The Central Kitsap Community Council has approved a resolution in support of a new Silverdale Library being built on the Central Kitsap Community Campus.

A majority of the 15-member board voted in favor of the resolution at a meeting of the council Thursday. All 10 of the members attending the meeting voted in support of the resolution. It will now go to the Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees for action which is anticipated in June. It will also be sent to the Kitsap County Commission for its consideration.

Kitsap Regional Library is searching for a new location to  build a library to replace its current library which is in Old Town Silverdale. The library plans to build a new building that will double the space it now has, at approximately 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. While the final decision on a location will be made by the library’s board of trustees and the county commission, the council said it wanted to go on record support that the library be on the community campus.

The campus is located near the Kitsap Mall, between Silverdale Way and Randall Way, and now houses the YMCA, the C-STOCK community theater and a community center. A precinct office of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s also is on the campus. The property is owned by the county and it will take the approval of the county commission before anything is added to the campus.

The county also will decide whether to tear down the existing community center and sheriff’s office to make way for new structures.

In the resolution, the council said “site selection is critical to the success of the library. In the council’s view, the Central Kitsap Community Campus provided the best possible site for a new Silverdale Library.”

Reasons listed included its proximity to Central Kitsap High School and junior high schools.

“A campus site gives the library high visibility, excellent access to public transportation and to all necessary utilities. With several access points to the campus, traffic congestion in Silverdale would be minimized,” the resolution stated.

The council’s resolution went on to indicate that it would help oversee the development of the campus and make certain other organizations or options built on the campus would compliment the library. The council acts as an advisory board to the county commission on matters in Central Kitsap.

Prior to the vote, council chairwoman Natalie Bryson said passing the resolution would be a way to let the county know the council’s position.

“The council thinks this is an excellent site for the library,” she said.

In a recent online survey by KRL about where the library should be located, the campus received the most votes, but only by about 40 votes. Second was the property owned by the Silverdale United Methodist Church, on Ridgetop Boulevard. A third option, near the water in Old Town Silverdale was on the survey but was withdrawn from consideration when the owner— the Port of Silverdale — opted not to sell it.

Jeff Brody, director of community relations for KRL, said the library’s board still anticipates making a location decision in June. Following that, there will be a public fundraising effort prior to any construction.

“KRL has been working closely with the county in an attempt to identify the costs and benefits of siting a library on the community campus and we have found Commissioner Streissguth extremely helpful and supportive in providing us with information about the campus site in time for the KRL Board of Trustees decision, which is scheduled for June 24,” Brody said. “The community campus is still a site under consideration for the new Silverdale Library, as is the site proposed by the Silverdale United Methodist Church.

“In our community survey, which received more than 1,130 responses, the public expressed a level of concern about both of those sites. In the case of the campus, the concern is parking. In the case of the church site, the concern is access from Ridgetop Boulevard, which is considered to be very congested. Neither site received support from a majority of the people taking the survey.”

KRL continues to seek alternatives, Brody said, “so we can be sure that our board has the very best possible set of options to consider when it decides.”

In other meeting news: Tina Nelson, senior program manager with Kitsap County Public Works, updated the council on the Bucklin Hill Bridge Project. She said that due to needing more time to secure federal permits for the project, work on the new bridge over Clear Creek on Bucklin Hill Road will not begin this summer as previously planned.

It will begin either this fall or next summer depending on when all the permits are secured.

“We will start construction when we have enough time where we can work in the water,” she said, noting that that work can only take place from June 15 to Feb. 8, due to environmental regulations because of it being a salmon spawning creek. “If we have the permits in August and can get in there and get enough work down before February, then we will begin this fall. If not, we will wait until the summer of 2015.”

She also gave the council conceptual drawings of what the bridge will look like, including a kiosk that will be built on the north side. There will be a pedestrian crossing signal at the location, near to where the barn is now. And, as part of the plans, there will be places where community members can view the creek below. A community board for posting notices is also planned.

“Just who will maintain it and what its uses will be have yet to be worked out,” she said.