The Mercer Island Recycle Center officially closed down last week, but with new possibilities for the future.
The Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) is helping the city find a “financially, socially and environmentally” stable business solution for the plot of city land that currently houses the Recycle Center.
A handful of graduate students from the Bainbridge institution have already begun the first phase of the project: determining the level of community engagement and proposal boundaries.
“The city needs to choose a process for stakeholder engagement,” BGI team member Susan Borg told City Councilmembers at their January planning session, where the project was discussed. “What are your boundaries? Will this be a profit center or budget neutral? Are there limitations on the portion of the community it will serve? You as a city must decide what’s on or off the table.”
City staff is currently brainstorming options for the center and deciding how to best involve the community in the process.
“If you look at our history with PEAK, I-90, dog leash laws, etc., we’ve had a wide variety of public input processes, some more successful than others,” said Councilmember Steve Litzow.
Last week, BCI students met with City Manager Rich Conrad and Youth and Family Services Director Cindy Goodwin to develop a public input plan. According to Goodwin, the city will hold a series of public meetings for Recycle Center stakeholders and Island residents to comment.
“They have decided to hold open meetings, specifically inviting everyone who they know is a stakeholder to get everyone’s opinions,” Goodwin said, adding that Islanders should keep an eye out for news on the upcoming meetings.
Meanwhile, Friends of the Recycling Center, a grassroots group of Islanders invested in the 35-year-old facility, are meeting among themselves and already have a number of ideas brewing for the property.
The last time the organization formally met was in December 2009, when members proposed ideas ranging from “keep the center as it is” to “turn it into an extension of the Mercer Island Thrift Shop.” The members are welcome to contribute their ideas, all of which value sustainability, once the city develops a public outlet for the project.
After an idea is settled for the property, nudged between Mercerdale Park and S.E. 32nd Street, the Bainbridge students will select a process for the project, while summarizing solutions and researching existing projects that can serve as a template.
“We’re committed to doing the research. We’ll figure out what’s happening there and come back to you with suggestions,” said grad student Laura Steffen.
Once the city and BGI students have agreed on a feasible development project for the Recycle Center property, implementation of the idea can begin. Both sides hope to reach this point by June.
Although the current group of BGI students will graduate this summer, facilitation of the project will be passed to incoming students in the fall, Steffen said.
The BGI Recycling Center project is possible due to grant funds, and therefore costs the city next to nothing. Both city staff and Councilmembers are supportive of the BGI partnership and have expressed eagerness to contribute to the process.
For more information on BGI, visit www.bgiedu.org.
