Mercer Island council approves acquisition and schematic design for Public Safety and Maintenance campus, sends bond ordinance to council

The Mercer Island City Council on June 17 authorized the city to acquire the commercial property at 9655 Southeast 30th Street and approved schematic design and a $103,000,900 project budget for a new Public Safety and Maintenance (PSM) facility, directing the city manager to prepare a bond ordinance for first reading on July 1.

The vote followed presentations from city staff and consultants about the PSM schematic design, operations efficiencies and integration of the acquired 22,000-square-foot commercial building adjacent to the former City Hall site. City officials said the acquisition will be funded primarily from existing city reserves with limited external financing; the council approved authorizing eminent domain to create a separate parcel for the southern building.

City Manager Jesse Bonn presented the proposal and consulting staff described the schematic design, which calls for a mass-timber PSM structure plus an operations building and a two-level yard configuration to consolidate storage, equipment maintenance and fleet parking. The council approved…