Council holds hearings on moratoria

At the March 6 Mercer Island City Council meeting, the council held public hearings on the moratoria that it enacted to ensure the city’s code can be amended to comply with the Growth Management Act with respect to the construction of light rail.

The moratoria involve “Development of Construction Activity within the I-90 Right of Way Portion of the Public Institution Zone” and “Transportation Concurrency and Siting of Essential Public Facilities.”

To learn more about these moratoria, visit the city’s light rail FAQ page at www.mercergov.org/Rail.

Mercer Island considers renaming outdoor sculpture gallery

Also at the March 6 meeting, the council heard a proposal to change the name of the I-90 Outdoor Sculpture Gallery to the “Greta Hackett Outdoor Sculpture Gallery.”

Hackett (1933-1997), a former longtime Arts Council member, was the driving force behind the gallery, conceiving the idea after her travels to Japan and California.

The inaugural exhibit of eight sculptures occurred in October 1995, with the first installation being Primavera II. Sculptures are commissioned for one year or longer. The gallery also consists of permanent public art pieces that were purchased by the city or donated.

The council also considered changing the name of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, to include “arts.” The decision was tabled until the March 20 meeting.

For more, see www.mercergov.org/CouncilMeetings.

City receives clean audit for 21st year

The city of Mercer Island is audited annually by the Washington State Auditor’s Office, and was recently found to be fully compliant under government auditing standards. The full audit is available on the state’s website at http://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch.

The city has received “unqualified” (i.e. clean) audit opinions since at least 1995, according to records.