The Port Orchard City Council has approved a $14.9 million contract with the Stellar J Corp. for the Marina Pump Station Improvements Project, the first in a series of revitalizing projects in a designated strip of downtown.

Councilmembers approved the contract for the 40-year-old piece of infrastructure. The station is vital to residents and businesses of Port Orchard in that it receives city wastewater and pumps it to a joint-use treatment plant in Annapolis.

Councilmember John Clauson called it “such a key component to the wastewater utility system…This is going to set the stage for this city for, I hope, another forty years.”

Improvements include increasing the pumping capacity to over 8,000 gallons per minute and the addition of an emergency wastewater storage structure. Given the city population is expected to increase substantially in the next 20 years, the project gives room for added and more efficient use.

“The city has the money for this project,” Councilman Jay Rosapepe said. About $13 million has been secured through a low-interest (2%) loan. “We’ve been saving for it; we’ve been planning for it. Moving forward, it’s good for the city and good for the residents.”

The work also moves the city a step closer to a series of projects aimed at revitalizing downtown. This includes a new Kitsap Bank headquarters, the raising of a portion of Bay Street and the championed project of a new community events center.

Mayor Rob Putaansuu once again reminded the council of the importance of moving this first project along. “It’s the infrastructure that goes in the ground, underneath all the stuff, and we can’t move forward with the Kitsap Bank project and the community center project if we (don’t) have the infrastructure we need to support these projects.”