POULSBO — They’ve become accustomed to the rough waters of Liberty Bay over the years, but the Port of Poulsbo Commissioners just can’t seem to find a safe harbor anywhere in the financial storm that has surrounded them in 2002.

The primary reason for the lack of shelter is an eroding rock bulkhead that presently serves as the sole buffer for Waterfront Park. The 26-year-old wall has been sloughing since it was built but recent problems there may very well mirror a deeper disintegration in the port and city relationship.

While both parties have openly acknowledged the need to repair the wall and stabilize one of Poulsbo’s best-known amenities, neither has shown a high degree of interest in partnering on the project. The lack of teamwork has not only cost the two roughly $1.8 million in grant money over the past year but could very well cost them the park as well.

Last week, the port received word from officials at the Interagency for Outdoor Recreation Program that its request for $875,000 in Boat Infrastructure Grant money had been denied. The grant represented about half of the amount needed to repair the wall, explained Kathy Barrantes, who served as grant writer for the proposal.

“They said it was a good grant and it scored well. The only question was that the partnership (between the city and port) was weak,” said Barrantes.

Part of the problem was Poulsbo’s possible pledge of in kind services was seen as a lack of commitment to the project, Barrantes said after talking to IAC officials. Another issue was the fact that neither entity had taken any steps to attain permits for the wall repair.

“These permits take about 18 months to process and they would have only had two years to use the money. So, it wouldn’t have worked that way either,” Barrantes added. “The BIG is competitive and think they would have gotten it but there was no real partnership.”

This lack of partnership came to light earlier last year as well, when the city and port planned to go after $500,000 in Salmon Recovery Funding Board money but “dropped the ball,” as Barrantes put it, on a $400,000 match. The port never applied for the grant, which had a higher likelihood for success than the BIG and would have provided matching money for the project.

Another “ball” the port let slip through their hands was some $119,000 in payments that were supposed to be put into a yearly escrow account.

In the early 1990s, the port entered a lease agreement with the city for the tidelands along Waterfront Park and around the wharf area. In return for the low rent of $1 year on the property, the Port of Poulsbo agreed to deposit approximately $17,000 annually into a Department of Natural Resources account set up for bulkhead repairs.

While the port made two deposits in 1993 and 1994, commissioners later withdrew $38,000 in 1996 to repair a cement retaining wall near the Poulsbo Marine Science Center. That was the last activity in the account and the promised payments did not continue, according to Poulsbo Finance Director Donna Bjorkman.

“It’s been seven years since they made a deposit,” Bjorkman said, noting that presently there was a mere $572 in the account which should contain well over $100,000 — plus interest.

“I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Commissioner Tony DeCarlo explained. “We weren’t aware that this (deposit) was supposed to happen.”

DeCarlo pointed out that the lease was “before my time.”

“I’m going to have to look into it,” DeCarlo said, noting that he would be discussing the matter with Poulsbo Mayor Donna Jean Bruce.

Mayor Bruce, who was preparing to discuss the issue with members of the Poulsbo City Council Friday morning said she wasn’t exactly sure what would become of the bulkhead.