Strategic Planning and Advisory Commission Chair Dana Saar addressed the Town Council during the April 21 meeting, giving a few fresh details pulled from the recent Vision Fountain Hills Community Survey.

SPAC, partnering with the Fountain Hills Civic and Cultural Association, recently conducted a survey to determine what areas residents felt were the most important for continued focus and growth in Fountain Hills’ future.

Conducted via the Vision Fountain Hills website, the survey was open to the public and, according to Saar, received more than 2,000 responses. From those results, organizers will host a community workshop on May 7, planned to run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. At this workshop, participants will dig further into the results of the survey and discuss what they mean for Fountain Hills.

“It’s important to have an open and frank discussion to look at where we are now, where we want to go and how we want to get there,” Saar said during his presentation.

SPAC will utilize information gathered from the survey and the community workshop to begin crafting a plan for implementation in the coming years. Saar said the goal is to provide a final recommendation to the Council by mid-fall.

As was outlined in the presentation, in 2010, the Town’s Strategic Plan was made up of eight community-driven values. During the survey, participants were asked how relevant several of those values are in 2016.

Public safety, health and welfare was considered the most relevant by survey participants, followed by infrastructure; business and economic vitality; education, learning and cultural opportunities and recreational opportunities, respectively.

The presentation goes on to claim that local schools were included in the survey due to “the influence (negatively and positively) the system has on local property values, community reputation and the Town’s ability to attract and retain families.” In the area of declining enrollment, 84.1 percent of those surveyed said they were concerned with the issue, with another 20.2 saying they are somewhat concerned.

In the area of quality of life, the Community Survey asked how important 10 areas were to Fountain Hills. Respondents said their concerns in that area were prioritized in the following order: The Fountain, street maintenance, park maintenance, sustain youth recreation programs, improve Fountain Lake water quality, expand events to attract visitors, make Fountain Park more attractive, sustain senior recreation programs, maintain dams and washes and maintain public buildings.

When asked if they agree with the Town’s 2014 Economic Development Plan that states “business growth is critical to creating community wealth,” 92.7 percent of participants agreed. As far as developments go, respondents showed interest in key areas in the following order: Entertainment, retail, services, tourism, small industry, residential, offices.

Asked what type of community Fountain Hills should strive to be, 94.2 percent said “a residential community with a diverse compliment of families, seniors and businesses. The remainder were in support of an “adult community comprised mostly of seniors.”

Finally, participants were asked to rank the importance of several strategic priorities. “Invest in the town’s long-term economic growth” received top billing, followed by attract more families and working professionals as full-time residents, expand enrollment and quality of the Fountain Hills School District, ensure maintenance of the Town’s infrastructure and preserve the financial sustainability of town services.

For those who wish to hear from Saar directly, he is scheduled to present these findings at the school board meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight, April 27, in the District Learning Center.