Kenmore council to consider 50/50 cost-share with WSDOT on federal culvert grant application

What the records say

At its September 28, 2026 meeting, the Kenmore City Council is scheduled to consider approving Agreement GCC 1437 with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and authorizing the City Manager to sign it [S1 · Item 3]. Per the agenda bill, the agreement would formalize a 50/50 split of the cost (approximately $22,000) of submitting a joint application to USDOT's National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration grant program [S1 · Item 3]. If awarded, the grant would provide $5 million toward the city's planned stream culvert replacement project at NE 175th St and $10 million toward WSDOT's adjacent stream culvert replacement project at SR 522 [S1 · Item 3]. The city and WSDOT entered a similar cost-share agreement in 2024 for the same grant; no awards were announced for that round, and the grant opportunity was reissued in June 2026 with a six-week window to reapply [S1 · Item 3]. Staff state the city and WSDOT revised and resubmitted the prior application in June and July with consultant assistance [S1 · Item 3]. This is a pre-meeting record: the item is on the consent agenda, and the packet shows the proposed action only, not any council vote [S1 · Item 3].

• The council is scheduled to consider approving Agreement GCC 1437 between the City of Kenmore and WSDOT and authorizing the City Manager to sign it, as a consent agenda item.
• The agreement would split the grant application cost (approximately $22,000) 50/50, with the city's share about $11,000.
• The joint application targets USDOT's National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration grant program; if awarded, it would provide $5 million for the city's NE 175th St culvert replacement and $10 million for WSDOT's adjacent SR 522 culvert project.
• The city entered a similar cost-share agreement with WSDOT in 2024; no awards were announced that round, and the grant was reissued in June 2026 with a six-week reapplication window.

Why it matters

Approving the agreement would cap the city's share of the grant application cost at roughly $11,000; without it, the city would bear the full approximately $22,000 application cost [S1 · Item 3]. The underlying grant, if awarded, would put $5 million toward the planned NE 175th St stream culvert replacement, a project the agenda bill says ranked 5th of 56 barriers in a 2022 independent fish barrier prioritization study [S1 · Item 3].

What changed / what's next

• The September 28, 2026 packet shows only the proposed action; whether the council approved the agreement will not be known until the meeting result is recorded [S1 · Item 3].
• The agenda bill does not state whether the grant application has already been submitted under the reissued June 2026 opportunity or when award decisions are expected [S1 · Item 3].