City news in Mercer Island.

Mercer Island launches new system for emergency alerts

Two years ago, the city experienced problems with its drinking water supply and had to issue a boil-water notice for several days. During the incident, it became clear that the existing “reverse-911” automatic phone dialer system was not capable of handling Island-wide emergencies. In addition, this system could only call landlines, not cellphones, and the city was unable to reach many residents by phone.

Since that time, the city conducted extensive research in a quickly evolving arena for a better alerting product, and has elected to join a new system in partnership with King County, using a vendor that serves hundreds of other cities nationwide.

The city highly encourages all residents to set up an account on the Alert King County system. You will only receive notices related to Mercer Island, based on your address. Sign up for phone, and/or text and email alerts at www.mercergov.org/AlertSystem.

The city also encourages residents to follow its Facebook and Twitter feeds, as those social media outlets are also used in emergencies to spread important information.

For questions on the new system, email Mercer Island Police Department Officer Jennifer Franklin, emergency manager, at jennifer.franklin@mercergov.org.

Library Board seeks new volunteer

The Mercer Island Library Board is seeking one new member, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Ideally, the candidate will be a parent of school-aged child in order to achieve board diversity goals. The city counts on volunteers to staff many different boards and commissions. Appointments to boards and commissions are made by the mayor and affirmed by the City Council.

For more information, contact Deputy City Clerk Karin Roberts at 206-275-7795.