POULSBO — A 5-2 vote on Nov. 7, 2005 put Poulsbo’s future city hall on 10th Avenue. Exactly one year later, residents voted to keep it on Jensen Way in the Nov. 7, 2006 general election.

Wednesday night the city council took that advice as it passed a resolution stating its commitment to building city hall downtown with a 5-2 vote.

“The Poulsbo City Council is committed to following the will of the public as expediently as possible,” said Councilwoman Kimberlee Crowder as she read the resolution into the record.

“Madam mayor, I happily move that we accept the results,” Councilwoman Connie Lord said. After a second from Councilman Jeff McGinty, Councilman Mike Regis cast the first vote against accepting the advisory ballot results.

However, with Lord, Crowder and councilmen Ed Stern, Dale Rudolph and Jeff McGinty voting in favor of the resolution, Mayor Kathryn Quade said she would direct staff to begin working on the downtown location, but not before Councilman Jim Henry raised a mild protest.

“Can we get a recount?” Henry asked as he joined Regis in his opposition to the results.

That sentiment marked a change in tune for Henry, who was the first council member to suggest a special election to see where voters wanted city hall.

At a May 10 town hall meeting Henry said, “If 2,000 people show up and 1,001 vote for an option, that’s a consensus.”

Explaining his vote Thursday afternoon, Henry said he promised he would support the people’s decision.

“I’m not going to do anything to interfere with it,” Henry said. “I just think it was the wrong decision.”

Even though the vote was for a downtown city hall, Quade said the city will hold on to the 10th Avenue property until a final decision is made about its future.

“There’s no rush. We’re going to hang on to it as we move through the visioning process,” Quade said.

Bight of Poulsbo founder Bill Austin, who led the charge for the advisory vote and to keep city hall downtown, thanked the council for its commitment to following the voters’ recommendation.

“This was a tough one,” Austin said Thursday morning. “I really didn’t know which way it would go until the bitter end.”

Even though his side was victorious, Austin said the 10th Avenue supporters put their hearts and souls into pushing for that site as well.

“It’s time for us all to get together and make this thing work properly,” Austin said.

After holding out hope for a change in the outcome on Election Day, Thursday morning 10th Avenue supporter Bill Lockard said he didn’t think it would change.

“We had facts and now they have got to be faced with developing their own set,” Lockard said, adding that time is of the essence for the work to begin.

While disappointed, Lockard said he personally will not hinder the process of building a downtown city hall.

“From my personal standpoint, I’ll do what I can to help,” Lockard said. “My fear is that we cannot afford a city hall that not only meets our present needs but our needs for the future.”

Poulsbo’s future for city hall has been hazy for the past six years — the vote marked the third location for a proposed city hall since 2000.

That year, the city purchased the 2.75-acre Morris property. After paying $600,000 for the site, a $76,000 study revealed it wouldn’t work as a city hall location because of its proximity to Dogfish Creek.

In June, the city completed the $2.1 million purchase of the 8-acre parcel owned by Olympic Property Group at the intersection of Lincoln Road and 10th Avenue.