Bay City releases citywide survey: residents cite roads, utilities and communication as top concerns

City staff presented the results of a citywide resident survey Wednesday, reporting 740 completed responses collected over one month and promising those results will be posted on the city website.

The survey, described during the Bay City City Commission meeting by a city staff member identified as Dana (survey presenter), covered utilities, roads, public safety, parks, trees and city communication. Dana said the responses will inform department-level follow-up and outreach.

Dana said the 740 responses represent about 2% of Bay City’s roughly 32,000 residents. The presentation included department-level satisfaction ratings and written comments submitted by respondents.

Key takeaways presented by staff included: - Utilities: 62% of respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with water quality; electric-service reliability was rated satisfied by 59%. Satisfaction with electric service for the cost was notably lower (about 28%). Dana said 51% of respondents supported increased investment in utility infrastructure, though many also reported concerns about billing fairness and transparency. - Roads and transportation: Respondents rated road conditions poorly; the presenter cited a 79% response indicating roads are in poor condition and identified potholes, traffic flow and sidewalk conditions as top concerns. Support for a local road millage was mixed: 47% said they would back a dedicated local road millage, while many respondents indicated they would only pay modest amounts or opposed a millage. - Public safety: While 73% of respondents rated public-safety infrastructure in the “very satisfied/somewhat satisfied/neutral” range, comments described concerns about perceived understaffing, fire station maintenance and neighborhood safety. A separate question found 76% of respondents expressed some level of support for a dedicated public-safety millage, but the presentation noted most respondents reported they would be willing to pay only small amounts annually or nothing. - Parks and trees: Fifty-four percent of respondents said parks or facilities needed improvement; Veterans Memorial Park and the nearby state park drew the most comments. For street trees, 51% of respondents reported noticing city-owned trees removed in the past one to two years, and many respondents said they lacked enough information about tree removals and replacements. - Communication and civic engagement: The presenter said 58% of respondents felt not well informed about commission decisions and that 46% wanted more opportunities to give input (34% said yes). The city contacted 70 respondents who expressed interest in serving on boards or commissions.

Commissioners asked about survey methodology, frequency and how representative the sample is of renters and younger residents. Commissioner Coakley asked how closely the respondent demographics matched the city population; Dana said staff could provide that comparison. Commissioner Cubitt urged more outreach to younger residents and renters; staff said the survey was conducted in-house and included both online and paper responses.

Dana said the survey will be posted on the city website and staff will email the full results to commissioners. "We will be sharing the detailed comments and department-level follow-up items so the public and commission can review them," Dana said during the meeting.

Commissioners said they will use the results to guide future committee work and outreach planning.

The presentation and Q&A took up a substantial portion of the meeting; commissioners and staff agreed the findings will guide follow-up, including targeted engagement and presenting the detailed responses to relevant commissions and departments.