Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – City officials are hoping a new survey prepared by students and staff at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will say citizens are satisfied with services offered in the community but are ready to hear whatever comments come their way, whether good or bad.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
AND THE SURVEY SAYS – City officials have teamed up with a group from UMPI to put together a survey that asks citizens what they think about city services in Presque Isle. Gathered to review the survey are, from left: UMPI President Don Zillman, City Councilor Jennifer Trombley, UMPI student Jason Parlin, Professor Allen Salo and City Manager Tom Stevens.
“To my knowledge this is the first time in many years the city has done a citizen satisfaction survey. What makes this particularly unique is we’ve teamed up with an UMPI class to prepare the surveys for us,” said City Manager Tom Stevens.
Students with Dr. Allen Salo’s Research Methods class worked last spring to develop the satisfaction survey. Salo’s students this fall were scheduled to conduct the nine-page survey asking citizens to rate their overall image of Presque Isle and specific departments and facilities, such as the Forum, airport and police department.
“We’re using it as a teaching tool,” explained Salo. “Once the information is collected, the information will be compiled and presented to Tom.”
The telephone survey will be done on a random basis, with students calling Presque Isle residents listed in the phone book. The questionnaire should only take about 15-20 minutes to complete and those taking part will be entered into a special drawing.
“As an incentive, participants’ names will be entered into a drawing for 100 gallons of fuel,” said Stevens.
The survey got under way Nov. 15. Salo was hoping his students could complete 300 surveys by the second week in December. Once the data is collected, students from several classes will compile the information using an Excel program, Salo said.
“I will do most statistical analysis and report writing, yet some students may contribute here as well,” said Salo.
In addition to learning what citizens think the city is doing well and where improvement can be made, Stevens saw another advantage to taxpayers.
“This will save the city about $15,000. It would cost about that if we hired a contractor to develop and complete a similar survey for us, so this is of real value to the city,” said Stevens. “This survey will help us both to gather some important opinions about city services and to get the information at no cost to taxpayers.”
Stevens said if this survey proves to be a success, the city may continue to collect such data on a regular basis.
“If the surveys are well-received by citizens, we may continue to do them from time to time – maybe every few years,” said Stevens.
City officials have wanted a way to collect input but until now had never had a system in place to do so.
“The city occasionally gets comments but didn’t have a systematic way to know what the pulse or the overall level of satisfaction for various city services was, or what they currently are,” said Stevens. “The results of this survey should serve as a general indicator.”
