Results of a recent community survey will provide the Grand Blanc Township Board of Trustees a roadmap for navigating the next few years.
In order to identify and respond to residents’ priorities, the township contracted with ETC Institute to conduct the survey last summer. ETC mailed surveys to a random sample of households; 403 returned completed surveys.
“I was very pleased to see people give our township high marks in quality of living,” said township Supervisor Scott Bennett. “Looking at social media, you wouldn’t expect that.”
Overall, Grand Blanc Township rated at or above the U.S. average, and “significantly higher” on 32 of 36 areas assessed.
“It’s encouraging to see how people feel about our community, that they love living here and want to work to make it better,” Bennett said.
The survey showed that residents were most satisfied with police and fire services, and customer service from township employees. Respondents identified police services, mosquito abatement and solid waste services as areas that need attention.
In evaluating 12 quality of life factors, residents said the township is an “excellent” or “good” place to live and raise a family.
ETC asked residents to identify four items the township should prioritize over the next two years. The top answers were downtown development, attracting more industry and jobs, maintaining and improving non-motorized pathways, and improving parks and recreation.
“One interesting thing is people want us to improve downtown,” Bennett said. “That’s in the city. The overall suggestions were interesting, but some don’t realize some things are beyond our scope.”
In terms of business and jobs, township officials have been “hugely successful” in attracting new industry.
“While we may not be bringing restaurants, what we are bringing is hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenues and high paying jobs which our residents definitely need,” Bennett said. “We brought in over 1,000 new jobs in the last four to five years, jobs people can support a family with. We will focus on how to bring in more of those, and restaurants.”
Seventy-four percent of respondents said they support the renewal of the Parks and Recreation millage, with 57 percent indicating support for a millage increase. Seventy percent said they would like to see a community center with a fitness center and pool.
Bennett said the Board of Trustees is likely to consider options for creating a community center.
“We will look for existing buildings in township, but it will take a lot of discussion,” he said.
“The other thing is that the parks and recreation millage is coming up next year for renewal. A large majority of the public said they would support renewing that millage, but 57 percent said they’d support increasing if it included improvements.”
Bennett said township leaders have heard a lot about pickleball, so pickleball courts could be on the township’s wish list for parks.
A little more than half of the residents said they were satisfied with township communication, but they prefer to receive updates via the newsletter or direct mailings.
“One thing we learned, while we may put a lot online and social media, people want more things in print,” Bennett said. “We will look at that as far as printed newsletters and print media to get the word out rather than rely on digital.”
Close to 90 percent of respondents said they feel safe in the township, although many said they would like the township to improve crime prevention efforts and police visibility.
Bennett said the township Board of Trustees will compare the results to the current strategic plan going forward.
“We would love to do everything next year, but have to plan budget wise, too,” he said. “We have to look at how to pay for new things without asking for new money.”
Explore the original article from The Davison Index, posted by Lania Rocha on December 12th, 2024.