Bus intercept | City briefs

Published 11:58 am Tuesday, May 5, 2015

At their May 4 meeting, the City Councimembers received updates on many city initiatives, including:

Bus intercept—Sound Transit’s proposal to build a bus intercept on 80th Avenue S.E., near the planned light rail station, isn’t sitting well with many Islanders.

The Council subcommittee has “serious doubts as to the viability of Bus Intercept on Mercer Island as presented,” according to the agenda.

“There does not seem to be any combination of minor revisions and mitigating efforts that could lead us to recommend its consideration or anticipate its approval by the City Council,” it states. “The magnitude of the proposed facility and the operating flexibility that Sound Transit and Metro seem to require make it more important than ever that these and all relevant agencies revisit other options to locating Bus Intercept on Mercer Island.”

An operation and physical infrastructure of the scale that was presented would not be compatible with the available physical area, existing road/pedestrian/bicycle network or surrounding uses, “nor would it bring any obvious benefit to Islanders,” according to the agenda.

Cross connections—Following the boil water advisory event in fall 2014, Mercer Island city staff members have been working to update elements of the city’s Cross Connection Control Program (CCCP).

On Monday night, staff presented an overview of the city’s current CCCP and discussed next steps in the update process.

A cross connection is any physical connection between a drinking water system and any other non-potable substance (liquid, solid, or gas).

It can be a permanent connection (such as an irrigation system or fire sprinkler system) or a temporary connection (such as a hose in a bucket). An unprotected cross connection can lead to contamination of the city’s drinking water.

State law requires public water systems to develop and implement CCCPs, which requires specified water system customers to install backflow prevention assemblies.

Currently, 4,614 backflow prevention devices (at 3,257 sites) are tracked, and require annual testing. The water utility has 7,418 customers.

An annual letter is sent to customers to remind them to have their backflow prevention devices tested. During the boil water advisory, the city worked to get another letter out to the 370 customers identified as having untested backflow  prevention devices at the time of the event. The list of untested backflow devices was reduced from 370 to 69.

Staff has also developed a survey to be sent to all lakefront property owners, where high health cross connection hazards are likely to exist.

The “high health cross connection hazard” businesses on the Island include medical, dental, and veterinary facilities, dry cleaners and one car wash.

An ordinance regarding the CCCP will be brought to the Council on May 18.

Town Center code revision—The Town Center Liaison Group meets May 6 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, and there will be a public input meeting Monday, May 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center.

The Stakeholder group met May 5, after the Reporter deadline, to provide one final review and check-in prior to proposals going to the City Council.

The Council will review the proposals this month.

Sister City sculpture

Mercer Island’s Sister City, Thonon-les-Bains, is celebrating its 15-year relationship with Mercer Island. In July, French delegates, including the mayor of Thonon-les-Bains, will be visiting Mercer Island.

The Mercer Island Sister City Association will host a re-dedication of the Sister City relationship on Saturday, July 11 at Summer Celebration!

During the delegation’s visit, the Mercer Island Sister City Association will present a Twin Foxes sculpture by Georgia Gerber. The sculpture will then travel to Thonon-les-Bains, where it will be installed to honor the two cities.

The Mercer Island Sister City purchased the Twin Foxes sculpture for $3,300. They requested from the Mercer Island Arts Council that a second Twin Foxes sculpture be acquired and purchased through the “One Percent for Art” fund.

The second sculpture would remain on Mercer Island and installed in a public location, with a base and a plaque including an inscription recognizing the 15-year Sister City relationship with Thonon-les-Bains.