The Gallatin Valley MPO Transportation Technical Advisory Committee met on July 8 to advance its Long Range Transportation Plan development, focusing on emergency services coordination and approving the fiscal year 2027 work program.
Kevin Larson, operations and training manager for Gallatin County Emergency Management, presented the county's emergency response framework. Since 2018, the department has operated as a five-person county agency managing preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts. Larson described the 24/7 duty officer program and the Everbridge community notification system, which sends wireless alerts to residents. When asked about potential evacuation scenarios—such as Highway 191 closures, wildfires, or earthquakes—Larson outlined the county's incident response structure and noted that existing mutual aid agreements handle most coordination needs, though specific FEMA reimbursement questions require consultation with the federal agency's Public Assistance program.
The committee unanimously approved the work program with $442,000 in new federal funding, $209,000 in reserves for the next transportation plan, and approximately $50,000 in new state allocation, totaling roughly $600,000. The budget supports two full-time MPO staff and covers administration, public involvement, data collection, and the Valley Trail Loop transportation plan. A separate transit program, funded at $144,000, supports transit management and ADA compliance. Committee members raised concerns about the MPO's office rent costs, which Nick Ross acknowledged as elevated due to city leasing arrangements; the city manager is working to find lower-cost space.
The committee also reviewed Long Range Transportation Plan project scoring methodology. Sean O'Callaghan noted that county projects may face disadvantages under criteria that prioritize movement within population centers over inter-city connectivity. Consultant Nelson Nygaard updated project descriptions to include multimodal improvements, allowing better scoring in the next run. The fiscally constrained project list is expected in August.