POULSBO — The Liberty Bay Trail may soon be getting some finishing touches that were requested more than six months ago.

And there appears to already be money in the bank to fund them.

At its Jan. 12 meeting, the Poulsbo City Council unanimously approved the completion of a $226,314 contract with Sound Excavation, Inc. of Gig Harbor. The move officially accepts the completion of the contract, which was awarded a year ago for the construction of the Liberty Bay Trail.

Project Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak was careful to point out this week, though, that the acceptance was of the completion of the contract — not the project.

When the trail was completed last summer, concerns were raised by representatives from the Liberty Bay Foundation/Lemolo Citizens Club and Department of Ecology. They found fault with the added pavement and its potential to further erode the embankment and allow pollutants to flow into Liberty Bay. A letter suggesting fixes for the 2-mile route along Fjord and Lemolo Shore Drives was received by the city in early July 2004 but Poulsbo had yet to announce what steps, if any, it would take.

Kasiniak told Public Works Committee members Wednesday that he examined the portion of the trail within city limits and found three areas where erosion has occurred — two near Home Court and a third near Oyster Plant Park.

The Liberty Bay Trail’s cost was originally estimated at about $280,000, which was paid for through a $260,000 federal grant and $20,000 in matching funds from the City of Poulsbo and Kitsap County. But Sound Excavation only spent about $226,000, leaving about $31,000.

Committee members directed Kasiniak to look into spending the remainder of the grant funding to fix the problem areas. They also suggested that Kasiniak research some sort of signage or delineating line to be placed directly across Fjord from the Home Court exit to indicate that drivers cannot go straight.

The areas near Home Court have eroded because of the location of existing storm drains above the trail. Public Works Director Jeff Lincoln suggested that crews may be able to cut channels or add extruded curb to direct water along the correct path.

In the area near Oyster Plant Park, a portion of the bank is washing away. Kasiniak suggested that adding an erosion control blanket and seeding over it may be the easiest solution to the problem.

“But we don’t know what to do and how to do it,” Kasiniak commented of the problem areas. “Some of the suggestions may not be pedestrian or bicycle friendly, so we have to look into that.”

While the problems needed to be addressed to avoid impacting the bay, Kasiniak said he doubted that the trail was solely responsible.

“I would have a hard time believing that adding two feet of extra pavement would do that,” he said.

Kasiniak will create a scope of work and pricing and also ensure that Poulsbo can use the remaining $31,000 in grant funds to complete the needed items. He said he hoped to have all of this information ready for the next Public Works meeting, which takes place on Jan. 26.

The solutions that are approved will determine how quickly work can begin, Kasiniak added. While something like an erosion blanket could be added at any time, concrete or pavement work would need to wait for warmer weather.