Walnut Creek town hall meeting Wednesday
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on October 19, 2008 2:00 AM
The Village of Walnut Creek will hold its second town hall meeting Wednesday.
The meeting, an open forum between residents and council members, will be held at the Walnut Creek Country Club at 7 p.m., prior to the regular council meeting which will begin at 8 p.m.
Village officials have separated the village into three districts, and are asking residents to only attend the meeting that coincides with their district.
The second district includes houses along Walnut Creek Drive from U.S. 70 to Dogwood Trail, houses along Tramway Drive and Tramway Place and houses along Dobbs Place and Mill Place. The second district also includes about two to four houses on each side along Mill Road past the end of Dogwood Trail.
About 20 residents attended the first town hall meeting held last month, but village officials are hoping more residents come out for this meeting and the last one on Dec. 3.
In July, council members said they got a better idea of what residents like and dislike about their community and what they want to see in the future with the results of a village survey.
The results were grouped into eight areas, the first of which described how residents viewed the overall status of the village. Most favored it.
The top reasons residents said they like living in the village were the lakes, the peace and tranquility and the Walnut Creek Country Club. Most residents said the taxes they pay are worth it to live in the village, and many said they would pay more to get more.
They did not, however, ask for a post office or centralized mail, more street lights or a higher speed limit.
Other results showed residents want an increase in recreation opportunities. More pointedly, 62 percent want a village fitness center. Other recreation options such as a picnic shelter, increased playground space and a nature trail also won an overwhelming majority, but not softball and soccer fields.
The survey also touched on environmental aspects of the village, and many were on board with what the council is already doing.
Ninety-eight percent of those who replied were in favor of expanding compost services and even putting a compost center in the village, and 95 percent were happy with the village recycling process.
Others agreed with the water conservation measures, recycling pickup and looking into how the village can increase energy efficiency, as well as the potential prohibition of open-air burning.
As for roads and infrastructure, residents showed they do not want the village to become a gated community, but that they think that the village does a good job with road improvement and signs.
The government category results showed that residents are happy with the village ordinances and know whom to call if they have an issue. Also in the public safety category, 86 percent of the residents said they feel secure. Many also indicated that they know about and want to participate in crime prevention programs and most felt that police aggressiveness was right on target.
The Walnut Creek Country Club was another category on the list, with 70 percent of residents reporting that they are members of the club. More than 70 percent of them also believed that the village and the club should try to establish some sort of partnership and have resident rates or incentives. Ninety-percent of the respondents also wanted to see more community dinners or picnics that could take place at the club or the village hall.
The last part of the survey asked residents what they wanted to see in their dream village if time or money wasn't a factor.
The most common answers were a simple and close-knit community, maximized neighborhood involvement, established community activities, well-attended village meetings, top-notch recreation facilities, curbs, gutters and a bike path, shopping areas and an improved Village Green and attractive entrances with uniform mailboxes.