Faced with a ticking permit clock, Port of South Whidbey officials have decided to break up phase one of the marina expansion project and pursue some elements immediately.

The port has submitted an application for a building permit from Langley to proceed with its plans to install two 25-foot floats, a gangway and a 12-foot concrete pedestrian ramp at the boat launch.

The 11 existing wooden pilings would be removed and replaced by four new metal ones.

“As soon as we have permit approval from the city, we’ll go out to bid,” said Ed Field, operations manager for the port.

The improvements were initially part of phase one, a $2.4 million project that proposes to recondition and reconfigure a 400-foot breakwater with pilings, run supporting utilities out to the dock and install a new 80-foot gangway that would connect everything to the existing marina.

While the boat launch work already has some needed permits, they are set to expire in December. The process to secure federal permits for the remainder of the project continues to drag on and port officials were nervous that they would lose their window for the boat launch element.

“We can’t let those permits expire,” Field said.

According to Field, the designs will need to go through the Design Review Board before a building permit can be approved. He said he hopes the board will review the plans at the meeting July 17.