Mercer Island is a ‘Solar Community’ | City briefs
Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Mercer Island is a ‘Solar Community’
Gov. Jay Inslee recognized the cities of Mercer Island, Bellevue, Edmonds, Kirkland and Seattle as “Northwest Solar Communities,” acknowledging various initiatives that have increased residential solar installations by nearly 200 percent since 2013.
The Island has been at the forefront of these efforts.
“In just 12 months, we tripled our solar capacity by adding 47 new installations. Residential solar fits so well into the evolving story of renewable, clean energy for our community, and aligns with our carbon commitments under the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C),” said Mayor Bruce Bassett.
For the past few months, the city has been planning a large investor-funded “Community Solar” array for the roof of City Hall.
For more about that project, including how to participate, contact the City Sustainability Manager Ross Freeman at ross.freeman@mercergov.org.
New Mercer Island Historical Society website
The Mercer Island Historical Society will unveil its new website, www.mercerislandhistory.org, at its next meeting.
Website designer Bruce Jones of Tye Publishing and Islander Sally Brown will explain how to navigate the website.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting at 1 p.m. on April 20 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center.
Summer youth volunteer programs
The city’s Youth and Family Services Department (MIYFS) offers two summer volunteer opportunities for Mercer Island students in grades 6 and above.
The middle school Summer Volunteer Program (SVP) is open to current 6th and 7th grade students, and the Volunteer Outreach in Communities Everywhere (VOICE) program is open to current 8th through 11th grade students.
Registration for these popular programs closes April 22.
The programs provide students the opportunity to raise their social awareness by working directly with populations in need around the greater Seattle area, while volunteering alongside their peers.
Current 10th and 11th graders with two or more years of VOICE/SVP participation are encouraged to apply for the Project Leader in Training (P-LiT), where they will assist in leading SVP projects.
Both SVP and VOICE programs run from June 22 to Aug. 14.
For more information, please contact email Tambi Cork, Youth Development Program Coordinator at MIYFS, or call 206-275-7755.
Special Election ballots due April 28
Ballots for the April 28 Special election must be mailed or postmarked or delivered to King County Elections officials by midnight, on Tuesday, April 28.
The single issue of the ballot for Mercer Island residents is the vote to approve a tax to upgrade the Puget Sound emergency radio system.
For more information, go to psern.org.
