OLYMPIA — There was a lot of promoting and a little dissing Thursday in the first legislative hearing on where a proposed University of Washington branch campus should be built.

Supporters of competing sites in Everett and Marysville overflowed a hearing room where 40 people testified to the Senate Higher Education Committee on bills intended to bring the university to one of those cities.

“This is a very important journey for all of us,” said committee chairman Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds.

It won’t be cheap, Randy Hodgins, director of the UW Office of State Relations, reminded lawmakers.

“A campus like this is not a bargain. It is expensive,” he said, noting the UW is concerned that the state not take money from its other campuses to pay for this one.

Throughout a two-hour hearing, speakers agreed as strongly on the need for a college as they disagreed on the merits of the two locations that scored highest in a report from a state-hired consultant.

That analysis, done by NBBJ of Seattle, ranked 27 acres around Everett Station slightly higher than 369 privately owned acres in the Smokey Point area in Marysville.

Since release of the report, the lines of division have become quite distinct.

Civic and business leaders in Everett, plus the Snohomish County Council, prefer Everett Station. Their counterparts in Island and Skagit counties and communities in north Snohomish County back Smokey Point.

At Thursday’s hearing, some Smokey Point supporters also questioned the results of the NBBJ report. They pointed out that because land in Everett’s proposal is not contiguous, it no longer meets a criteria used by NBBJ to weed out proposed sites.

“If there is any integrity in the process, this should disqualify Everett” or the process should be reopened, said Joel Hylback of Mount Vernon.

Backers of a college in Everett lined up behind Shin’s Senate Bill 6391 to establish a University of Washington North Sound in the city.

Mayor Ray Stephanson said this is a “historic moment for the state and our community” and Everett is determined to do what it must to secure the campus.

City employees, chamber leaders, business owners, a union executive, a couple of residents and two Snohomish County Council members lauded the site’s benefits for students — proximity to transportation services, employment opportunities and social activities.

Everett Mall General Manager Linda Johannes touted the community’s “passionate support” for the undertaking. She said it is on a par with that seen when Naval Station Everett was secured.

“We bring to you today that same kind of commitment,” Johannes said. “We still wear that Navy blue proudly and we are ready to add the purple and gold just as proudly.”

Those pushing for the Smokey Point property endorsed Senate Bill 6352 to set strict criteria for legislators to follow if and when a vote on a site is taken.

The bill does not specify that the campus be built in north Snohomish County. It is written in a way to give the larger site the edge.

Most speakers stressed that the site’s primary advantages are its larger size and its location nearer residents in Island and Skagit counties.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, the author of the bill, said a branch campus in Everett would be closer to Bothell than Mount Vernon, the hub of Skagit County, she said.

Becky Foster of Smokey Point said they can match Everett’s energy.

“We have a community that will stand up and support the university. We have the area that will last for 100 years,” she said.

Fourteen-year-old Catherine Binford, whose father owns part of the Smokey Point site, said the 369 acres allows creation of a “beautiful, open campus.”

“Most students want a peaceful campus without lots of noise,” she said without mentioning Everett’s location alongside train tracks.

Her father did. He said 27 freight trains travel the route daily.

“Do you want to be teaching a lecture with 27 trains coming by every day?” he said.

John Cronin of Tulalip said he wants the campus in Marysville but implored lawmakers to think beyond each site’s quantity of dirt.

“Be visionary,” he said. “It’s the future of our children. It’s not just for Snohomish County. It’s not just for Island County or Skagit County. It is for our state.”

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.