Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Parks and Built Environment Council Committee (listed on the published agenda as the "Parks and Quality of Life Council Committee") convened on October 15, 2026. The published agenda listed the meeting at 9:00 AM, while the meeting transcript records a 5:00 PM start time and identifies the date as October 14, 2026, conflicting with the officially provided meeting date of October 15, 2026. Vice President Ryan chaired the meeting (Councilmember Rhyne is listed as chair on the published agenda). Councilmember Zarlingo participated in the discussion. The sole agenda item was a briefing on the Sound Transit Everett Link Extension Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) given by Galib Khatra, Sound Transit's Corridor Environmental Manager.
No consent calendar was considered.
No public testimony was taken during this committee meeting. Mr. Khatra detailed the ongoing public comment period for the DEIS, which runs until November 2, 2026. Upcoming public meetings were announced, including sessions at the Carl Gibson Center and the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center. Comments are accepted in any language via online form, voicemail, mail, email, or in person.
Mr. Khatra explained the 16-mile corridor includes seven new stations (six fully funded, one provisional) and requires an Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF). The line is planned for a phased opening: to Southwest Everett Industrial Center by 2037 and to downtown Everett by 2041. Following the close of the DEIS public comment period, the Sound Transit Board is scheduled to confirm or modify a preferred alternative early in 2027.
Mr. Khatra reviewed the three OMF site options (F, E, B), which require a footprint of roughly 65 acres. Site F has the highest residential and historic property impacts. Site E has the most wetland and ecosystem impacts. Site B impacts streams, wetlands, and specialty manufacturing. The board is expected to select a site in January 2027.
Letters were sent to all potentially impacted property owners in July 2026, and informational postcards were sent to tenants. Over 20 property owner webinars were conducted. Property acquisition will be handled on a staggered schedule by Sound Transit real estate experts once a specific project alignment is selected.
Great, good evening, everybody. Welcome to the Parks and Built Environment Council Committee meeting. Today is October 14th. It is 5 p.m. and we're here in Council Chambers. Tonight we have one agenda item, one big agenda item. I'm very excited about it. We're going to be receiving a Sound Transit Everett Link extension, DEIS briefing and discussion from a representative from Sound Transit. As folks, I'm sure are well aware. Right now, I don't want to steal any thunder, but there's a draft environmental impact statement out that Sound Transit's diligently pursued through all different channels and feedback and whatnot to finish to show where a potential uh some potential routes and stations could be as it comes up to Everett. So tonight we have a representative from Sound Transit joining us to share more about what is included in the draft EIS statement and ways that the public can participate and what it means for Everett residents in general. So if you don't mind introducing yourself for the record and taking it away, that'd be great. Great. Thank you, Vice President Ryan and members of the council. I am Galib Khatra. I'm the Corridor Environmental Manager for Sound Transit, working on this environmental impact statement for the Everett Link rail extension between Linwood and Everett. So I'm going to just go through a number of slides, which we use to present sort of an overview of the project and then get into each of the segments and talk about the alternatives and a little sneak preview as to what's in the environmental impact statement in terms of the actual impacts that the board would have to consider when it makes its decision based on the schedule that I'll also go over. So the overall system approved by the voter. This just shows the full extent down from south of Tacoma up to Everett, as well as the sounder trains and the bus rapid transit. And we're focusing on the part between Linwood and the northernmost extent that was approved by the voters in 2016 up here in Everett. The Everett Lick extension consists of 16 miles of light track, uh light rail tracks with seven new stations that we are designing. Of those, six are fully funded through construction. One of them, which I'll get into, is only provisional, which means that we own the fund the permitted planning and the permitting, but not the actual final design and construction. And Sound Transit recently opened one at Pinehurst, a few years earlier than planned. So those do happen when the funding and timing works out. We're also studying for this segment and operations and maintenance facility. You can see these are uh sort of very large, the sort of the blobs there in orange or whatever color you can see up there, but there's three of them. We'll get into them in a little bit. But these are uh necessary for the entire system. They would serve the trains not just for the Everett Link, but for other parts of the system. And they have to be located somewhere along the alignment so that the trains can get in and out during the sort of early morning hours and ready into peak service for that morning uh rush hour. We're also looking at two parking uh facilities at Mariner and Everett stations. Uh, those just like the provisional station are deferred. Uh the board made a decision uh to defer construction, but we are including them in the environmental planning as well as the initial uh design. So the stations, the the stations, uh, if you're not familiar with them, starting off in the south on the right here, uh West Alderwood, and then working its way up along I-5 through Ashway. We've got alternatives on both sides off I-5, uh, then taking the turn through the Mariner sort of uh urban uh shopping and residential area, continuing up airport road, uh past one of the OMF locations, again with two options further up past Painfield to Southwest Industrial Center, uh, close to the Painfield and Boeing with a number of options there, which I'll get into. The next segment takes us along the south side or north side of 526 uh with a station around the Evergreen 526 uh area. And then it loops back up along either Broadway or I-5 before coming into Everett with one of three options there. So I'll I'll dive into each of these segments and the alternatives uh as we move from south to north. In terms of the schedule, people always like, why does it take so long? Well, if you break it up into these three chunks, the first one planning, which was affected by by COVID. Where we are now in terms of the environmental review, we just publish the environmental impact statement. That'll take us through 2028. Then we move into final design, followed by construction starting in 2020. And we've committed to two opening dates, 2037 to Southwest Everett Industrial Center, and then 2041 to here to downtown Everett. In terms of the uh the schedule for this year and early next year, we have our public comment period open through November 2nd. We had a fantastic meeting yesterday over at Marin High School, about over 150 people came. And we will then incorporate all of the comments we receive, regardless of how we receive them, into a recommendation to the board late this year, and then early next year, the board will confirm or modify a preferred alternative or select one where there isn't one.