City news in Mercer Island.

Council reviews small cell facilities

The Mercer Island City Council held a study session before its Sept. 19 meeting to learn more about small cell wireless facilities, deciding that more information was needed before the city would move forward. The item is also scheduled for review at the Oct. 4 council meeting.

On June 3, a law firm representing WA-CLEC, LLC, a subsidiary of Crown Castle, submitted applications to install small cell facilities on Puget Sound Energy (PSE) utility poles in 38 locations throughout the city to address a significant gap in coverage for its client, T-Mobile.

“The installation of small cell technology would address this [coverage] gap through low profile systems as opposed to larger, more traditional cell towers,” according to the council’s Sept. 19 agenda bill.

City staff wants more input from the council about what the small cell sites should look like, what the approval process for additional sites should entail and how many sites would be allowed on one utility pole or within a defined area.

See www.mercergov.org/CouncilMeetings for more.

Youth volunteer programs wrap up

For eight weeks during the summer of 2016, 250 students volunteered through the city’s Youth and Family Services Department (MIYFS) programs. Launched in 1994, the program celebrated its 23rd year this summer.

From June 27 to Aug. 19, the high school VOICE program (Volunteer Outreach In Communities Everywhere*, and the middle school Summer Volunteer Program (SVP) provided almost 10,000 hours of community service to more than 50 nonprofits throughout greater King County.

Volunteers can choose to take on a wide variety of work, from pulling invasive plants, preparing hot meals for the homeless or participating in outdoor recreation activities with people with disabilities. Projects are led by one of eight MIYFS Project Leaders. Many of the young adult staff are VOICE alumni home from college for the summer.

Volunteers are passionate about the work they do for VOICE/SVP. When asked why they chose to join the program, one SVP volunteer responded “I like helping the world,” and a VOICE member said “it’s a fun way to volunteer.” Another volunteer stated: “These are the people you’re going to see for the first 18 years of your life,” stressing the importance of participating in VOICE to meet and interact with other youths from the Mercer Island community.

Registration for the 2017 VOICE/SVP Programs will be open during spring 2017, online at www.mercergov.org/voice. To receive an email reminder of these dates, contact Tambi Cork, youth development coordinator, at tambi.cork@mercergov.org.

Annual fall recycling event is Nov. 5

Save the date: the ever-popular Mercer Island Fall Recycling Event will be held a few weeks later this year, on Saturday, Nov. 5, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mercer Island Boat Launch (3600 E. Mercer Way).

Come safely dispose of the old equipment, electronics, appliances and other household items that are cluttering your basement or garage; document shredding will be available too.

As in the recent past, the city may also offer discounted rain barrels or compost bins for garden projects, but this is yet to be confirmed.

See a past event flyer at www.mercergov.org/files/2016_MI_Spring_Recycling_Flyer.pdf for a good overview of what to expect.