Staff recommends that the City Council approve, and instruct Mayor Cole to sign, the Consultant Agreement with Kittelson & Associates to complete the 2023 Long Range Transportation Plan update.

The City Council is being presented with a contract with Kittelsen & Associates to update the 2018 Billings Urban Area Long Range Transportation Plan. The Yellowstone County Board of Planning (YCBP) is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Billings Urban Area. The Billings MPO is required to develop a Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) every five years to meet the requirements of the Federal Highway Administration. Since the previous transportation plan was updated in 2018, we must follow the federal requirement and update the plan accordingly. In addition to updated analysis of the transportation network, the update will ensure the plan is in alignment with local, State, and Federal transportation planning efforts and requirements. Updating the 2018 Billings Urban Area Long Range Transportation Plan was approved by the City Council and PCC in 2021 as part of the 2022 Unified Planning Work Program and budget.

The City Council may:
- Approve the consultant contract as proposed; or
- Direct staff to negotiate specific changes with Kittelson & Associates and return a revised contract; or
- Not approve the consultant contract. Not approving the contract means the City Council is not approving completion of a funded project in the 2022 Unified Planning Work Program that was already approved by the Policy Coordinating Committee in 2021 and, ultimately, could put the City in jeopardy of not receiving Federal transportation planning funds.

The cost of the LRTP contract is in an amount not to exceed $269,801. The costs are detailed in Exhibit B of the consultant contract. The total source of funding for this project is federal dollars. These monies are required to be spent on planning studies and may not be spent for things like engineering or construction of transportation projects. Further, it is through the Billings Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization's Federal PL (planning) funds that this project will receive reimbursement. This plan is identified in the current 2022 Billings Unified Planning Work Program which was approved by Federal Highways in September 2021. There is no cost to the City of Billings or Yellowstone County for completion of this study.