run that allows access for people to move around and perform the needed work.   

There's also two-and-a-half feet of space between the hanging ceilings and the actual concrete ceilings in the building.   

The county courthouse boiler will also need to be upgraded before long. 

Chelan County commissioners held their final meeting of 2023 Tuesday where they adopted a supplemental budget for 2024.