POULSBO — The decision came nine days after Public Works Director Jeff Lincoln expected it, but, nonetheless, it appears the Bond Road Pump Station could be moving forward.

Planning Director Barry Berezowsky issued a notice of decision for the 352-square foot building, which is set to be constructed in the Vetter Road right of way Nov. 16. The site is west of the Liberty Bay Dental Center and south of a single-family residence.

However, that decision is subject to an appeal which would be heard by the city council and could eventually be taken as far as the Kitsap County District Court for a judge’s ruling on the proposal.

At the Oct. 26 public works committee meeting, Lincoln warned city council members about what could happen if the pump station wasn’t built in the near future.

“If we don’t, everything upstream stops and all that flow is going to the Lindvig Pump Station,” Lincoln said, as he noted that more than $400,000 has already been spent on the design of the $2.18 million project that includes a 12-inch force main down State Route 305 from Olhava to Harrison Street, where it will connect with the central inceptor line.

The project has been relocated and redesigned twice and has gone through at least two years of discussion, Lincoln said.

“We tried to accommodate everybody but now we’re out of options,” Lincoln said, noting that the project will be located in the Vetter Road right of way instead of the Bond Road right of way.

According to the Nov. 16 notice of decision, the pump station is one of three components that would allow for the redirecting of existing and future wastewater flows from the Lindvig Pump Station currently being routed along Liberty Bay to the Marine Science Center Pump Station.

A copy of the staff report for the new station revealed that the project was technically completed on June 27, 2005 and that four comment letters primarily related to the right of way width were received during the first public comment period.

The possibility of moving the pump station within the Bond Road right of way was explored, but the Vetter Road right of way location and width were confirmed, the staff report states.

Even though the project was not included in the Olhava Master Plan, which had all of the wastewater from Olhava running through Finn Hill Terrace down Finn Hill Road into an improved Lindvig Pump Station, it was identified as part of the city’s comprehensive sanitary sewer plan in 2002.

In April 2004, the pump station was included in the developer agreement as part of the off-site sanitary sewer system improvements signed between Olhava Associates and the city.

The staff report also notes that the site plan shows Dogfish Creek to be located 162 feet away from the nearest point of the station, far exceeding the minimum 40-foot buffer requirement set by the city’s current Critical Areas Ordinance.