While the snow falling made it seem as if spring was never coming, officials at the Port of Bremerton Wednesday celebrated that the city of Bremerton had indeed come to the South Kitsap Industrial Area (SKIA).

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said Cheryl Kincer, chair of the port’s Board of Commissioners. “The future is bright here.”

April 1 marks the day when both sections of the 3,500-acre SKIA are officially annexed into Bremerton, ending a long and often contentious process as private property owners and representatives from the port, Kitsap County, Bremerton and the city of Port Orchard discussed the best path for developing the area.

“The future of this area is private industry,” said David Overton, a SKIA landowner who argued strongly for Bremerton to annex the property. “Kitsap County will always have a partnership in (SKIA development), but Bremerton will now be providing the leadership.”

Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman said it was a great step for his city, as well.

“We just doubled our economic opportunities,” Bozeman said, adding that Bremerton was “no longer land-locked,” and he was looking forward to finding the “right investors” for SKIA and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) project, whether they be Paul Allen, Microsoft or Nintendo.

“This is our opportunity to create new jobs and economic development, and to identify this as a place where people want to come,” he continued, pointing out that the location not only offered an airport, but was close to Seattle, Olympia and I-5.

Bozeman thanked former port Chief Executive Officer Ken Attebery for helping push the annexation process forward, and thanked Overton.

“David and I started working together on the NASCAR project, and I still believe that would have been a good project for this area,” Bozeman said. “Now the work begins, David — now we gotta start bringing the jobs out here.”

Overton thanked everyone for their work to complete the annexation and said he “would say, ‘Gentlemen, start your engines,’ but that would bring up other issues.”

Overton then asked Commissioner Larry Stokes if he wished to comment, and Stokes responded with: “If I had a comment, it would be, ‘Gentlemen, start you engines,’” he said. “And, hey, let’s get NASCAR back.”

Kincer said she wanted to answer questions regarding why the port annexed SKIA, and “in a nutshell, it was for economic development, and to assist the private property owners who felt ‘hamstrung’ when trying to develop their land.”