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Home My WebLink About09052002 BSC Agenda Item 9 NEWS FROM THE I UNICIPAL BUILDING • CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • MAY 22, 2002 For further information contact: Sherman Yehl • 713.662.5810 • 713.417.8362 • 281.565.7254 West U residents can get satisfaction A community survey conducted by the West U City Manager's Office found that over 93% of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of services provided by the City and over 97% agree or strongly agree that West U is a good place to live. The mail survey was conducted in April and 789 households were randomly selected from the City's water utility billing list. Four hundred and sixty-five surveys were returned representing a 59% response rate. Twenty-two municipal services were rated by residents. More than half(14), had positive ratings of 75% or greater with the highest positive scores generated by trash collection (89.8%), fire/EMS (94.3%) and recycling (91.7%). Three services received relative negative ratings — storm drainage (38.8% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied), street construction (25.2%), and street lighting (26.5%). The City also polled residents on several local ordinances that were developed to encourage residents to be good neighbors. The survey directed nine questions to determine if residents believed staff was strict or lenient in enforcing these laws. While overall respondents believe the City is enforcing the laws just right, two areas a majority of respondents believe the City is lenient or too lenient — enforcement of the so-called "pooper-scooper" law (52.4% and controlling noise from leaf blowers and lawn mowers (52.7%). Over one fifth of the respondents S urvey Res-05.22.02N R.doc NEWS FROM THE MUNICO BUILDING • MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 2 believe the City is very strict or strict in enforcing laws related to signs (20.4%), illegal parking (27.3%) and speeding (22.1%). -MORE- Recycling, which began in West U in the 1970s remains very popular — more than two thirds claim to recycle once a week and almost 90% claim that they take advantage of recycling pick-up at least once per month. The City Council made a major change in cardboard recycling over the past six months and now requires that cardboard boxes be flattened and disposed of only on recycling days. This policy change received broad support as 70.0% of respondents are very satisfied or satisfied with the new requirement. While residents strongly support City efforts to reduce the landfill costs, the development of a pay-as-you-throw system for municipal solid waste had mixed support with 46.7% of the respondents opposed to such a program and 39.1% in support. While about one in five of the respondents believe crime has increased in the last three years, almost half (49.6%) believe that traffic problems have gotten worse. More than half believe that speeding (56.2%) and running STOP signs (57.8%) are a very serious or serious problem. About half of the respondents would approach these problems with increased enforcement activity on the part of the police department. While not statistically significant, 28.2% of the respondents believe that pedestrians at-large (walking in the street) are a problem compared to 25.4% who believe that dogs at-large are a problem. Another big community issue in West U has been the acquisition of the YMCA property in early 2002. Residents were very supportive of the purchase and 85.4% want the City to keep NEWS FROM THE MUNICIPAL BODING • MAY 22, 2002 • PAGE 3 the existing building and 80.7% want the swimming pool to remain. There does not appear to be support for the property to be used primarily as green space, but about two thirds of respondents would like new playground equipment provided on the site. West U is a well-connected community — 86.8% of respondents claim to have internet access at home. However, it appears that age makes a difference for internet service — as a group those under 60 have an access rate of over 90% while those over 60 are at 59%. -MoRE- In related demographic information, about half of the households have children living at home and more than 90% of respondents have a college or post-graduate degree. Over 60% of respondents believe the city council has the "community interest" in mind when making decisions and 64% believe that they have "easy access" to city staff Almost 85% believe that city staff does a"good job at providing services." Survey results are available from the City's website at www.westu.org. -30- • City of West University Place • Texas 2002 Community Survey Surveys were mailed to 800 households selected at random on April 1, 2002. Eleven surveys were returned by the U.S.Postal Service as"undeliverable."The City received 465 completed surveys repre- senting a 59% response rate.Percentage results are shown below."No opinion"and"Missing"responses are not included in the results. Part A-About our services 1. The City of West U provides a wide variety of services and programs. For each service below tell us if you are Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied or have No Opinion about the service. Very Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied Satisfied nor Dissatisified Dissatisfied Dissatisfied No Opinion Recreation programs and classes 21.2% 59.4% 18.4% 1.0% - Parks 24.6% 62.5% 9.4% 2.5% 1.0% Colonial Park Pool 19.5% 58.4% 15.3% 4.8% 1.8% Appearance of recreation facilities 18.3% 59.3% 16.5% 5.0% 1.0% Services to seniors 30.6% 49.0% 20.4% - - Trash collection 47.1% 42.7% 4.6% 5.0% .7% Recycling 51.1% 40.5% 4.3% 2.9% 1.1% Storm drainage 10.3% 36.2% 14.8% 25.1% 13.7% Traffic law enforcement 19.6% 52.6% 13.3% 11.0% 3.6% Crime prevention programs 18.8% 60.3% 18.5% 2.1% .3% Animal control 16.9% 51.3% 18.5% 9.5% 3.8% Fire and emergency medical services 48.6% 45.7% 4.9% .3% .5% Code enforcement (weeds,signs,zoning) 15.2% 50.4% 17.5% 12.6% 4.4% Municipal Court services 18.3% 47.0% 30.6% 3.2% .9% Tree preservation services 18.2% 42.7% 20.6% 12.2% 6.3% Street cleaning 32.6% 50.7% 8.8% 6.4% 1.5% Street lighting 16.4% 41.2% 15.9% 21.2% 5.3% New street construction 14.4% 40.4% 20.1% 15.6% 9.6% Building inspection services 14.1% 36.9% 35.2% 9.3% 4.5% Water quality 15.2% 55.9% 14.9% 12.0% 2.1% Utility billing & accounting services 25.8% 61.1% 9.7% 2.5% .9% Property tax billing/collection 20.8% 61.8% 14.4% 1.9% 1.2% 1 2. Overall, how would you rate the quality of services provided by At U? a. Very satisfied - 27.4% b. Satisfied - 65.8% c. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied -6.0% d. Dissatisfied - .7% e. Very dissatisfied - .2% f. Undecided/No opinion 3. Have you had contact with a West U employee within the last 12 months? a. Yes [go to # 4] - 74.7% b. No [goto # 5] - 25.3% 4. If Yes to#3, in your most recent contact with an employee, what was your impression of his/her: Very Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied Satisfied nor Dissatisified Dissatisfied Dissatisfied No Opinion • Knowledge 35.9% 46.1% 8.4% 8.4% 1.2% • Responsiveness 38.9% 40.9% 6.8% 10.7% 2.7% • Courtesy 48.4% 39.5% 7.4% 2.7% 2.1% 5. The City has several laws that were developed to help citizens be good neighbors. Please tell us how Strict or Lenient the City is in enforcing these laws in your neighborhood: Very Just Too Strict Strict Right Lenient Lenient No Opinion Making sure that dogs are kept on a leash 5.5% 11.0% 53.3% 16.3% 13.9% Ensuring that dog droppings are disposed of properly 5.1% 5.1% 37.4% 26.2% 26.2% Not allowing garbage to be put out too early 6.6% 10.8% 62.4% 14.3% 5.4% Keeping construction sites free of debris 3.9% 6.5% 45.7% 24.8% 19.1% Controlling noise from leafblowers, mowers, etc. 3.4% 6.1% 37.8 27.1% 25.6% Not allowing signs to be placed on public property 6.6% 13.8% 60.1% 13.2% 6.3% Controlling yard sales 6.3% 9.8% 70.1% 8.0% 5.7% Controlling speed of traffic on streets 8.3% 13.8% 48.7% 12.9% 16.3% Prohibitting illegal parking on residential streets 10.9% 16.4% 39.6% 15.9% 17.2% Part B - Solid Waste and Recyclin Services 6.Every Wednesday the City provides curbside recycling service.The City collects glass bottles,newspa- per, aluminum cans, cardboard, and plastic. How frequently do you recycle? a. Once per week - 70.4% b. Two or three times per month - 15.2% c. Once per month - 4.3% d. Less than once per month - 3.5% e. Never- 6.5% 2 Recently there was a chap a in collection policy and the City no longer collects cardboard on regular trash collection days, but requires cardboard boxes to be flattened and disposed of only on recycling Wednesdays. 7. How Satisfied or Dissatisfied are you with this change in policy? a. Very satisfied — 36.5% b. Satisfied —33.5% c. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied — 15.8% d. Dissatisfied — 8.1% e. Very dissatisfied — 6.0% f. Undecided/No opinion 8. The City operates RecyclExpress, a recycling center located at 5004 Dincans at Westpark, at which you can dispose of bottles, newspaper, aluminum and tin cans, cardboard,plastic, and motor oil. How frequently do you use this facility? a. Once per week—4.6% b. Two or three times per month — 7.6% c. Once per month — 16.7% d. Less than once per month — 29.1% e. Never— 41.7% 9. The City encourages composting of grass and yard waste. Do you currently compost grass clip- pings, leaves or yard waste on your property? a. Yes — 30.2% b. No - 69.6% 10. The City also collects grass clippings and yard waste in special paper sacks that residents must purchase at a cost of about 500 per bag.The City is allowed to dispose of this yard waste for free,saving the City substantial costs in landfill fees each year. How strongly do you support the City's efforts to reduce these landfill costs? a. Strongly support — 66.4% b. Support — 24.8% c. Neither support nor oppose — 5.8% d. Oppose — 1.8% e. Strongly oppose — 1.3% f. Undecided/No opinion 11. From time to time the City has explored the possibility of establishing a system where residents pay for trash collection based on how much trash they throw away (excluding recycling). This approach is known as the pay-as-you-throw collection. For example, residents with only one bag of trash per week would pay substantially less each month than those with three or four bags. How strongly would you support the City developing a pay-as-you throw program? 3 S • a. Strongly support - 22.2% • b. Support - 16.9% c. Neither support nor oppose - 14.2% d. Oppose - 22.7% e. Strongly oppose - 24.0% f. Undecided/No opinion Part C - Library Services 12. During the past year, have you visited the Harris County Branch Library located in West U? a. Yes [go to #13] - 50.0% b. No [go to #14] - 50.0% 13. If Yes to above, please circle the number which best describes how Satisfied or Dissatisfied you are with the following library services: Very Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied Satisfied nor Dissatisified Dissatisfied Dissatisfied No Opinion Location of the building 63.0% 33.9% 2.2% .9% - Availability of books/materials 19.5% 48.2% 15.0% 14.2% 3.1% Research and reference facilities 13.8% 38.8% 31.9% 11.7% 3.7% Children's programs 20.6% 46.0% 24.6% 7.9% .8% Variety of materials 12.7% 42.9% 28.6% 12.2% 3.7% Computer services 16.8% 38.7% 9.5% 2.9% 2.9% Hours of operation 14.5% 58.2% 13.2% 13.2% .9% Assistance from library staff 33.9% 46.3% 12.4% 6.4% .9% Parking 15.!% 46.8% 17.0% 17.0% 4.1% Part D - Public Safety and Traffic 14. During the past three years, does it seem that crime in West U has: a. Increased -21.6% b. Stayed the same - 67.5% c. Decreased - 9.8% d. Undecided/No opinion 15. During the past three years, does it seem that traffic problems in West U have: a. Increased - 49.6% b. Stayed the same - 46.9% c. Decreased -2.7% d. Undecided/No opinion 4 16. Please tell us how serious you consider the following issues in West U to be: Very Neither Serious No Problem No Serious Serious nor Not Serious Not Serious at All Opinion Speeding 21.5% 34.7% 22.1% 17.5% 4.2% Motorists running STOP signs 27.9% 29.9% 20.9% 16.9% 4.5& Illegal parking on residential streets 10.9% 22.4% 32.9% 27.9% 5.9% Through traffic on residential streets 18.5% 30.5% 25.3% 22.8% 2.9% Crime 20.9% 28.4% 29.5% 19.5% 1.6% Dogs at-large 9.9% 15.5% 29.0% 32.6% 13.0% Pedestrians walking in the street 11.0% 17.2% 22.4% 24.2% 25.3% Noise . 8.4% 22.0% 30.2% 29.7% 9.8% Lack of street lighting 11.9% 30.5% 25.1% 20.9% 11.7% Door-to-door solicitations 16.2% 25.0% 28.3% 24.3% 6.1% 17. Circle the number that best represents how strongly you agree or disagree with the statement: Traffic problems in the City could be reduced if the City... Strongly Neither Agree Strongly Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree Disagree No Opinion Provided more enforcement. 17.0% 33.6% 24.7% 15.7% 9.0% Installed speed humps on my street. 9.6% 12.5% 11.2% 27.5% 39.1% Lowered the speed limit to 25 mph. 10.9% 19.2% 12.7% 31.0% 26.3% Increased the number of STOP signs. 6.5% 14.3% 16.3% 35.7% 27.2% •PaiiE -YMCA Property 18. Recently the City purchased the YMCA facility located at 4210 Bellaire Boulevard.As the City develops plans for this site there is the opportunity to use the YMCA property in several ways. We would like you to tell us if you agree or disagree with the following uses. Strongly Neither Agree Strongly Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree Disagree No Opinion Keep the existing ball fields 40.1% 45.3% 11.7% 2.2% .8% Keep the swimming pool 36.2% 44.4% 13.0% 2.9% 3.4% Renovate the building 22.4% 32.1% 27.1% 10.0% 8.5% Build a new facility on this site 12.3% 11.7% 27.3% 27.9% 20.85 Provide playground equipment 23.7% 42.6% 20.2% 8.2% 5.3% Demolish the building for additional green space 6.7% 8.6% 22.8% 33.1% 28.7% Sell the property for residential development 3.3% 2.3% 8.0% 21.9% 64.6% 5 Part F Sidewalks 22.The City Council has the interests of the corn- ' The City adopted a sidewalk policy statement to munity in mind when making decisions. assist in determing how to spend the$5 million bond issue approved by the voters for sidewalk improve- a. Strongly agree - 12.3% ments.The policy calls for a priority system with a b. Agree - 51.5% "backbone" network to be installed as a first pri- ority.This backbone network includes streets that c. Neither agree/disagree - 24.3% allow West U residents to get to areas such as Town d. Disagree - 9.1% Center, the Rice Village, and the City's parks.Af- e. Strongly disagree - 2.9% ter this network is installed, the City will then re- f. Undecided/No opinion pair broken sidewalks and fill in sidewalks on blocks where small segments are missing. The fi- nal priority is to install new sidewalks where none 23.The City Council does a good job of establish- exist now in the remaining parts of the City. ing priorities for the community. 19. How strongly do you Agree or Disagree with a. Strongly agree - 6.0% this priority system? b. Agree - 50.6% c. Neither agree/disagree - 29.0% a. Strongly agree - 27.50/0 d. Disagree -10.4% b. Agree - 47.5% e. Strongly disagree - 4.0% c. Neither agree/disagree - 12.4% f. Undecided/No opinion d. Disagree - 7.6% e. Strongly disagree - 5.0% 24. I have easy access to city staff. f. Undecided/No opinion a. Strongly agree - 13.1% 20. What is the condition of the sidewalk on your b. Agree - 50.8% property? c. Neither agree/disagree - 27.2% d. Disagree - 8.3% a. Very good - 38.0% e. Strongly disagree - .6% b. Good - 28.70/0 f. Undecided/No opinion c. Fair - 17.9% d. Poor - 6.9% 25. In contacts with city staff I feel my concerns e. Very poor - 4.5% are taken into consideration. f. There is no sidewalk - 3.9% a. Strongly agree - 9.0% b. Agree -46.8% Part G - City Council and Staff c. Neither agree/disagree - 31.8% Please tell us how strongly you agree or disagree d. Disagree - 9.0% with the following statements about City Council e. Strongly disagree - 3.2% and City staff: f. Undecided/No opinion 21. Citizens'opinions are considered before the City 26.City staff does a good job enforcing City ordi- Council makes decisions. nances. a. Strongly agree - 11.10/0 a. Strongly agree - 7.1% b. Agree - 42.5% b. Agree - 59.2% c. Neither agree/disagree - 26.3% c. Neither agree/disagree - 22.2% d. Disagree - 13.0% d. Disagree - 9.6% e. Strongly disagree - 6.8% e. Strongly disagree - 1.8% f. Undecided/No opinion f. Undecided/No opinion 6 • • • 27. City staff does a good job of providing services. 32. Do you have internet access at your home? a. Strongly agree - 14.3% a. Yes - 86.8% b. Agree - 59.2% b. No - 13.0% c. Neither agree/disagree - 22.2% d. Disagree - 9.6% 33. Do you have children living at home? e. Strongly disagree - 1 .8% f. Undecided/No opinion a. Yes [go to # 34] - 50.0% b. No [go to # 35] - 50.0 28. The services I receive represent a good value. % 34. If Yes to above, circle all that apply. a. Strongly agree - 15.0% b. Agree - 62.6% a. 18 or older- 17.7% c. Neither agree/disagree - 16.4% b. Between 10-17 years - 52.4% d. Disagree - 5.8% e. Strongly disagree - .2% c Under 10 years - 54.1 f. Undecided/No opinion 35. In which of the following age groups do you fall? 29. Overall, the City is a good place to live. a. 70 or older- 8.7% a. Strongly agree - 65.8% b. 60 to 69 years - 9.2% b. Agree - 31.4% c. Neither agree/disagree - 2.4% c. 50 to 59 years - 31.9% d. Disagree - .2% d. 40 to 49 years - 29.9% e. Strongly disagree - .2% e. 30 to 39 years - 19.0% f. Undecided/No opinion f. Under 30 - 1 .1% Part H--Questions About You- 36. How many years of formal education have you completed? 30.Which of the following do you rely on for infor- mation about City services and programs (circle all that apply)? a. High school or less - 1.7% b. Trade/business school - 1 .1 a. City Currents - 75.3% c. Attended college - 7.0% b. West U Examiner- 61.9% d. College graduate - 37.9% c. Village News - 58.5% e. Post graduate degree - 52.3% d. Houston Chronicle - 29.0% e. Public meetings - 7.5% 37. Do you own a dog? f. City website - 9.9% 31. How long have you lived in West U? a. Yes -38.4% b. No - 61 .6% a. More than 20 years - 26.5% b. 10 to 20 years - 29.6% 38. What is your gender? c. Five to nine years - 18.3% d. Two to four years - 13.9% a. Male - 49.1% e. Less than two years -11.7% b. Female - 50.9% I Part I The Final Word- . 39. In the space below,please add any comments about this survey, the City, or issues not addressed in this survey. About 60% of respondents provided comments. There was no predominant issue. Many of the comments expanded on responses from the survey. Major categories included traffic, solid waste, recycling, animal control/enforcement, and parking. Thanks for helping West U stay in touch with you! Please place the survey in the self-addressed, stamped envelope and drop it in any mailbox. You can also deliver this completed survey to the Municipal Building at 3800 University Boulevard or drop it off at our 24-hour payment drop box located behind the Municipal Building on Amherst. Look for the results of the survey in an upcoming issue of City Currents and on our website at www.westu.org. a 0 ,, s .fib 5.-. 8