City fights against invasive knotweed

This August, city staff treated 33 populations of invasive knotweed, totaling over 2000 stems, along roadsides and in parks on Mercer Island.

Knotweed is a tall, leafy bamboo-like plant with hollow stems, and is an aggressive invader that can spread easily from one property to another. The plant grows rapidly to eight feet tall or more, reduces vision along roads, destroys wildlife habitat and even pushes up through pavement.

The Island’s populations were treated by injecting small amounts of herbicide into the stems. This method is 90-100 percent effective in the first year.

The city still needs help from Island residents to identify and treat populations on their private land.

Contact Natural Resources Coordinator Alaine Sommargren at 206-275-7879 for more information.

Sewer cleaning scheduled

This week, residents may notice a high-pressure “vactor” cleaning truck traversing the streets, maintaining sanitary sewer lines around the perimeter of the Island.

Building on work accomplished by city crews this August in Town Center, contractor crews will be using high-pressure jetting to clear accumulations of fats, oils, grease (aka “FOG”) and/or tree roots from sewer lines.

This preventative maintenance program is needed about every five years in residential areas to avoid more significant problems later. There will be minor delays from single-lane road closures. These are temporary and will employ flaggers for safety.

MICA conducts phone survey

The Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA) conducted a poll of registered Island voters, and heard from more than 400 households, said MICA President John Gordon Hill.

More than 75 percent of survey responders indicated that they were aware of and 60 percent expressed support for the project as currently envisioned.

“We’ve striven to continually deepen our understanding of the community’s vision by hosting public meetings and by meeting with community members in smaller groups and one on one,” Hill said.

MICA is also working with city staff to make sure that the facility will meet the needs and requirements of the city, he said.