Department looking to

relocate from city’s center.

POULSBO — The Viking City’s garbage trucks and tool sheds could be moving to a new location soon, according to city leaders.

The Public Works department is currently eyeing a 4.8-acre land parcel on Viking Way north of State Route 305 to serve as its new home.

The plot would cost $1,050,000, department director Barry Loveless said last Wednesday.

Currently, Public Works is located at the corner of Iverson Street and Eighth Avenue, across the street from the public library and adjacent to Centennial Park.

The move would land the department in a light industrial zone, a better suited area for its various vehicles and mechanical bay.

The city has until mid-October to perform due diligence studies on the land, including a phase one environmental assessment recommended by the Finance Committee. If council-approved, the $3,500 study will be conducted by Parametrix. A contract is already in the works with the current owner.

City Finance Director Deb Booher said funding for the land will come primarily from the Public Works utility funds, and shouldn’t have much of an effect on funding for the new city hall — a concern raised during Wednesday’s Finance Committee meeting.

Poulsbo Mayor Kathryn Quade said there are probably three or fewer land parcels within Poulsbo that would suit the department’s needs, including the Viking Way acreage that sits just past the Church of the Nazarene.

“This is imminently buildable,” she said. “It’s almost like a perfect size.”

The city also stands to benefit from the sale of the land’s timber, and the removal of an inner-city “eyesore.”

Though a building on the land wouldn’t occur immediately, the city could begin using the area to store vehicles and equipment right away.

Quade also reassured the committee the city hall project, which had been given a $16.9 million price tag, is gearing toward hitting less than the projected amount, possibly even down to $14 million. The near-$17 million estimate is more of a “ceiling,” she said.

To help pay for the new civic structure, the city is planning to unload a few of its unused parcels, including an undeveloped park property, its 10th Avenue land currently being optioned by Harrison Medical Center, and eventually the current city hall land on Jensen Way.