MARYSVILLE – If this was football, it would be “delay of game.” If this was about traffic it would be “gridlock.” If this was in the military it would be “about face.”

Whatever terminology you use, work on the Ebey Waterfront Park will slow until funding for a new Public Safety Building gets approved by voters.

After a motion had been made and seconded at Monday night’s City Council meeting to approve the $294 million 2017-18 biennial budget, Council Member Jeff Vaughan did a not so fast.

He said he was bothered that a safety building wasn’t part of the budget. In an online survey taken this year by citizens, they listed public safety as their No. 1 priority, while the park was further down the list.

While the safety building was discussed, city staff said it wanted to scale back a consultant’s recommendation because of the cost.

City staff did take time to do that for the waterfront park project, lowering the pricetag to $15 million from close to double that. About $11 million would go to a park and $4 million for the trails.

Vaughan wasn’t the only council member concerned. The budget vote failed 4-3 with Vaughan being joined by Jeff Siebert, Rob Toyer and Kamille Norton.

Stephen Muller, Michael Stevens and Donna Wright voted for the budget.

The council was concerned that citizens might not approve of the city paying for a park when the safety building is a priority.

The city is planning to go to voters for bonds for a safety building. Vaughan said the council is afraid the bonds might not pass if they spend the money on the park and don’t put any aside for the safety building.

He said there could be $7 million or more for a safety building if the park is not built yet. That would mean a lower bond amount for the safety building.

Asked if the council was holding the park hostage in favor of a Public Safety Building, Vaughan said, “Jim Ballew might think so.”

Ballew is the city’s parks director.

Vaughan, who loves to kayak in the new Qwuloolt Estuary, said he wants the park eventually.

“We can withhold a little bit. It doesn’t have to happen in the next couple of years,” he said.

The council agreed to delay the vote on the budget until staff comes up with a slower spending plan on the trails so money could be available for a Public Safety Building.

“We can’t spend the money on the park until the public safety bonds pass,” Siebert said.

Muller countered, “Just because it’s in the budget doesn’t mean we have to spend it.”

Ballew added, “We can’t even apply for grants if it’s not in the budget.”

“I don’t want it to hamper our will to get grants,” Muller added.

Vaughan said he wanted “more than verbal assurance” that the council would slow spending on the park until a safety building is approved.

Staff will work that into the budget, as a vote was delayed until the next meeting.

Chief Administrative Officer Gloria Hirashima said she would like to see at least the trails finished.

“That five-mile trail would be huge for the community,” she said. “We could wait on the waterfront park.”

Vaughan started the discussion by saying the citizen survey priorities are not “square with the budget.”

“Are we putting enough into public safety?” he asked.

Mayor Jon Nehring countered that 66 percent of the budget is for law enforcement.

He said a Public Safety Building is still up in the air because of ongoing discussions about a Regional Fire Authority, possibly to include Arlington. The city isn’t even sure if police and fire would be combined in a new building.

He also said a consultant’s estimate of $40 million is too high.

“We need to cinch those costs up,” he said.

Hirashima said 4 1/2 of the seven new positions in the budget go to law enforcement. She also said a lot of work remains to be done on the safety building.

“We don’t want to overbuild, but we don’t want to underbuild either,” she said.

They then had a lengthy discussion about the current jail.

Chief Rick Smith said it reached its maximum about five years ago, but thanks to alternative sentencing by the courts, changing contracts with Arlington and Lake Stevens, and working with jail facilities in Everett, Renton and Yakima, the 54 beds usually have about 38-48 inmates in them.

Smith added that if someone is arrested, and they are a problem, “They go to jail.”

Not all of the council members wanted to wait on the waterfront park or the budget.

“We’ve got momentum going,” Wright said of the park.

Muller added, “This is beyond parks. This is downtown revitalization and economic development.”

And Stevens said: “This will repaint our front door coming in from the south. People are excited. For forty years they’ve been waiting for something to happen down there.”