Ferndale planning commission recommends City Council adopt 2027–2032 Capital Improvement Plan

The Ferndale Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that City Council adopt the City of Ferndale Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2027 through 2032 following a staff presentation and public hearing during the commission's meeting.

The assistant city manager, who presented the CIP, said the plan compiles departmental requests spanning six years and stressed the difference between requests and likely funded projects. “These are the projects that the departments have said. These are things we need to do. We're gonna need to do them in the next 6 years,” the assistant city manager said during the presentation. He reported roughly $112,000,000 in requests across funds, including about $52,000,000 in general-fund requests and roughly $1,900,000 in sanitation-related requests tied largely to uniform trash bins.

Staff highlighted specific program and infrastructure targets. The assistant city manager said about $14,700,000 in capital improvements are needed in the general fund for facilities over the six-year horizon and that water and sewer needs include an estimated $28,000,000 for lead service line replacement and $6,800,000 for water-main improvements. The presenter noted the size of the lead program relative to the water fund's annual revenues (approximately $14,000,000) and described meeting the state timeline for lead-line replacement as a difficult funding challenge.

Commissioners asked how the list of requests would be pared down; staff said the formal budget adoption process will determine funded projects and that council adoption of the budget in May typically clarifies what is funded. The assistant city manager also said a resident-approved millage renewal will help address some deferred-maintenance needs but that available funding is limited.

The commission opened a public hearing on the CIP but recorded no public speakers and closed the hearing immediately. Commissioner Krista Azar moved to recommend adoption of the CIP and Commissioner Brazen supported the motion. A roll-call vote recorded affirmative votes from Commissioners Azar, Brazen, Foster, Showalter and Michelli; the motion passed and the commission transmitted the recommendation to City Council.

Next steps: the commission's recommendation will go to City Council for final adoption and the council's budget decisions (expected in May) will determine which requested projects are funded. Staff urged commissioners and the public to review the CIP document and noted that the published requests are department priorities, not guaranteed funded projects.