City to ask citizens about parks and trails

Residents of Electric City could receive a Parks and Trails Survey as early as this week.

The survey asks more than 20 questions about how residents view their city and what their needs are for the future.

The survey came out of a community meeting held Jan. 20, at Coulee Medical Center, and is tied to Electric City’s plan to put in a pathway and trail system using tourism-dedicated lodging tax funds to do so.

The survey was developed by Grant County Health District and was provided to Electric City’s Parks and Pathway Advisory Committee for comment before it is circulated.

The committee is made up of Clark Perman, Lynda Anderson, Jeff Piturachsatit, and Cindy Greely, with Councilmember Brad Parrish chairing the committee.

The committee is designed to make recommendations to the city council, which will make decisions.

The survey distribution precedes two community meetings to be organized by a group out of Washington State University. The first of these coming meetings could occur in May. The information obtained through the survey will play a role in these meetings.

The city council had earlier this year voted $40,000 from its hotel/motel tax funds to pay for the expenses of the WSU professor/student team and for an eventual plan from the city’s engineering firm, Gray & Osborne.

Then the city set aside $400,000 from its hotel/motel fund reserve to be available for matching funds for grants to get the project rolling.

Taking part in the Jan. 20 meeting were the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, WSU, Grant County Health District, Coulee Medical Center, the Washington Department of Transportation, and the City of Electric City.

The city takes in about $65,000 a year in hotel/motel taxes, which by state law must be used to further the tourism industry.

Survey questions ask about local interest in a pocket park near the water treatment plant, a neighborhood park behind the fire station, and a trail system that would eventually connect Sunbanks Lake Resort to North Dam Park and beyond. The survey asks what facilities residents would like to see in the various parks suggested, including information they would like to see in an Ice Age Trail system that included kiosks along the trail.

The survey also asks about sidewalks in the city and interest in participating in an annual cleanup day in the city.