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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 13, 2014 Page 20 Mr. Bowman noted that one aspect of the phone survey is if the desired response is "excellent," more probing could be done to determine why, allowing for inher- ent flexibility with the process and lending more strength to it. Mayor Roe advised that he was open to a written or phone survey, opining that he had not had the same problems with the Cobalt Survey as expressed by other Councilmembers, but was not disrespectful of those perspectives either. Mayor Roe suggested that a shorter phone interview be found, opining that 42 minutes was too long. Mayor Roe noted that he did want specific answers to current is- sues, including solid waste and organized hauling considerations. Mr. Bowman noted that a survey was only as good as its design. Councilmember Laliberte echoed comments of Mayor Roe, and expressed her preference for a shorter survey, while allowing surveying a broader group of citi- zens for the same budgeted allotment. Councilmember Laliberte expressed her preference for a phone survey, the shorter the better, and to survey as many as possible, while still telling them upfront the time commitment to avoid them abandoning the survey midstream. Councilmember Laliberte expressed interest in developing a survey period after period for comparison purposes; with this year's probe concentrating on organized waste hauling, and future topics dependent on what is relevant at that time. Mr. Bowman offered to address that question to both firms for their input. Councilmember Willmus, specific to the time required and length of the survey and using the Shoreview survey as an example, suggested the firm chosen guaran- tee a certain number of completed surveys, finding citizens who are willing to commit to a timeframe if they know it will impact their city and daily life. There- fore, Councilmember Willmus opined that he wasn't concerned as much about the length of the survey, but echoed the desire for a set of base questions to carry forward year after year. Councilmember McGehee moved to direct staff to move forward with Decision Resources and find out additional information. At the suggestion of Mayor Roe, Councilmember McGehee withdrew her motion in order to receive public com- ment. Public Comment Kathy Clink, 535 Ryan Avenue W Ms. Clink opined that, regarding surveys, it was important to keep in mind the importance of how representative it was of its citizens. As an example using the packet available on line, there was no response demographic information provid- ed with the written survey, but there was for the phone survey. However, of the 48% respondents deemed to be between the ages of 45 — 64, using 2010 census