POULSBO — City councilman Ed Stern probably shouldn’t quit his job at US Bancorp/Piper Jaffray in Poulsbo and become a high-stakes poker player.

He hasn’t got the face for it.

After months of toiling with representatives from First Western over the proposed construction of an Olympic College campus at Olhava and unrealized hopes that the project would finally move ahead, it was Stern’s smile at the beginning of Wednesday night’s session which revealed that the much-anticipated campus had finally been dealt the hand supporters had been waiting for.

While a touch of reshuffling is still needed, the City of Poulsbo, Olhava Associates, Olympic College have finally concurred to a memorandum of understanding concerning the 20-acre project.

“This has been a short week but it has been spent in meetings with Olympic College and Olhava Associates,” Mayor Donna Jean Bruce said. “We have a three-page agreement, that needs some tweaking, but which will give Olympic College the confidence they need to begin construction there.”

Reaching the agreement, however, came down to the final card.

The unfinalized memorandum was faxed to the city by First Western Developers at 5:11 p.m. (less than two hours before the council session) and indicates that it had two additional revisions since that time.

“We came here to honor Caesar, not to bury him,” Stern told the packed house that had come to hear whether a decision had been reached concerning the college. “At a quarter to 7 p.m. I wasn’t sure which we were going to do.”

Stern wasn’t alone in his apprehension or last-minute heroics.

Mayor Bruce and Sen. Betti Sheldon were also crucial wheels in the machine to keep the branch campus chugging forward. The two recently were able to save $13 million in state money from being re-allocated by the Office of Financial Management. The grant money represents the seed from which the college will grow.

Despite strong local support and effort for the project, though, the branch campus almost didn’t survive.

“It was dead at 4 p.m. and alive at 7 p.m. — resurrected,” councilman Stern said.

The new agreement represents a middle-ground of sorts and while it allows Olhava Associates a lessened burden in terms of initial construction it also provides Olympic College officials the guarantee that work will commence in a timely manner — something they have been seeking for the past year and a half. Water supply and road access issues, two items which had practically dropped the project dead in its tracks on numerous occasions, are also outlined in the statement.

City engineer said the main difference from this agreement and others previously sought by the three entities dealt with the timing of construction of the college and the remainder of buildings that will dot the 215-acre Olhava site.

“Ideally, both projects will progress simultaneously. But if they don’t, one can proceed independently of the other,” he said, noting that even if land and infrastructure are not ready to go elsewhere in the development, work could still begin at the college.

While there is still some pounding out to do in terms of wording and several contingencies, the memorandum represents the developer’s long-awaited support of the campus.

“Obviously, they’re an important part of the project and the community,” said managing general partner of Olhava Associates and First Western Development Mark Zenger. “If it helps the college, we’re all for it — it will be coming.”

According to Zenger, plans for infrastructure and transportation elements for the 20-acre campus project were about 75 percent complete. Olhava Associates would be ready to start work at the site by next spring, he promised.

“Sen. Betti Sheldon is here if anyone wants to say thank you,’” Zenger said in closing. Everyone did, and applause greeted the senator as she spoke to the council.

“I just want to say how excited we are,” said Sheldon, who pledged to continue fighting hard to keep the campus on track. “This is going to be a positive for this community.”