POULSBO — In the spirit of the holidays, property owners Bob Amos, John Hern and Roger Sherrard along with city officials found a way to complete the long-awaited 7th Avenue extension Wednesday night.

For the past 15 years, those involved have attempted to resolve the issues surrounding the best way to connect 7th Avenue to Forest Rock Lane and provide a bypass to State Route 305.

However, the expected costs and lack of a funding source derailed those hopes until this fall when Amos and City Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak along with Herb Armstrong of ADA Engineering discovered a cost-effective solution.

Instead of centering the 30-foot road segment in the 60-foot right of way, moving it to the east edge would significantly reduce the cost of a retaining wall required to stabilize the west side of the road, Kasiniak told the council’s public works committee.

“We were very surprised that it would cost about $150,000 to extend the road,” Kasiniak said.

Also, with crews from Stan Palmer Construction already on the site as part of the SR 305 widening project, the total cost would be about $200,000, he said.

The extension could be completed as early as November 2007, but time is of the essence, he said.

“I think we have to make a decision very soon,” Kasiniak said.

Amos, who already has an agreement with Stan Palmer Construction to complete his section of 7th Avenue near Frontier Bank, said instead of scrutinizing the upfront costs, the city should look at what it has to gain from the project.

The city, Amos said, would benefit from the sales tax revenues from all the businesses, which would locate on that portion of 7th Avenue once the extension is completed.

“It would be a small investment for us, which would have a big return,” Councilman Ed Stern said.

Mayor Kathryn Quade broached the idea of the city partnering with the property owners in the area to collect late-comers fees to pay for the road instead of the city footing the entire bill.

However, Hern quickly quashed that idea and clearly stated that he would not, under any conditions, help pay for the proposed extension.

“The city should pay for it, because it’s your 7th Avenue,” Hern said. “I’m not going to put one penny in, because I’ve got a lot of time.”

Sherrard said he and Hern, who own the property where Forest Rock Lane intersects SR 305, have tried to be team players throughout the entire process.

“We’ve been working for a lot of years to get this done,” he said.

Sherrard said he, Hern and Amos spent countless hours to obtain the necessary permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the road to be built.

After listening to the property owners’ concerns, Stern said the city council needs to make the extension a high priority, especially in light of the upcoming impacts from the SR 305 widening project.

“If we’re going to do this, now is the time, because it’s going to help with what’s going to be a bad traffic snarl for the next two years,” Stern said.

Quade said the extension would solve several problems at once, including the congestion at the 7th Avenue and Liberty Road intersection.

“If we can resolve the financing issue, then I would recommend we go ahead with it,” Quade said.