POULSBO — With all seven council members present, four more votes were cast before a 5-2 majority of the council agreed to put the municipal campus project before the voters in the November election Wednesday night.

Councilmen Ed Stern, Dale Rudolph and Jim Henry along with Councilwomen Connie Lord and Kimberlee Crowder voted for it. Councilmen Jeff McGinty and Mike Regis were opposed.

With the vote, the council agreed to wind down all work on the 10th Avenue site, which was selected on a 5-2 vote on Nov. 16, 2005; continue with the purchase of the property; allow for a comparison of both 10th Avenue and downtown; and let voters decide between 10th Avenue or downtown for city hall on the November ballot.

After presenting the key to the city to Miss Viking Fest 2006 Jasmine Campbell, Mayor Kathryn Quade lit the fuse on the explosive topic as she raised the idea of a private/public partnership for city hall that would include a boutique hotel, 250 to 275 parking spaces and 33,000 square feet for city governmental services.

“If this option proves viable, we could keep our city governmental functions downtown, take a big step towards resolving the downtown parking problem, assist the historical society in its effort to find a permanent location and buy the OPG property,” Quade said.

A new police station, a community center or a new public works facility could then be built on the 10th Avenue property, she said.

If the downtown option proves viable, the city would save more than $7.8 million including the purchase of the 10th Avenue property.

“This almost $8 million could go a long way towards the construction of a new police station, community center or a public works facility,” she said. “The point being, if the downtown alternative works through a private/public partnership, then the city can free up a large amount of money that would otherwise be spent only on city hall,” Quade said.

Following Crowder’s praise for last week’s vote, Rudolph, who missed that meeting, took the entire council and the mayor to task.

“This motion was too complex and issues should be taken one at a time or in logical groups,” Rudolph said. “This motion was not ready for action, as the impacts and significant costs were not known.”

The six-point motion contained six diverse issues that made any vote difficult, he said.

“I’m more than a little bit upset that my motion was a premise for opening an entirely new discussion,” Rudolph said.

Rudolph then moved to reconsider last week’s motion and Councilman Mike Regis provided the second, forcing the council to once again vote on the municipal campus issue.

“There’s a lot of numbers flying around here and the numbers kind of amazed me,” McGinty said.

The longer the project is delayed, the greater the possibility that the city might not be able to afford to build a new city hall at all, McGinty said.

“It’s a serious issue and we came a long way to get where we’re at,” McGinty said. “No matter what decision we make there’s always going to be second guessers.”

Seeing a room full of people waiting for other items on the night’s agenda, Quade asked council members if they would like to deal with the other business and take up the municipal campus discussion at the end of the meeting.

At 9:30 p.m., after McGinty, Regis and Rudolph were blistered by stinging public criticism that focused on their not listening to the public and their unwillingness to reconsider their decision, Stern said he would gladly break his six-point motion into individual pieces if that’s what it took for the council to reach a consensus.

“I have lost all enthusiasm for the project,” Stern said as the council unanimously agreed to extend the meeting until 10:30 p.m.

Regis said that no matter what happens with the project, the city needs to fulfill its obligations to complete the short plat on the property along with the State Environmental Protection Act document.

“When we started out on this project I didn’t think it would be that controversial,” McGinty said. “This is not a power thing. We just came to a conclusion through a logical process.”

Henry agreed with Stern that he, too, had lost his enthusiasm for the project and is willing to let the people have their say.

“If 2,000 people show up and 1,001 vote for an option, that’s a consensus,” Henry said.

Rudolph then chimed in and said after much thought the issue should go to the voters.

Finally, with five minutes remaining before automatic adjournment, Stern presented the same motion he made last week altering the wording to include having BLRB Architects wind down and not suddenly stop work and complete the short plat and SEPA document.