City
has improved marks in ETC survey of residents?
|
by Mark
Vasto
Landmark reporter
In a recent survey conducted by the ETC
Institute of Olathe, Kansas, Platte City was found to
have one of the top ratings of resident satisfaction
in the Metropolitan Kansas City area.
The results, as shown at the May 25 meeting
of the Platte City Aldermen, found that when compared
to other cities in the metro area, Platte City rated
in the top 25 percent of all cities when it came to
overall quality of customer service, water service,
sewer and trash utilities and the enforcement of city
codes of and ordinances.
The survey was conducted over the month
of May and was administered by phone to a random sample
of 408 households in the Platte City area — roughly
one out of every four households in the city.
Chris Tatham, director of the ETC Institute,
said that the findings showed that the city was making
“tremendous progress” in many areas since
the city started conducting the survey in 2000.
“Most cities have gone down during
the recession,” Tatham said.
Platte City Administrator Keith Moody was clearly ecstatic
over the findings, pointing out that out of 67 categories
surveyed, 59 saw an increase in satisfaction and out
of 45 benchmarking categories for the entire metro area,
35 areas ranked at or above average.
“That’s an amazing feat, in
my opinion,” Moody exclaimed, adding that he planned
on giving a commendation to city staffers.
The survey had a +/- ratio of 5 percent
with a 95 percent level of confidence which means that
if the survey was conducted 100 times, it would reflect
the same results within five percentage points 95 times.
In other actions of the board of aldermen:
•Alderwoman Melody Doescher apparently
hit a nerve when she questioned why the Hampton Condominium
complex wasn’t sharing in the cost of building
drainage on an area of ground next to a privately-owned
residence. The cost of the project is being estimated
at $9,200 dollars, and Doescher reasoned that since
the Hampton Condominiums seemed to be the reason for
the drainage problem, they should be required to pay
for some or all of the improvements.
City Administrator Keith Moody balked
at the suggestion, saying that the city could provide
no “motivation” for the Hampton Condominium
homeowners to pay for the problem. Moody spoke from
firsthand knowledge: after Doescher pressed on the point,
Moody admitted that he was the president of the Hampton
Homeowner’s Group. Moody did say, however, that
the group would “be happy to grant the easement”
for the property.
•Aldermen spoke briefly on a dispute
between Sprint and the city over unpaid legal fees.
The dispute allegedly arose when Sprint required a separate
franchise fee ordinance that differed from the city’s
existing rules. The city is asserting that since the
company required the change in law, they should pay
for the legal fees. Sprint, in a written communication,
said that charging for legal fees is against the law.
Sprint spokesman Randy Knox could not be reached for
comment as of press time.
•Approved a TIF policy that would
serve as the framework for initiating discussions on
projects by developers interested in receiving the special
tax increment financing used to deal with blighted areas.
Reported that gross sales within the city
are increasing according to recently released sales
tax data. In particular, sales taxes from the fast food
restaurants have shown an increase. Motel sales taxes
have declined, however.
