SANDY — In a bid to become the home of professional soccer in Utah, the Sandy City Council has set aside money for a study of residents' opinions about chasing a stadium for Real Salt Lake.

The council voted Tuesday night to allot $5,000 for a survey of residents with questions specifically about the possibility of hosting the soccer stadium.

Sandy is in a heated competition with Murray and Salt Lake City for the stadium, which would cost millions of dollars but conceivably bring in much more than that to communities hungry for an economic boost.

City Council members voted to allocate the money without spending it until they know if they have a better chance of a successful proposal.

"I think that we ought to have this money available — ready to go — but that we not spend it until we have a better feel as to whether we are a preferred site," said Randy Sant, economic development director for the city. "We ought to be ready to go until it happens."

The council voted unanimously to follow Sant's advice. The $5,000 will be drawn from a contingency fund from the fiscal year that ends in June.

But the survey could show a lack of community support for the stadium. And if that happens?

"That would probably be a factor in the discussions," said Ryan Mecham, spokesman for the city. "It could show there is a lot of support for doing this, and it could show that a lot of people don't know about it."

Real Salt Lake, a Major League Soccer expansion franchise, wants to play in its own stadium beginning in spring 2007, said Trey Fitz-Gerald, spokesman for the team. The team now plays its home games at 45,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium, the same spot where the University of Utah football team competes.

Murray Mayor Dan Snarr said his city does not need a survey to know it is the best place to host the stadium. Snarr believes the stadium would fit best near 4500 South and I-15 because of the site's proximity to light rail and a future commuter rail line, its central valley location and an abundance of undeveloped land.

"I'm obviously going to pitch Murray because I think it's going to be most successful there," Snarr said. "I have 200 acres of prime land that is way underutilized and way underdeveloped. I can bring back that whole area to life and create a synergism that no one can for a lot less money than everybody else."

Initially, downtown Salt Lake City and Murray were the strongest contenders for the stadium. Then, Sandy offered $20 million for the stadium, money that had been set aside for a parking structure at its Expo Center that drastically strengthens Sandy's late-to-the-game bid for the stadium. That move angered Salt Lake City, which had contributed $8 million to the same fund from which Sandy drew its $20 million for the Salt Palace expansion and Expo Center parking structure.