Correspondence - BOCC (005)February 21, 2023
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GRANT COUNTY
OFFICE OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
P O Box 37
EPHRATA WA 98823
(509) 754-2011
RE: Support of Funding Request by the Port of Mattawa for the Port's Wastewater Infrastructure
Improvement Project
To Whom it May Concern:
Grant County Commissioners are writing in support of the Port of Mattawa's request for funding of the
Port's Wastewater Infrastructure Improvement Project in Mattawa, WA, a rural socioeconomically
disadvantaged community (in central Washington) in which 98% of the -students are minority and 92%
qualify for free and reduced -price lunch.
This project would increase the capacity of the Port of Mattawa's industrial wastewater treatment system,
especially for wine waste, which is a byproduct of the wine grape crushing process, as the Port of Mattawa
has become a major or key area for the production of bulk wine juice in Washington State. Additionally, the
expansion of wastewater treatment capacity of the Port's Industrial Wastewater System will allow the Port
of Mattawa to keep up with rapidly growing wine crushing/processing industry in central Washington.
Moreover, the bulk wine grape juice that is produced in Mattawa is used by wineries all over Washington
State, which helps to promote and enhance tourism in our region.
More importantly, the wine grape crushing industry has created and retained over 200 jobs in the Mattawa
area, and it is projected that this infrastructure expansion will help to create more jobs and stimulate
economic development and increase the tax base as it will allow for the wine grape crushing companies to
continue to grow and hire more people in the Mattawa community.
Without this much-needed infrastructure improvement and expansion, the Port of Mattawa cannot keep up
with the increasing amount of raw wine waste that is discharged because of more and more wine being
produced in the Mattawa area. As a result, this could adversely impact the economic growth of wine grape
processing and wine production in the greater Mattawa area, thus also negatively impacting jobs and
economic development in Mattawa, a rural socioeconomically disadvantaged community in central
Washington.
Dan y E. Stone 4o b7l ones Cindy Carter
District 1 District 2 District 3
"To MEET CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDSy SERVING TOGETHER WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTITIESy WHILE FOSTERING
A RESPECTFUL AND SUCCESSFUL WORK ENVIRONMENT."
In conclusion, we would urge your support of the Port of Mattawa's request for funding of this
important Wastewater Infrastructure Improvement Project, as it will retain and create jobs and
increase economic development and opportunities in the Mattawa community and help continue to
allow for the growth of the wine grape crushing and processing industry in central Washington.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF GRANT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Rob e - -, Chair
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Cindy Carter, Vice -chair
Danny E/Stone Member