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Board of County Commissioners
Grant County, Washington
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To: Grant County Board of County Commissioners
From: Tristyn Eldredge Chair, on behalf of the Grant Cou
CC: Barbara Vasquez
Date: December 10, 2019
Re: Grant County Central Safety Committee Recomm(
The Grant County Central Safety Committee would like to present a recutntttettuaL1U11
concerning the safety and security of the Grant County Courthouse Campus.
After much discussion, the Central Safety Committee is recommending Grant County move to a
single entrance campus. in addition to the single entrance, the committee suggests closing off
all current entrances and making them exit only doors. These changes would not only aid in
ensuring the safety of Grant County Employees but the citizens who visit and practice business
at the courthouse on a daily basis.
This Committee believes these changes are necessary to eliminate possible risks and threats to
the employees and the community we serve while conducting business at the Grant County
Courthouse. While the Committee is unaware of the actual costs to implement a single
entrance, the Committee believes a few directional signs placed strategically around the
campus and locking all non -single point access doors with one additional screening device with
staffing is relatively inexpensive. If compared to the costs of insurance deductibles, litigation,
and the loss of faith and goodwill associated with one injury or death from an active threat
carried out.
Law Enforcement and experts in the field of safety continually recommend single point entry
for schools and government buildings as one of the easiest ways to deter active threats. We
need to think beyond the mentally ill individual and look closer at the fact that most active
shooter or threat incidents are at places of business and not just schools and churches; these
acts being committed by disgruntled former employees or aggravated citizens. In the last five
years alone, there have been 121 active shooter incidents that happened in places of business
such as County Police Department, Armed Forces Career Center, and a courthouse in Texas.
The Committee would you like to thank you for your time and consideration of this
recommendation and we look forward to your response.
Grant County Central Safety Committee
2019
+, n, N'yr3
Barbara Vasquez
From: Tristyn R. Eldredge
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2019 3:30 PM
To: Barbara Vasquez
Subject: RE: Central Safety Committee recommendation to move Grant County Complex to a
single entrance campus
Good afternoon Barb,
In reference to the letter of recommendation the Central Safety Committee sent to the Board of County Commissioners,
I would like to provide some clarification. This letters intent was not to warrant a decision from the Commissioner's on if
the campus should be moved to a single entry only, but more to provide the general consensus opinion of the Safety
Committee. I believe the verbiage "we look forward to hearing your response" was misleading and at this time, there is
no response required from the Commissioners other than that the letter has been received and reviewed.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if I need to provide any more clarification.
Have a wonderful rest of your day,
T ri,yi!� w E edg �
Accounting Technician
Ctg:�;RN
840 E Flum St
Moses Lake, WA 98537
509-765-9239 ext. 5415
509-764-2643 Direct lirre
treldred,ge a Qrantcountywa.Qov
From: Barbara Vasquez <bvasquez@grantcountywa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2019 11:12 AM
To: Tristyn R. Eldredge <treldredge@grantcountywa.gov>
Cc: Tom Gaines <tgaines@grantcountywa.gov>; Richard Stevens <rstevens@grantcountywa.gov>; Cindy Carter
<ccarter@grantcountywa.gov>; Thomas H. Taylor <thtaylor@grantcountywa.gov>
Subject: Central Safety Committee recommendation to move Grant County Complex to a single entrance campus
Hi Tristyn:
Yesterday, the County Commissioners reviewed the recommendation of the Central Safety Committee and voted to
place this item on hold so they can gather more information.
I will let you know when the Board has made a decision.
Thanks!
Barbara J. Vasquez, CMC
Clerk of the Board
Grant County Commissioners Office
PO Box 37
35 C Street NW
Ephrata, WA 98823
509-754-2011 ext 2928
509-754-6098 (fax)
www.grantcount)ma.gov