REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
More building in Town Center
Loud and proud
Blood drive today A blood drive will be held t between 1 and 7 p.m. today at the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, at 3605 Island Crest Way. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred. Call ahead at 232-4770 or email rsims@dendreon.com.
Boy Scouts popcorn
Two mixed-use projects will add 66 homes and maybe commuter parking
Boy Scout Troop 624 is hosting their annual Popcorn Sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. over the weekend, Sept. 28-29, at the north and south Mercer Island QFCs. The popcorn sales help fund local Boy Scout programs.
By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
Little cheers for big Islanders The annual Mercer Island High School Little Cheer Football Clinic will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the high school. Preschool and elementary children are welcome. The two-day clinic will be taught by MIHS varsity cheerleaders, and there will be a performance at the Oct. 11 home game. Cost is $55 for two sessions. Contact Jackie Roer at jackie. roer@gmail.com to register.
WSDOT to talk tolling at Chamber lunch Washington State Department of Transportation representatives will speak and take comments at the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce Membership Luncheon from 12 to 1:15 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. This is an opportunity for business people to speak directly to WSDOT about the impact that tolling would have on them. Make your lunch reservation by calling 232-3404 or email info@mercerislandchamberofcommerce.org.
Matt Brashears/Special to the Reporter
Children cover their ears as the percussion section of the Mercer Island High School marching band powers by in Friday’s Homecoming parade in the Town Center on Sept. 20.
School Board ready to approve bond Board to vote Thursday to put $98.8 million measure on February 2014 ballot By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
After months of hard work, public meetings and countless discussions, the Mercer Island School District Board of Directors will vote on whether or not to approve a revised bond issue to rebuild and expand major portions of Island public schools. The new bond issue, if approved, would ask voters for approval to sell just under $100 million in bonds to: 1. Construct a new elementary school referred
to as Elementary No. 4, adjacent to the Mercer Island High School campus, for an estimated cost of $42,726,380; 2. Expand Islander Middle School for $48,779,588; and 3. Construct more classrooms at Mercer Island High School for a cost of $11,094,032. The total project cost is set at $102.6 million, an amount that will be offset by $3.8 million of matching funds from the state of Washington. Last April, the School Board approved a bond for $196 million that addressed both overcrowding and meeting the increasingly sophisticated educational needs of students. Sixty percent of Islanders who voted said no to the proposal. Approximately 54 percent of registered voters on the Island took part in the special
HAVE YOU SEEN BOB? Bob Toomey, C.F.A., 25 years of experience in Financial Planning & Investments and contributor to the Mercer Island Reporter
election, with 9,208 out of 16,953 voting. Board member Dave Myerson voted against sending the 2012 bond issue to voters, saying that the district needed to include a fourth elementary school in the proposal. The dollar amount also troubled him. Since that time the board added a fourth elementary. It also revised and reduced its original plans dramatically. The rebuilding effort became more focused on relieving overcrowding in the schools. Myerson said that he will vote yes to send the bond to voters and work to ensure its passage. “We may debate some minor issues at this point,” he said of the School Board. “But we are all in agreement now.” Many in the community who opposed the first bond proposal were invited to participate in putting a revised plan together. They, too, are now supporters. Yet due to external factors, estimated building costs are higher
Two new projects are moving through development review that, if approved, will add both more housing and commercial space to the Island’s Town Center. The two are located several blocks apart on 76th Avenue S.E.
2900 76th Avenue S.E. Leon Cohen, owner of a parcel at the corner of S.E. 24th Street and 76th Avenue S.E., the present
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(206) 275-2700 Bob is at the drive-thru Starbucks every Friday from 9:30 – 10:30 am. Come by for a cup of coffee!