As Michael Ellis sits on the concrete edge of a walkway out to Eagle Harbor at Strawberry Plant Park, he and his dog Daisy have an opportunity that rarely comes around this time of year: to soak up some sun in December.

Ellis is a frequent visitor to the park. He enjoys walking his dog there, and he likes the tranquility.

“You come down here and there’s no one here,” he said. “There’s good access to the water and it’s quiet,” he said.

An expected City Council decision on a restoration project for the park’s shoreline at the Wednesday meeting could pave the way for changes to the site.

Ellis, who visits the park a few times each week, said he hasn’t followed everything the city is proposing to do to the park. But, when asked how he felt about the possibility of the water access becoming more restricted in favor of restored salmon habitat, he said: “I think that’s fine. I have no problem with that.”

At its Wednesday meeting, the council is considering three options as it relates to the park. The first is to continue the project as planned, the second is to alter plans, and lastly, to stop the project all together.

The city has partnered with Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District to restore the site. The city would work on the shoreline, removing concrete and restoring salt marshes and riparian vegetation zones, while the park district would develop the upland areas.

The proposed project would dramatically alter the shape of the shoreline along the 4.7-acre Eagle Harbor parcel.

Concrete bulkheads and the shoreline would be cut back, with the intent of creating new marshland and nearshore habitat. The proposal includes provisions for an over-water viewing structure, a bridge over the creek and small-boat launch.

If the council chooses to continue with the current design, construction and bidding would occur in the fall of 2010 or spring 2011.

The park was once home to a cannery that served the island’s booming berry industry. It was later the site of a concrete plant and a commercial center, which burned in 1997.

Development of the park has been a hot topic this year. At a council meeting in July, numerous supporters for a group called Friends of Cannery Cove, led by local historian Gerald Elfendahl, appeared and implored the council to stop the project so more public involvement could be considered.

The public turnout caused council action to be halted until further community input was received.

If the council decides to proceed with the project as scheduled, all the funding is in place, and all the permits have been obtained. The restoration project is largely funded by grants, with the city contributing $127,000 (14 percent of the total budget) for design and survey costs, according to project documents.

Should the project be altered or stopped, it remains unclear if the city could retain its grant funding for the future of the project.

The primary grant funding the project comes from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB). The grant is good for $252,395, and the city obtained a grant from the Elliot Bay Trustees for $315,443 as a match for the SRFB award.

Requests for comment to the SRFB on how a change in the project would impact the grant were not immediately returned.

A Nov. 24 letter from the Elliot Bay Trustees to the city warned that any change in the project could impact the grant funding.

“If the city intends to change the Strawberry Plant Park project design, the Trustees will need to re-evaluate the project to determine whether it is still appropriate to provide the match for a SRFB construction grant for the modified project, assuming the SRFB funds are available for the modified project,” the letter said.

Elfendahl said work on the park can still happen even if the project is stalled. He advocates a community-driven plan in which a community task force with representatives from all sides of the spectrum come together to decide the fate of the park. More voluntary community effort would offset the possible loss of grants, he said.

“We’ve done a lot of things on this island without grants,” Elfendahl said. “We can do things on our own.”

The council accepted the grants on July 8, and two weeks later the Friends of Cannery Cove made their voices heard.

Since the July 22 meeting, no further design has occurred on the project, but the city continued to seek and obtain the necessary permits to restore the shoreline.

The full community had an opportunity to discuss the project at an all-day meeting Nov. 7.

At the meeting, Friends of Cannery Cove, neighbors of the park, City Councilors and other interested citizens suggested dozens of possible uses for the area. While the councilors said they left the meeting with some added clarity, Elfendahl and the city felt the meeting didn’t come to a clear conclusion.

“I was extremely gratified that we all sat down and we came up with nine values we agreed upon,” Elfendahl said. “We just scratched the very surface and there wasn’t time to explore all the options.”

“There was no consensus reached about any of the ideas put forth regarding how to honor the interests participants articulated,” city notes on the meeting said.

Property owners neighboring the park use it relatively often, and several neighbors like the idea of a more developed upland park with an emphasis on restoration of the shoreline.

“I’m just hoping they use what’s there and clean it up,” said Weaver Road resident Rich Dempsey, who has lived across the street from the park for six months.

Dempsey would like to see a combination where the emphasis is put on the environmental aspect, but with an additional focus on maintaining the historical character of the site.

As for Ellis, the winter sun bather, he wouldn’t mind seeing the space become a little greener.

“I don’t know that they need to have these concrete walkways,” he said. “I’m sure they served a purpose at some point, but I don’t know if they’re necessary now.”