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Survey shows water, roads and downtown development top priorities; mixed views on taxes
Summary
A recent community survey presented to the Colona Plan Commission found water and sewer, roads and downtown commercial development among the highest priorities; respondents were split on supporting new taxes and many wrote in support for senior housing and park improvements.
The Colona Plan Commission reviewed the results of a community survey at its meeting, where presenter Brett Jackson said safety and a healthy environment ranked highest in a forced 1–10 priority question while housing-type variety ranked lowest. Jackson, who said he compiled online and typed paper responses, told commissioners that some paper responses were unusable for the ranked question because respondents duplicated ranks.
Jackson summarized location preferences, saying 63 people identified downtown/city center as the preferred site for new development and 48 cited areas near major roads and highways. Grocery stores, restaurants and retail topped a separate question on desired business types, he said, and many respondents used free-text fields to suggest other needs.
On parks and recreation, Jackson said the largest response bucket was neutral; "we did not get very many very satisfied," he said, adding that many written comments urged specific improvements. Several commissioners noted a strong written preference for sidewalks.
The survey’s tax question showed mixed responses. Jackson said he omitted a direct "no taxes" option and that many respondents used the "other" field to say they did not want additional taxes: "Other was filled with, you know, we've had enough with taxes," he said. He cautioned that other parts of the sample showed some residents willing "to spend money to make money."
Commissioners discussed perceptions of Colona’s age profile. One member said discussion about the town being mostly retirees is common, but Jackson said the data do not support that perception. "The demographics in Colona are shifting," he said, urging the commission to rely on the survey and the workshop results together.
Why it matters: The survey and workshop results will guide the comprehensive plan update's goals and implementation strategies, including where to prioritize infrastructure investments and whether to pursue downtown redevelopment or incentives for targeted business clusters. Staff said full raw responses and supporting files are on the shared Google Drive for commissioners to review.
What’s next: Staff will synthesize survey and workshop input into revised vision and goals for review at upcoming commission meetings.
