Late last week the Mirror Pond Steering Committee released the results from 18-question survey that was first issued in January.
And yesterday, Don Horton, executive director of Bend Park & Recreation District summed up the results during a Mirror Pond Steering Committee meeting.
Horton said it was "clear," Bend residents care about water quality, river habitat and picturesque views.
Here are the most telling (and most interesting) results from a survey that proved to be confusing and biased to many of the 1,858 respondents.
Most attractive: The grey bar represents what respondents thought most attractive. Unsurprisingly, people chose the lovely river image.
Most important: The green bar represents the majority of respondents, 64%, who said a healthy river system was most important to them.
Possible approaches: This one was a toss up. The green bars represent "Dredge regularly" (27%) and "dredge a little, then modify the river" (29%), which were neck and neck. Though in public meetings, those who want to "just dredge and be done with it," seem to be in the minority.
The Mirror Pond Management Board has hired Greenworks, a Portland-based design firm, to begin the visioning process (the part where we see visuals of what the river COULD look like). Documents issued at yesterday's meeting shows "Vision Alternatives Review" (the visuals) will be ready June 11-ish.
