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City Council Regular Meeting — 02/14/05 DRAFT Minutes - Page 13 Councilmember Ihlan opined her skepticism of the need for a community survey; and questioned whether this discussion may be more appropriate at the upcoming Special Council meeting, to research and collect community opinion as a supplement to the City Council's own visioning process; and questioned whether other alternatives would prove more effective (i.e., expansion of the City's website for more citizen interaction). Councilmember Ihlan expressed concerns regarding a survey's methodology and design; and questioned whether higher-education institutions could be tapped for design ideas. Further discussion included design of a survey; data sought; alternatives; larger visioning processes; and whether a survey would stand independently or complement other tools. Councilmember Schroeder expressed his concerns regarding a community survey at this time; opining that there was too much controversy in the community at this time given the Twin Lakes issue and recent tax increases, and questioned the validity of the survey results given that environment. Councilmember Schroeder further questioned the rating scales on the sample provided by staff and adding to confusion of participants; and the cost estimate of $25,000 provided by staff, questioning the accuracy of that estimate. Councilmember Schroeder opined that he would prefer to use Communication Fund monies to continue improvements in the Council Chambers for audio/visual needs. Councilmember Kough reiterated the concerns he'd expressed at budget time, opining that no survey be completed this year, given other cuts imposed by the City; concurring with Councilmember Schroeder's suggestion for improvements to the Council Chambers. Further discussion included the representative sampling provided by phone calls and/or e-mails to individual Councilmembers. Councilmember Maschka spoke in support of a survey, from a business perspective, as a step in a more global visioning process in 2006; with proper selection of random people to survey and a firm that could meet the community's needs in performing the survey.