Agenda - Council - 11/07/2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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it would be repaid by this program. He explained that in order to show implementation of the program next summer, the project would have to use an alternate funding source. Mayor Ramsey suggested, and the Council agreed, to direct staff to revise the website sentence so it does not appear the decision has already been made. Councilmember McGlone stated he has a problem with the public information program. He noted the Council grappled with how to get data to help form opinions on what the community wants and did a good job with that and the survey questions. However, if they now decide to pick "winner" and "loser" neighborhoods it only furthers comments that no one came to their neighborhood. Councilmember McGlone thought all meetings should be held at the City Hall because it cannot hold meetings in every neighborhood. He noted the Council hears from people who don't like something and they may submit many on-line surveys yet the people who do support it won't take the time to fill out one survey. Public Works Director Olson explained that is why staff did the random survey sampling but even when the City has projects that are controversial, meetings are held and public comment cards provided. He stated staff wants to give the Council as much information as possible before it makes a decision. Councilmember Elvig agreed with the need to change the website statement mentioned by Mayor Ramsey. With regard to how the draft website is laid out, he suggested the graph be placed first with a brief summation and simply stated bullet points. Then additional detail can follow. The Council supported this suggestion and Public Works Director Olson stated they can also include pictures. Councilmember Elvig addressed the on-line survey and asked how to assure the resident has read about the issue prior to filling out the survey, and how to guarantee only one survey per family. Councilmember Strommen stated it is frustrating that the focus is on the franchise fee when the Council's issue was not the franchise fee but how to fund the Road Maintenance Fund. She stated the City needs to correctly frame the issue by not focusing on a single funding issue but, rather, to use the graph or photos to frame the issue and then frame questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Residents could also be asked to provide input on what they would do to maintain and fund roads, which would get the focus on the right issue. She reiterated the importance of framing questions correctly so they provide input that is meaningful. City Administrator Ulrich stated the website survey should not be the same as the random survey. He suggested allowing residents to post comments. Public Works Director Olson explained that is what staff was getting at when it developed the questionnaire, to allow people to fill in key concerns relative to this project. He noted it also asks how you think the City should pay for this program. City Council Work Session / October 18, 2011 Page 7 of 11