City Council Study Session Summary 2008 04 22

Home Browse Search

City Council Study Session Summary April 22, 2008 Page 3 of 5 Boyd said that the tour dates have not been set for 2008 but said that they are always in high demand and suggested that if anyone was interested they should contact Veronica Gomez at NCWCD to be put on a mailing list. Mr. Drager also said that they do give individual or small tours if someone wants to see a particular part of the system. Mayor Sisk thanked the representatives from NCWCD for coming to the meeting and making the presentation. Mayor Sisk expressed his appreciation for Dan Mathes', Senior Civil Engineer, and Director Tom Phare's expertise. 3. UpdatelDiscussion - Draft Citizen Survey Mayor Sisk suggested that they move to item 4, Update/Discussion - Draft of Citizen Survey, while Planning Director Paul Wood set up for a PowerPoint presentation. City Manager Malcolm Fleming provided background on the survey: last conducted in 2004; intended to focus primarily on citizens satisfaction with the City's services and identify any areas that need additional attention or resources; includes a few policy questions of interest to the City Council; need to keep the survey to no more than five pages in length because if it is longer, many people will just toss it in the trash. He then introduced National Research Center (NRC) representatives Laurie Urban, Research Associate and Shannon Hayden, Senior Analyst to review their methodology. Shannon Hayden explained that NRC mails the survey to a random sample of 2,000 households. The last survey in Louisville had a very high response rate of over 50%. She cautioned not to worry if we don't get that high a response rate this time, but is optimistic that we will again have a good response rate. Regardless, NRC applies statistical sampling methods to ensure a valid survey. Councilor Dalton asked what the margin of error for the survey is. Ms. Hayden responded that the margin of error is expected to be +/- 4%. Mayor Pro Tem Marsella said that she had concerns about question number 23. She said that the single trash hauler was not about the cost but about diversion of trash to landfill. She thought it should be reworded. Councilor Clabots expressed concern about question 22 regarding open space for wind turbines. He asked if it might be better perceived to say city owned property and leave off the open space and he also thought it unnecessary to explain in detail a wind turbine. Mayor Sisk said that it would be a clearer indication of citizen support if it was left in the current format, but agreed it was an unnecessary use of limited survey space to explain what a wind turbine is. Mayor Sisk said that the purpose of the question was to see if the citizens thought alternative energy was important enough to have it in their neighborhoods/backyards. Mayor Sisk said that he would suggest adding solar energy to the question.