Twelve years of restoration in the City's 300+ acres of open space have achieved impressive results.  Invasive plant cover has been reduced by half and native conifer regeneration is reaching recommended levels after starting from almost zero.  Much of this progress was made following the 2008 Parks Operations and Maintenance Levy and the concurrent recession which provided a favorable market for restoration services.

 

More recently, our region's economic boom has affected the restoration business and contractors are now in high demand.  Not only are costs escalating, but in some cases, contractors are simply not available.  The City's previous budgets allowed Parks and Recreation to maintain open space and make some additional progress.  Despite the booming economy, capital funding from Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET) was stagnant for several years because the housing market was so short on supply. 

 

In 2017, the City had to make many cuts to the capital improvement program (CIP), including open space restoration.  The combination of these cuts and escalating costs in the restoration market means that open space will be losing ground this year and in future years.  In response, Parks and Recreation staff have been strategic in putting available resources towards high-value and vulnerable sites.  They are also evaluating ways to make the funding stretch farther, such as using more in-house crews and volunteers. 

 

Learn more about the Open Space Program budget and project status.

King County Metro is currently planning route improvements to the popular Route 630 shuttle based on feedback received at a May 16 community meeting earlier this year.  Frequent riders requested that Metro:

• Move the start point to the Island's south end
• Revise the route to serve 86th Av SE/ SE 40th Street area
• Streamline the PM routing to improve efficiency

Riders have also requested a larger bus to accommodate the increased ridership. Metro has been very responsive to MI citizens and is evaluating these suggestions with changes to be announced later in the summer for the September service change. These improvements are likely to result in increased ridership and elevate the usage of the south end's Mercer Village Shopping Center Park and Ride to capacity (21 stalls).

 

Learn more about Route 630.

At its Monday August 7 meeting, the City Council continued its deliberations over changes to the rules for building and remodeling homes throughout the island (view the meeting materials here). After many months of community input, and recommendations from the City's Planning Commission, Council is now working on the final details of the regulations, with adoption expected this fall.

   

In order to help residents understand the various components under consideration, the City plans to release a series of educational videos soon that will be available on its YouTube channel and elsewhere.

 

Learn more about the proposed changes at this webpage:   www.mercergov.org/Residential

Every dollar raised from the event benefits the globally-recognized  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, whose mission is the elimination of cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death. Home to three Nobel laureates and interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists, the "Hutch" is a global leader in research to prevent, detect and treat cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Residents will encounter bicyclists after about 8:45am on Sunday along East and West Mercer Ways, and are asked to accommodate the event; riders must follow all traffic laws.

The  Mercer Island Arts Council  is pleased to present "On a Whim," with Vikram Madan, LouiseHankes and Matt Lome, at the Mercer Gallery  located in the Mercer Island Community and Events Center, from  July 24 - September 8, 2017.