05-29-1990 PTRC Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

While sixty-four percent favor the City initiating action to speed up the sale of the Arsenal property, sixty-five percent also feel the community should regulate its use instead of outright purchasing it. In fact, seventy-four percent would oppose a referendum to increase property taxes to fund the Arsenal property purchase and redevelopment; fifty-one percent indicated "strong opposition. " Forty-seven percent would favor the City buying parts of the property; but, again, the fate of a referendum to issue bonds is indeed pessimistic. If that property is developed, though, residents lean toward a mixed use, featuring single family dwellings, light industry, and recreational and park areas. After being informed of the inadequacies of the present City Hall, a fifty-eight percent to twenty-nine percent margin favored the construction of a new one. A majority would support a multi- use facility containing space to be rented to other government bodies. The current site for this new facility was favored by sixty-four percent of the sample; no other site generated much enthusiasm. A popularly supported community center addition would contain only meeting rooms for community groups; athletic facilities and an indoor swimming pool were opposed by strong majorities. The residents split, though, in their support for a stand-alone City Hall versus one with a community center addition: thirty-seven percent prefer the former, while thirty- nine percent opted for the latter. By a . narrow forty-seven percent to forty-five percent margin, residents would support a • bond referendum for a new City Hall. They would oppose a combination City Hall-Community Center bond referendum by a fifty-eight percent to thirty six percent margin. Neither , of these margins bode well for a successful special election bond referendum. Under these circumstances, the City may wish to investigate funding alternatives which do not require a bond referendum election. The issue of financial responsibility for neighborhood improvements found residents arriving at different conclusions for each type of project. sixty-one percent felt the entire city should pay for street reconstruction. Forty-seven percent felt similarly about the addition of street lighting. . on sidewalks, though, citizens were split: Forty-one percent felt the area of the city under construction should bear the costs, while thirty- eight percent felt it should be shared citywide. A consensus has developed, though, around the appropriate formula for a cost- sharing arrangement between impacted residents and city as a whole: strong support existed for a one-third/two-thirds split, with the City paying the larger portion. The City has a very well developed and focused communications system. Majorities look to the "Town Crier" as their principal source of information about community events and City government activities. The "Focus" and the "New Brighton Bulletin" ranked in the distant second tier. Even so, the two newspapers were read by approximately eighty-seven percent of the residents. An incredibly high ninety-four percent of the 6