Area residents will soon be polled to find out everything from what their favorite recreational activities are, to how they think Orion Township should fund those activities.
After a diligent survey creation process, the Orion Township Parks and Recreation Department hopes residents will make the final steps of the project a success.
Leisure Vision, a division of the ETC Institute, is under contract with the Township to create and analyze a ‘needs assessment survey.?
The Township and Leisure Vision hosted a variety of meetings to help in the creation of the survey.
These meetings included numerous focus groups, including one with Township employees, and one-on-one sessions with Township stakeholders.
‘Everything we are doing here is to help us create a survey that will get out into the community beginning in the next month,? said Ron Vine, of Leisure Vision,at the final focus group on March 8.
At that point, the success of the survey will rely on the citizens of Orion Township.
In the first part of April, Parks & Rec Director Rock Blanchard said between 25,000 and 30,000 surveys will be sent out.
He urges everyone to take the time to complete and return the survey, no matter how much they use the Parks & Rec Department.
After the surveys are returned, Leisure Vision and the department will make a presentation to the Township Board, and hold a workshop to review the findings.
This is expected to happen sometime in early June.
To date, Blanchard, and other members of the community involved in the process, have given it rave reviews.
‘We’re very pleased,? Blanchard said, noting that each focus group has had roughly 10-15 people in it.
‘That’s the ideal size for a focus group.?
The groups have addressed questions ranging from what facilities need to be improved or developed, to what the principal sources of revenue for financing projects should be.
Planning Commission member Mark Crane also saw good things in the focus groups.
‘It’s a good process,? he said. ‘There have been efforts in the past to do things like this, but bringing in a professional group helps ensure reliable results.?
‘There’s a definite perception that we need more facilities,? Crane added. ‘But at the same time, there has to be an emphasis on how we will finance things.?
Crane believes that having Leisure Vision analyze the survey’s results will help the township to come up with economically realistic improvements.
No doubt there will be many great ideas coming from resident input. Getting a sense of what is most important may be the biggest challenge in the end.
‘Overall, I’m glad the Township is doing this,? Crane said.