02-09-11 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 9, 2011 doable. The key will be in controlling the structure of the survey. He felt, however, that the cost of the survey may still be at $15,000. He suggested that if the Council is in agreement that a survey is needed, a workshop with Decision Resources be set to begin drafting questions. The Administrator agreed that current economic conditions are different from how they have been in the past. McGraw indicated that this is why he feels it important to conduct a survey now. He noted that in 2006 residents were willing to pay more to maintain services. This may not be the case now. Blesener noted Decision Resources' indication that business component should be handled in a different manner than the residential survey. Keis and Boss indicated that the business community would have different concerns than the residential community. There was then general discussion about the specifics of a business focus group. Blesener suggested that a workshop be held to discuss the specifics of a residential survey and business focus group with Decision Resources. The City Administrator suggested that given the tight timeframe to get a survey done, the Council decide on whether or not it wants to proceed with a survey. If so, a workshop could be called at which time work would begin on formulating questions. McGraw suggested that a target price for a survey would be $10,000 with the business focus group an additional $3,750. Keis again expressed his hesitation about the survey, noting that the majority of the City's budget expense relates to police, fire, and public works. Montour pointed out that there are other City services that could be gauged, such as should the Demont skating rink remain closed, additional police protection at Montreal Courts, etc. The City Administrator indicated that the City is facing some tough decisions, and the question is what information does the Council want to help make those decisions. The State will be cutting or eliminating aids to the City, and either a tax increase will be necessary to maintain services or services will have to be reduced. McGraw stated that when it comes time to cut or reduce services, he would rather have information from a number of taxpayers in the City than from just a few. McGraw felt that the more information the Council can have in this decision making process, the better. McGraw felt that the number of survey questions could be managed if the City prioritizes the information that it wants to gather. 6