In their annual linkage session, council and board members and administrators for the city of Mercer Island and Mercer Island School District (MISD) discussed such topics as long range facility master planning, transportation, legislative priorities and more.
Attendees spoke at length about city and MISD facility planning at the Nov. 3 joint roundtable meeting, which occurred at the school district administration building.
Handling the MISD side of the topic, board vice president David D’Souza noted that they began devising a master plan in 2019 to focus on how they’ll maintain, rebuild and remodel about $700 million worth of facilities, which include schools and land. Hired architects are guiding the plan, which the district will revisit and update over the upcoming weeks and months and ask for community input.
D’Souza said the district would be keen on renewing a facilities bond that will expire in 2028-29 so that tax rates can remain consistent.
On the city side of facilities assessment, City Manager Jessi Bon said her team anticipates spending the next two years examining buildings that need repair or replacement. Bon pointed out that city hall and its environs are aging, as are the community center annex and the city’s historical administration building at Luther Burbank Park.
Mayor Salim Nice noted that Island Crest Way intersects with school travel and resident usage and the city has implemented copious amounts of energy, resources and time into a safety corridor analysis along that lengthy thoroughfare. City projects have focused on signage, visibility, crosswalks and more.
“We’re constantly thinking about what can we do to increase safety, plan for the future,” Nice said.
In the school transportation realm, school board president Maggie Tai Tucker said that the delivery of the district’s first two electric buses has been delayed from the fall until February or March due to battery supply chain issues.
Over at the South Mercer Playfields, the construction project that kicked off late last March is nearing completion, according to a MISD Facebook post. The project features laying of synthetic turf, LED lighting, new dugouts and the addition of a small secondary playfield. The pre-tax total price tag of the project is about $5.75 million, with $750,000 coming from the city.
Dan Glowitz, the school board’s legislative representative, closed out the meeting by focusing his report on a recent Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) proposal that could alter the maximum regionalization rate from 18% to 12%. In MISD’s case, Glowitz said it could receive $2.5 million less funding annually and that would majorly impact staff, counseling services and the community regarding property taxes.
A news item on its website notes that OSPI has submitted the proposal to the governor and Legislature for consideration in the 2023 legislative session.
