PORT ANGELES — Residents see road maintenance as their highest priority — and Rayonier site redevelopment as a low priority — according to the results of a city of Port Angeles budget survey.
Other top priorities are public restrooms, recycling services and snow and ice control.
The city said 1,462 people completed the surveys.
(Here are the survey results: https://www.cityofpa.us/PDFs/City%20Manager/CitizenSurveyResults.pdf. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.)
The City Council intends to use the survey results as a “major tool” to help determine which services will be trimmed, cut or expanded in the 2011 budget, Mayor Dan Di Guilio said.
It will discuss the results at a special meeting in council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St., at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
At the bottom of the list was one of the city’s own top goals — redevelopment of Rayonier’s former mill site.
The nonscientific survey, among other questions, asked residents to rank 55 programs, services and projects as either “essential,” “important,” “nice to have,” “not important” or “no opinion.”
Not important
About 44 percent of the respondents selected “Rayonier property development” as not important — the item which garnered the highest percentage of “not important” responses.
Another 23.5 percent said it’s nice to have, while 24.2 percent said it’s either essential or important.
About 8 percent said they had no opinion.
The question initially was going to address funding for the Harbor-Works Development Authority. Council members requested that it be changed because they felt that the question should address how important redevelopment of the site is to residents.
They didn’t want it to become a referendum on Harbor-Works.
But based on the results, Harbor-Works — particularly concerns that acquisition of the site through the public development authority would saddle the city with cleanup costs — was likely still on people’s minds when they filled out the survey, Di Guilio said.
“I think the community is still under the impression that if we get too deeply involved in the Rayonier property we will become liable for cleanup,” he said.
“There’s still that suspicion out there.”
The city has maintained that no local public funds would be used on the cleanup of the property.
Rayonier Properties LLC made it clear this summer that it no longer wants to negotiate with the public development authority.
Di Guilio said the city will likely have to find another way to get the property redeveloped.
City Manager Kent Myers said the city is not planning to provide Harbor-Works any more funding in 2011.
Di Guilio also said he doesn’t think the survey results mean that residents don’t want the city to do anything to help redevelopment of the property — they just don’t want to get involved in the cleanup.
“I think everyone understands it’s a valuable piece of property that if developed could mean a lot to the community,” Di Guilio said.
Dog park
Also seen unfavorably by the survey respondents was funding for a dog park, a citywide newsletter and licensing for dogs and cats.
Respondents also said no to new property or sales taxes to pay for renovating Civic Field; replacing a bridge on Lauridsen Boulevard near Race Street (needed to create a new truck route through town); and restoring downtown’s historic underground.
But they were in favor of new taxes for road and alley improvements, along with public safety.
Myers said the city is considering creating a transportation benefit district to help fund road projects.
Such a district could include a 0.2 percent sales tax increase, either in one part of town or citywide, or additional car tab fees.
A transportation benefit district would have to be approved by voters.
Myers said no proposals have been made regarding the creation of a district.
The council will discuss the idea at its Tuesday special meeting.
Survey responses
One survey each was sent to residents through utility bills last month.
The survey was also available on the city’s website, which allowed people to fill out the survey more than once.
A total of 998 responses came from the survey sent through the utility bills and 382 responses came through the website.
Another 82 returned surveys came from forms made available at City Hall and other locations.
Di Guilio said the city has no way of knowing if someone participated in the survey more than once through the website but added that he thinks that is a low risk.
“I think it’s a pretty good reflection of how our community feels,” he said of the survey results.
Respondents also said that the city should continue to provide funding for the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center, United Way of Clallam County, the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society and the Clallam County Economic Development Council.
But many also said that the city should not help fund the Clallam Business Incubator.
About 46 percent said funding should be discontinued, 21.6 percent said it should receive funding, while 31.7 percent said they had no opinion.
Survey results are available at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.