Airway Heights reviews citizens survey

The city of Airway Heights got an idea of future goals and priorities for the next year after they reviewed the results of a citizens survey.

City Manager Albert Tripp presented the results to the City Council during its Oct. 27 retreat. Tripp said the primary objective of the survey was to determine the livability of Airway Heights among its residents and to measure community perceptions, not only about where they live, but also where they want to live. The survey went out in April 2014 and addresses were selected from the most current municipal boundary.

In regards to quality of life in the city, 50 percent of the people surveyed ranked it as excellent or good. Forty-three percent ranked it as fair and 8 percent said it was poor.

Sixty-three percent of residents said the city was an excellent or good place to live. The majority of those residents felt positive about the neighborhoods and that Airway Heights is a good place to raise children.

As for services, 53 percent rated quality of city services as excellent or good. Seven in 10 residents reported that the city’s police, fire and ambulance/EMS services were excellent or good.

Thirty percent of residents rated the sense of community as excellent or good while 47 percent rated the sense of community as fair.

The survey also had listed different options for community engagement.

Sixty percent of residents said they would like to participate in online public forums while 53 percent wanted to participate in small neighborhood meetings. Tripp said the online forum and small neighborhood meetings would benefit residents who may not have time to attend larger meetings.

“Folks can do it on their own schedule,” Tripp said. “It’s a reflection of mobility and demographics. People want more flexibility.”

Tripp added that the city’s new website, which is scheduled to launch in 2015, will include online forums for residents.

The survey asked residents about a potential fire partnership agreement between the Airway Heights Fire Department, Spokane Fire District 10 and the Medical Lake Fire Department to enhance fire and emergency medical services. Sixty-two percent of citizens strongly support the potential partnership involving the three departments.

The survey included a list of six potential projects over the next five years. Development of a recreation center and city park improvements were the top two priorities for residents. Sixty-three percent of residents strongly support the idea of a new recreation center.

“We asked the question in different ways and all results show the city strongly supports the building of a new recreation center,” Tripp said.

Tripp said residents felt Airway Heights is a good place to live but there is still room for improvement.

Although residents support the construction of a recreation center, several factors need to be in place before the project can begin, mainly funding sources and blueprints.

“A lot of things need to happen before the recreation center can be built,” Tripp said. “Will we get it built in 2015? Probably not, but you can still put it down as a goal.”

Councilwoman Tanya Dashiell suggested the council use some data from the survey to help plan their goals for the next year.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.