Airway Heights residents happy with city

The Airway Heights City Council received the results of the city’s recent citizen’s survey during its Sept. 12 study session, and residents appear to be happy with most areas.

City Manager Albert Tripp explained that the city conducts the surveys every two years to not only gain residents perceptions on various aspects of the community, but also determine council’s goals for the future.

The city’s efforts in the past earned them national recognition after they won the National Research Center’s 2015 Voice of the People award for “Transformation in Community Engagement.”

The survey was mailed to 1,500 residents and the city received 208 responses for a 14 percent response rate.

Sixty-one percent of residents responding to the survey ranked quality of life as excellent or good, which is an 11 percent increase from the 2014 survey. Thirty-three percent ranked it as fair and 6 percent said it was poor.

“The results from residents affirm that we are moving in the right direction and we’re hoping to do more of that,” Tripp said.

Seventy-three percent felt the city was an excellent or good place to live, which is an 8 percent increase from the previous survey. The majority of these residents felt positive about the neighborhoods and that Airway Heights is a good place to raise children.

One of the city’s priorities from the 2014 survey was to expand recreational opportunities and services by acquiring land east of Hayford Road for a park.

“To me this is the best category, you’re buying a house and staying here and raising your kids,” Mayor Kevin Richey said. at the study session “We have a history of being a transient population and those numbers are changing.”

Richey added that the relocation of mobile parks out of the APZ 2 (accident potential zone 2) will likely “affect those numbers.”

As for services, 62 percent ranked quality of city services as excellent or good.

Tripp noted that residents identified safety as one of the focus areas for the community. To enhance public safety after the last survey, the city encouraged voters to approve the 2015 emergency medical service levy, which passed last November and has helped pay for Fire Department expenditures. The city also hired two full-time police officers.

Tripp added that part of the staff’s 2017 budget proposal includes money for hiring two more police officers.

Enhancing economic development was another focus for staff in the last couple of years. The city implemented a “Community Excellence Award Program” and hosts a quarterly business breakfast to engage local businesses. Tripp said the city might enhance services, particularly in the building and planning department, to help developers complete projects faster.

The survey asked residents which features they would likely use in the new recreation center. Seventy-four percent said they would very likely or somewhat likely use a recreation pool with a water slide.

Tripp said community perception and overall image are areas where the city “still needs to do some work.” He explained that part of the council’s goals for 2017-18 will include plans to help improve the image and appearance of the community.

“Connectivity with pathways and trails is another area we’re going to look at,” Tripp said. The idea is to do preparation work to find appropriate places in the city for pathways and trails and then see what funding is available.

Tripp said staff will present council a draft of possible goals in the first week of October.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].