Recreation Survey Results

For some time now Town Council has been investigating and discussing the possibility of constructing a general use Recreation Centre in Cardston. After reviewing multiple options, Council is now considering putting a new structure across the street from the Cardston High School on 4th Avenue where the old EJ Wood School used to be. (For drawings please see this blog post: Rec Centre Survey & Dog Park Fundraising) 

While deliberating on the topic, Council decided it would be prudent to seek public input on this initiative before making any final decisions and proceeding any further. The results of the survey were never intended to determine the outcome of Councils decision, but to help them better understand the public's opinion on the matter, and guide future discussions.

At the end of February, a letter was hand-delivered to every home and business in Town. The letter contained a unique survey code and directions on how to take the survey on the Town website. The intent was that the survey would be made available to every residential and commercial taxpayer, and it was volunteers who took on the task of distributing the letters. 

The questions on the survey were:

1. Do you think there is a need for a general use indoor recreation center in the community? (Yes/No)
2. If there was an indoor recreation center in town, would you or your family support it by paying a user fee for the activities you use? (Yes/No/Maybe)
3. If there was an indoor recreation center in town, what activities would you like to see and use in the indoor recreation center?
4. Do you believe an indoor recreation center will have a positive economic benefit to Cardston? (Yes/No/I don't know)
5. To fund the yearly operations of the indoor recreation center how much of an increase in annual property taxes would you support? ($0.00/$0-$50/$50-$100/$100-$200/$200+)
6. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

The Survey was open until Friday March 5th, until which time people who may not have received their letter for whatever reason were given the opportunity to contact the Town office and complete the survey.

Results

The results were as follows:

Of the 1,532 letters distributed - 507 surveys submission were received. This includes submissions received on the Town website, over the phone, in-person, or delivered to the town office on paper (33% return).   

Of the 33% of the people who completed the survey:

• 56% thought there was a need for a general use facility, 44% did not.
• 48% said they would pay a user fee to use the facility, 33% said they would not, 19% said maybe. 
• 39% believed there would be an economic benefit, 42% did not, 19% didn't know.
• 49% did not support any increase to their taxes to pay for the facility, 20% supported an annual increase of less than $50.00, 18% supported an increase of $50.00-$100.00, 10% supported and increase of $100.00-$200.00, and 4% supported an increase of more than $200.00.

1. Do you think there is a need for a general use indoor recreation center in the community? (Yes/No)
Yes	56%
No	44%

2. If there was an indoor recreation center in town, would you or your family support it by paying a user fee for the activities you use? (Yes/No/Maybe)
Yes	48%
No	33%
Maybe	19%

3. If there was an indoor recreation center in town, what activities would you like to see and use in the indoor recreation center?

People were given the opportunity to list whatever activities they wished for this question. A non-exhaustive list was compiled from all the submissions, showing how many times certain activities were mentioned in the survey submissions. The graph below gives us an idea of what activities people wanted most:

4. Do you believe an indoor recreation center will have a positive economic benefit to Cardston? (Yes/No/I don't know)
Yes	39%
No	42%
I don't know	19%

5. To fund the yearly operations of the indoor recreation center how much of an increase in annual property taxes would you support? ($0.00/$0-$50/$50-$100/$100-$200/$200+)
$0.00	49%
$0.00 - $50.00	20%
$50.00 - $100.00	18%
$100.00 - $200.00	10%
>$200.00	4%

6. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

Even though 161 people decided not to leave a comment, the remainder of the submissions produced 30 pages of anonymous comments for Council to read through. After Council and Administration have had a chance to review all the comments, they may be made public at a future date.