Survey may include question regarding beer, wine at Bielenberg Sports Center

• Survey data

Historical data from the biennial survey show residents are satisfied with the quality of life in Woodbury.

Talk about it

Next month, some Woodbury folks will get a phone call asking what it is like to live in Woodbury.

The biennial survey, which has been a tradition since 1999, selects 400 residents randomly to answer the 152 questions.

City officials typically use the survey for comparison data to previous years, as well as new information to help them implement necessary changes.

Questions will vary – from getting an idea for how welcomed people feel in Woodbury to the services they’d like to see added, expanded or maybe eliminated.

Woodbury City Council got a first glance at the questions Wednesday. The members gave city staff some feedback on the survey draft.

“Every question should have a purpose,” Council Member Amy Scoggins said.

The city works with Decision Resources to come up with the survey and analyze its results.

Decision Resources will begin calling residents in February. The process will take about three weeks and the council will see results in April.

Some of the same questions are asked every two years, while others are new.

With a Bielenberg Sports Center (BSC) expansion on the horizon in 2013, residents may be asked about new food service vendors and alcohol sales.

“I think that would provide good feedback,” Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens said.

The idea to ask about beer and wine sales came up during the Wednesday, Jan. 16 workshop discussion, so a question may be on the survey regarding that service.

The council agreed that it will make sense to ask residents about food options as well as alcohol sales.

Survey results will not necessarily determine which way the council will go on beer and wine sales at BSC, however, the question would be a good start to a public discussion.

City Administrator Clint Gridley said having alcohol sales at the center will require drafting a new policy and an official vote.

Stephens said the point of the survey is to get a feel for what residents want in a lifestyle in Woodbury, so new BSC services fit in with that mission.

Other questions

Council Member Christopher Burns suggested adding a question about how residents feel about the economy and the job market in Woodbury.

“What could we use for two questions that would be good indicators,” Stephens added.

Decision Resources has standard questions regarding the economy that have been used in similar city surveys, Gridley said, which will help yield the most accurate results.

Residents will also be asked about Washington County services, including the Environmental Center, which may not be a familiar service to everyone.

As always, property taxes will be on the survey, according to the draft.

The survey typically asks residents if they would like to increase taxes to support and maintain city services, lower them or keep them as they are.

Transportation, energy conservation, schools and cultural diversity questions will also be a part of the 2013 survey.

City staff said random samples such as these generally yield results that are accurate within +/- five percent in 95 out of 100 cases.

The findings will be presented at the council’s April 3 workshop meeting.

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