POULSBO — City officials have said all along that constructing the Bond Road Pump Station is crucial to the abandonment of the sewer line running along Liberty Bay.

That line has broken twice in the last six months, with the most recent break spilling an estimated 5,000 gallons of sewage into the bay March 21. The Sept. 29 leak was estimated at more than 550,000 gallons.

However, the pump station project has been appealed by two landowners, whose properties would be affected by the proposed location on the northwest corner of the intersection of Bond Road and State Route 305.

Both Jerry Edmonds and Stan Brand filed appeals, which are scheduled to go before the Hearing Examiner April 28, but after a March 22 meeting with city officials, all parties expressed optimism about a permanent agreement.

“I’m cautiously optimistic and we want to make it as safe as possible,” Edmonds said after the meeting.

The March 22 meeting was the first time all of the parties came together and had a fruitful discussion about the issues concerning the proposed pump station, he said.

“The location is slightly different and everyone wants to come to an agreement,” Edmonds said.

If an agreement is reached, then the appeal will be dropped and the project will then be able to move forward, Edmonds said.

“I feel very positive about the status of the project and it’s the best I’ve felt since its inception,” said Councilman Ed Stern, who serves on the council’s public works committee.

Completion of the project will benefit Liberty Bay and will allow the city to support its future growth, he added.

“It was a good exercise for the city in dealing with our property owners,” Stern said.

Planning Director Barry Berezowsky issued a notice of decision for the 352-square foot building, which is set to be constructed in the Vetter Road right of way Nov. 16. The site is west of the Liberty Bay Dental Center and south of a single-family residence.

According to the Nov. 16 notice of decision, the pump station is one of three components that would allow for the redirecting of existing and future wastewater flows from the Lindvig Pump Station currently being routed along Liberty Bay to the Marine Science Center Pump Station.

A copy of the staff report for the new station revealed that the project was technically completed June 27, 2005 and that four comment letters, primarily related to the right of way width, were received during the first public comment period.

The possibility of moving the pump station within the Bond Road right of way was explored, but the Vetter Road right of way location and width were confirmed, the staff report states.

Even though the project was not included in the Olhava Master Plan, which had all of the wastewater from Olhava running through Finn Hill Terrace, down Finn Hill Road and into an improved Lindvig Pump Station, it was identified as part of the city’s comprehensive sanitary sewer plan in 2002.

In April 2004, the pump station was included in the developer agreement as part of the off-site sanitary sewer system improvements signed between Olhava Associates and the city.

The staff report also notes that the site plan shows Dogfish Creek to be located 162 feet away from the nearest point of the station, far exceeding the minimum 40-foot buffer requirement set by the city’s current Critical Areas Ordinance.