Petoskey Schools Athletic Facilities Proposal Defeated

Voters in the Petoskey School District resoundingly defeated a $15 million bond proposal to construct a new school athletic complex by a margin of 2,457 - 1473.

I was actually quite surprised late last year when the school district released the results of a survey showing that the public would support funding such a proposal, given the current state of our state and local economies. Apparently my skepticism of the survey data was warranted.

The Traverse City Record Eagle ran a story on the defeat, pointing to the weak economy as a major contributing factor to the outcome. I would have to agree with their assessments. The fact that we have lost a number of local employers recently has people concerned. In trying times like these, people are hesitant to commit to spending money on anything which is not deemed to be absolutely essential. The voters apparently saw this proposal as a luxury which cannot be afforded at this time.

Petoskey Favors New Football Stadium?

According to an article in today's Petoskey News Review, Petoskey School District voters are supportive of a new millage to develop and operate $15 million worth of new school sports facilities. This according to Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA, which surveyed 300 district residents from Nov. 11-14, and found that a majority of those surveyed (57%) supported the idea.

School officials are apparently considering new football, track and soccer facilities at the south end of the Petoskey High School/Petoskey Middle School complex. The proposed new taxes would cost the owner of a $200,000 home roughly $79/year.

I found these survey results to be quite surprising, given the current weakness in our local economy. So I thought it would be interesting to conduct my own survey. (I have been looking for an excuse to have a survey for a while now). So here's your big chance! Please click on the link below to complete the survey.

Petoskey Schools' Sports Facilities Improvement Proposal Survey