City of Steamboat planning to launch new community survey in 2015
Steamboat Springs — The city of Steamboat Springs is gearing up to launch its first community survey in a decade.
City staff Tuesday night got the green light from the Steamboat Springs City Council to form a steering committee that will help determine what kinds of data the survey should aim to get and what questions should be asked.
Government Programs Manager Winnie DelliQuadri, a member of the steering committee, said the group will start meeting next month to start planning for the survey.
“We need to understand what decisions need to be made (by the city in the future) so we get the right data,” DelliQuadri said. “That conversation is going to take a while.”
The steering committee also will help select a contractor who will conduct the survey.
In addition to DelliQuadri, the survey steering committee will include City Council members Scott Ford and Tony Connell, and one member from both the city’s Planning and Parks and Recreation commissions.
The last time the city commissioned a community survey was in 2005. The goal of the last survey was to get community input to help guide future planning decisions.
In one of the more unique questions in that survey, community members were asked to decide how they would spend $100 on a variety of things ranging from improving the transit service to improving the Howelsen Hill Sports Complex.
The purchase of open space was the item that received the most hypothetical dollars from the survey respondents, followed by development of additional pedestrian bicycle trails and providing affordable housing.
The survey also asked community members if they would be willing to pay a property tax for such things as parks, trails and open space, public safety improvements and for general services.
Other community surveys were conducted in 2002 and 1999.
The city intends for the upcoming survey to be statistically significant.
In July, the city estimated a new survey could cost as much as $30,000 depending on the number of people it is distributed to.
What questions do you think would be meaningful for the city to ask in a new survey?
Share them in the comment section below.
To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10
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