As asbestos testing continues, it is anticipated that Mercer Island City Hall will remain shuttered throughout the summer and beyond, according to City Manager Jessi Bon amidst an update at the June 20 virtual city council meeting.

The building was closed on April 17 to ensure the safety of staff and visitors after asbestos-contaminated broken tiles were discovered in the boiler room, which contains two air-handling units. After testing the disturbed tiles, they were later confirmed to contain asbestos, noted a city report.

During testing being handled by environmental safety experts and city workers, they detected an additional amount of asbestos above background levels in portions of the building’s HVAC system.

“We are continuing to test and determine the limits of the asbestos inside the HVAC system. It may seem like it’s taking a long time — it is — we have a lot of ducts to continue testing and we have still not determined the limits,” Bon said of the ongoing tasks.

City hall — which includes the council chambers — the municipal court and the police department are all located on the city campus at 9611 SE 36th St. Beginning with city council’s April 18 meeting, all subsequent meetings have been conducted virtually, while municipal court hearings are presently occurring at the Kirkland Municipal Justice Center. Elsewhere, copious city staffers are either working remotely or within the Mercer Island Community & Event Center (MICEC) — which is housing the police department — or in other city buildings.

According to a previous Reporter story, police, fire and Public Works response is continuing per usual.

“We thank our community for their patience. This has not been ideal. We are doing our best to serve everyone creatively and in some cases remotely,” Bon said.

Since the July 4 holiday falls on city council’s twice-monthly Tuesday meeting day, council will next meet virtually at 5 p.m. on July 5.

Residents are welcome to view council meetings or speak during the appearances section of the meeting in a designated room at the MICEC, which is located at 8236 SE 24th St. For more information, visit www.mercerisland.gov/meetings.

During her June 20 report, Bon said she hopes to present a comprehensive update to council regarding the lengthy HVAC system abatement at its July 18 meeting.

Residents who need assistance accessing services can contact the city’s customer service team at customerservice@mercerisland.gov or (206) 275-7600.