POULSBO — Ever since it moved to its 3rd Avenue location, North Kitsap Fishline has lived in the shadow of a steep embankment at its back door.

Tuesday, the shadow got closer as 24 consecutive days of rain caused some of the dirt to slide down into its parking lot, resulting in the food bank’s closure at 12:30 p.m.

Fishline reopened Wednesday morning during its regular hours to serve its clients.

That day, city crews arrived on scene and built a temporary retaining wall with 4,000-pound concrete blocks to catch any potential future slides. The crews also trimmed away most of the trees and brush and built a catch basin at the top of the slope to minimize the amount of water running down the hillside.

“The city did an excellent job and the response was great,” said Fishline Executive Director Sharon Kirkpatrick. “They came and worked for five hours to get it done.”

Even though the blocks are in place, there has been more movement mud down the slope and many of the roots in the overlooking cliff have been exposed, Kirkpatrick said Thursday morning as more rain fell throughout the city.

“They put the blocks in place but it’s still not going to hold the cliff,” she said.

In addition to placing the actual building in danger, the slide has exacerbated Fishline’s parking problems.

“It’s created more pressure for parking and makes it harder for us to serve our clients,” Kirkpatrick said, adding that due to the potential danger of another slide, she is telling people to park on the north side of the building at their own risk.

City Engineer Andrezj Kasiniak examined the site Tuesday afternoon and returned to Wednesday morning to check on the repairs.

The blocks should work, but it is possible that the wall could be extended farther north and another layer could be added in the future, Kasiniak said.

Public Works Director Jeff Lincoln notified the city council of the slide Wednesday night and said that the situation appears to be under control.

“It is something we are very concerned about and hopefully it will prevent another slide,” Lincoln said.

City crews will continue monitoring the site daily and a geotechnical engineer has already examined the site, he said.

“We’re going to have to weather the next 10 days and the solution to the immediate problem was the action we took,” Lincoln said.