National Night Out is Aug. 1

The city of Mercer Island is hosting its ninth annual National Night Out from 5-8 p.m. on Aug. 1 at City Hall. This year will mark the 34th National Night Out event across the United States.

National Night Out is an organized crime prevention and preparedness event, and will involve over 14,000 communities from all 50 states. Locally, there are now well over 100 cities and counties in Washington state participating in the event, and 18 Mercer Island neighborhoods hosted an event last year.

National Night Out brings neighbors together not only to heighten crime prevention awareness and family emergency preparedness, but also to strengthen neighborhood spirit and community partnerships. Neighbors get reintroduced to one another, connect names with faces and become acquainted with city officials.

Contact Emergency Preparedness Officer Jennifer Franklin at jennifer.franklin@mercergov.org or call 206-275-7905 for more information about hosting an event.

The all-city event will feature a cookout and tours of the police station and jail. Learn more here.

Islanders prepare for emergencies

Last weekend, the city kicked off its latest emergency preparedness awareness campaign with an educational booth (open through July 22) at New Seasons Market.

Stop by to learn how to be prepared and how to assemble a kit for emergencies such as windstorms, power outages, earthquakes, etc. Emergency Volunteer Sue Robboy staffed the display during Summer Celebration and shared ideas. Learn more at the city’s preparedness website at www.mercergov.org/Prepare.

Sign up for emergency alerts through the city’s partnership with Alert King County here.

New speed check signs installed

Last week, the city’s Right-of-Way street team installed some new speed check signs along West Mercer Way and on First Hill. Locations were chosen based on requests for police enforcement by residents and patrol officer observations.

The two grant-funded, solar-powered signs can be moved to other focus areas in a few months, depending on the results.

Council discusses budget, code

At its July 17 meeting, the Mercer Island City Council discussed a proposed public engagement plan on the city’s funding challenges, Interstate 90 and the East Link project, the open space vegetation management report, the residential development standards code amendments and changing the day of council meetings from Monday to Tuesday.

See the agenda here.