East Wenatchee, Chelan County Agree on Jail Contract
The East Wenatchee City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to finalize a 3-year deal with the Chelan County Jail, avoiding arbitration.
Earlier this year, jail staff had approached the City with a proposed fee of approximately $780,000 for just 2021. After the City demanded arbitration, a new fee of $456,000 was negotiated with 5% increases in 2022 and 2023. East Wenatchee will pay an increase of roughly 17% in 2021 from what the city paid in 2020.
City Attorney Devin Poulson said the deal eliminates a previous clause where the jail could change it's rates at its sole discretion with just 60-days' notice.
"So essentially they are saying 'We're not going with that formula that we came up with, here's the new formula.' So we were able to negotiate a 3-year contract so they can't come back repeatedly and change that formula year after year." explained Poulson, "Which, as anybody on the city council knows, is pretty much an annual occurrence."
Mayor Jerrilea Crawford said that part of her desire to have a contract signed and move forward is that there has been discussion between the four major local law enforcement agencies to build a new regional jail sometime in the distant future.