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The latest developments, decisions and changes coming out of our fall board meeting, held in Yakima, WA. The full board meeting minutes will be available here, once approved.
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DEVELOPMENTS
- County Engineer Appointments: None this reporting period.
- County Engineer Vacancies: Pacific and Grant Counties each have vacancies, although each have either appointed an acting County Engineer or have an interlocal agreement in place. Pacific County's agreement was extended through October 24, 2025 and Jennifer Oatfield will be taking the lead in their search for a County Engineer. Grant County’s agreement is through April 1, 2026. Kittitas County appointed Public Works Director Josh Fredrickson as interim County Engineer effective August 29, 2025.
DECISIONS
- Certified Resolution to Apportion RATA Funds to Regions which authorized the accrued amount of $7,541,890 deposited to the RATA for July, August, and September 2025 be apportioned to the regions by the established 2025-2027 biennium regional percentages after setting aside $176,394 for administration.
- A “Waiver of Payback” (time extension) was granted to Asotin County for the RAP funded Snake River Road project to April 30, 2027. The County’s extension request letter described the challenges and progress made on phasing, funding, and permitting, despite key staff turnover during the past several years. Their letter concluded with a summary of the current status and next steps for each of the three project phases (Units A, B, and C).
- A Call for Projects for the 2027-2029 Biennium was Approved by the Board
- Per “WAC 136-161-020, the Rural Arterial Program project funding cycle begins at the fall odd-year board meeting, when the board considers the Rural Arterial Trust Account (RATA) balance and future revenue to determine if enough funds will be available to provide for an additional array of projects for the ensuing biennium (2027– 2029).”
- Staff recommends a call for projects be issued by the Board opening January 2026 for projects to be funded with the 2027 – 2029 biennial budget, with the first allocation to occur in the CRAB Board’s spring of 2027 meeting. The call for projects will require preliminary proposals be submitted to CRAB by March 1, 2026. Final proposals will be due by September 2026.
- The funding level recommended by staff is $87,500,000 based on projected RATA balance, forecast revenues, and timing for construction reimbursements of projects to be funded. This figure is a 25% increase over the projected $70M amount based upon RATA balance, revenue forecast, and construction timing. The additional 25% is necessary to ensure that all regions have a sufficient number of projects to receive funds throughout the time period the array is used for grant awards. The actual funding level will be established ahead of the Spring 2027 CRAB Board meeting, based on updated RATA balance conditions, and revenue forecast.
- In the event that revenue estimates are significantly reduced in the actual ’27-’29 budget, the Board is able to adjust the award amount accordingly.
- A Public Hearing was set for January 29, 2026 @9:00am for proposed WACs pertaining to the new Local Roads Program. WACs will be publicized by late December 2025 in advance of public hearing.
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CHANGES
The Board reviewed an overview of the proposed WAC changes during a scheduled Public Hearing as advertised in Washington State Register 25-18-019, which included amending:
- WAC 136-70 Pavement Management - to make changes to the standards of good practice for pavement management system requirements for county arterial preservation program (CAPP) eligibility (It’s being amended to allow counties to use new technology for performing pavement condition assessments).
- WAC 136-60-070 Traffic Safety Update Frequency - to make changes to the standards of good practice for maintenance of county road logs (It’s being updated to change the required frequency of traffic counts (from every 2 years to every 4 years) on roads with an average daily traffic over 5,000).
- WAC 136-60-050 Appointment of RATA Funds to Regions - to an out-of-date for the source of rural land area (It’s being amended to revise the source of the rural land area to the most current US census).
COUNTY PRESENTATIONS
Counties were invited to present to the Board an overview of their CRAB funded projects, including any challenges they’re currently facing.
- Yakima County was represented by County Engineer Matt Pietrusiewicz, PE.
- Benton County was represented by County Engineer Matt Rasmussen, PE and Civil Engineer Christina Woods, PE.
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The Board will be hold its next board meeting Thursday, January 29th, 2026 at our Olympia office, following meetings with legislators on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026.
