No blockbuster items on last night’s agenda for the Southwest District Council, where reps from local neighborhood groups and other key organizations get and give updates on what they’re up to. One citywide hot potato did get the spotlight for a while – read on:

MERCER MESS: It may be a downtown project, but it affects most of the city, moneywise if nothing else, so SDOT director Grace Crunican (who lives in West Seattle) and City Councilmember Nick Licata have been making the rounds of district councils to talk about it. Right now, the city is looking at this plan to change the way traffic flows at the I-5/South Lake Union junction. Licata, however, wants a cheaper solution, and plans a forum next Monday (first reported here) to discuss his hopes of diverting $43 million from the Mercer project to pedestrian/biking improvements.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: Morgan Junction volunteer extraordinaire Cindi Barker briefed the council on the next steps in preparedness on the peninsula. After the neighborhood radio-communication test on Night Out (mentioned here) revealed some rough spots, she’s been looking at a different type of radio equipment that might work for neighborhood-to-neighborhood relaying; if that doesn’t work, she’ll work with local amateur-radio operators. She also said she’s working with groups in North Seattle to get city grants to help with disaster planning.

LIBRARIES: Beth Quittman from Friends of the Seattle Public Library told council members the group is gathering neighborhoods’ input about libraries. Chas Redmond suggested it would be nice for SPL users to get King County library privileges back; Dennis Ross from Admiral said the West Seattle (Admiral) library branch needs more computers.

WALKING TRAILS KIOSKS: Also from Chas Redmond — a reminder about the October 18th event to help plan signs and kiosks along West Seattle walking routes (third item in this WSB post). This is an occasion for West Side pride, he reminded everyone — West Seattle is ahead of the city regarding trail planning, and the city in turn is ahead of much of the rest of the country. The official kiosk color, by the way, is green; Twilight Art Collective will work to put neighborhoods in touch with artists as needed, for kiosk art.

“TIM ST. CLAIR PARK” UPDATE: As mentioned in our report on the Southwest and Delridge District Council’s joint meeting last month, they’ve sent a letter asking the Parks Department to waive a rule that might prevent a new park – preferably the one in Morgan Junction – from being named in honor of the late veteran West Seattle Herald reporter Tim St. Clair (rules say a person must be gone 3 years before something is named in his/her honor). No reply so far, the council was told.

The Southwest District Council meets the first Wednesday of every month, usually 7 pm at the South Seattle Community College board room.