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This week's City Council meeting will start at 5:00 p.m. on Monday and will be hybrid with remote participation via Microsoft Teams and in-person participation at Council Chambers. To join the live event remotely, you can find the link on the City's website: www.CityOfFerndale.org

Ferndale City Council actions have major impacts on our community. Yet participating in our government isn’t always easy. I am committed to seeking out your input because I firmly believe your voice adds value. Please read my current position and let me know if you agree, disagree, or have a better idea. It is essential that you know that my position can be influenced by your responses. I will combine this information with all other information available to me (public comments at the Council meeting, City Staff input, etc.) before I make my final decision. Thank you!

Ryan O'Larey - Ferndale City Council Position 5

A few ground rules before you get started:

1. Be kind, be respectful, be honest, and be concise.
2. Do not participate if you are a Ferndale City Council member.
3. I will not express an opinion for quasi-judicial issues (for legal reasons).
4. Survey responses may be subject to FOIA requests, but will otherwise remain anonymous.

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* 1. I live: (Select the best option for your situation.)

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* 2. Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element Contract (LINK see page 12)

The State of Washington's Growth Management Act (GMA) requires jurisdictions to plan for long-term growth through the development of a Comprehensive Plan which includes several sub elements including, for this discussion, Transportation. The transportation element of the comp plan is meant to outline how the City intends to deal with transportation issues over the next 20-year planning period. Projects that require funding outside of the City generally have to be included in the Comprehensive Plan. This element, along with the others, must be completed as part of the 2025 comprehensive plan update. To complete the transportation element update, Staff has recommended the use of Transpo. Transpo is a consulting company who works, as the name implies, on transportation issues. They have worked with Ferndale for many years and are also used by other Cities in Whatcom County. Transpo will execute the following scope:

1. Community Outreach and Agency Coordination
2. Existing Conditions Evaluation. This includes transportation model updates, public transit review, rail and truck freight review, collision data review, review of current plans, and an overall analysis of our various transportation networks (vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, etc.).
3. Goals/Policies Evaluation and Multimodal Level of Service Standards Review/Update.
4. Needs Assessment. This includes projecting future transportation needs and evaluating options to achieve them.
5. Improvement Projects/Program Evaluation. Long term projects will be reviewed including the generation of preliminary costs and priorities.
6. Documentation and Implementation. Transpo will update the City plans and policies to match the results of the transportation evaluations. This includes an evaluation of impact fees. They will prepare the final transportation element document.

This is a large amount of work that is only done every decade, so instead of having staff execute this work, we keep our staff count lean and utilize expert consultants to do this peak-demand work. It's a good way to keep City costs in check. This contract is for $199,500 and has already been forecasted and included in the 2024 budget. I am in favor of approving this contract.

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* 3. Do you have any comments for me on these or any other topics? I'm happy to hear from you and only request that you keep your comments respectful. Your opinions matter! Thanks.

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* 4. If you did not receive a survey via email, but would like to receive future surveys via email, please add your contact information below. I strongly suggest doing this so that you will automatically receive the survey rather than having to search it out. An additional benefit to signing up is that you will receive an after-Council email that summarizes the Council vote(s) and survey responses. If you have signed up but did not receive this survey in your email, please let me know (and also check to see if it went to your junk/spam inbox).

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