Residents find plenty to like

Sonny Ignacio, a Columbia resident fishing for bluegills Wednesday morning at Stephens Lake Park, said he was generally pleased with the city’s growth.

“Columbia is basically doing a good job trying to satisfy a very diverse community,” he said.

To get a handle on opinions and priorities from residents such as Ignacio, the city brought in Olathe, Kan.-based market research firm ETC Institute this spring for the second time in two years to conduct a $20,800 survey of Columbia residents. Preliminary results of that survey were presented to the Columbia City Council at the opening of its annual retreat on May 20.

Most Columbia residents are satisfied with their city and the services it provides, the survey found.

“The thing that really impressed me is the quality of city services,” said Chris Tatham, vice president and chief operating officer of ETC, in his presentation to council members. “You really don’t have any major deficiencies.”

More than eight in 10 of those surveyed said they were content with the city’s parks and recreation services, which include projects such as Stephens Lake Park. A similar number said they were satisfied with both public safety and the quality of fire protection in the city.

Jeremy Duke, out for a walk with his three children at Stephens Lake Park on Wednesday, said he is happy with Columbia. He moved here 10 years ago from Seattle when his wife got a job at MU.

“It’s a great city for families,” he said.

Of the 1,200 surveys ETC sent to randomly selected households across the city, the firm received 613 responses, about half by mail and half by telephone. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percent.

The results showed Columbia residents think Columbia does a better job providing services to its residents than do people in most other towns and cities surveyed by ETC.

The company has conducted similar studies of communities throughout the United States, from suburbs such as Naperville, Ill., and West Des Moines, Iowa, to university towns such as Lawrence, Kan., and Manhattan, Kan.

The results came as good news to the city council and staff.

“I personally feel pretty good about this survey,” said City Manager Ray Beck.

First Ward Councilwoman Almeta Crayton agreed.

“In the large scheme, Columbia’s not bad,” she said.

But Crayton noted that the survey also pointed to areas where the city needs to do better.

“You have to always take care of the little things,” she said.

Overwhelmingly, people surveyed said improving the flow of traffic and maintaining city streets were areas that should receive the most emphasis over the next two years. Nearly half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with how the city manages traffic flow, while 36 percent were unhappy with the maintenance of city streets.

Duke said the city should focus on economic development and social services in the center of the city rather than “infrastructure for big-box stores.” He’d also like better handling of storm-water runoff in Hinkson Creek, which runs behind his house.

“If they keep shooting storm water into the creek, it’s going to turn into a sewer,” he said.

The survey also identified how willing the public is to pay for improvements, giving council members some guidance when considering which tax issues to present to voters on the November ballot.

A majority of residents surveyed said they would be willing to continue paying the quarter-cent sales tax set to expire at the end of the year, the survey found. Only a third said they were “very likely” to support an increase to the tax.

Just more than half of respondents said they were very likely to continue paying the full quarter-cent sales tax for parks rather than allowing it to fall to one-eighth of a cent in March 2006.

Most people surveyed said they would be in favor of increasing development fees by no more than 10 cents per square foot.

Almost half said they were unlikely to support an increase in property taxes.

“Property tax raises are pretty much dead on arrival,” Tatham told the council.

As for Ignacio, he said he’d like to see the city add more hybrid vehicles to its fleet. To prevent crime, he said, he’d like lights installed at Stephens Lake Park. And he wouldn’t mind a new public golf course. Wait times at the existing one are so bad that “you’d better pack lunch” before going out for a morning round, he said.

A portion of this report first aired Wednesday during “ABC 17 News at 10.”