Public Participation

In January 2012, the Cary Biennial Citizen Survey was conducted examining numerous issues relating to the overall citizen satisfaction with the functioning and operation of the Town of Cary as well as current issues related to the Town. The results of this survey were followed-up by two focus groups conducted by BKL Research that examined specific issues from the survey in order to gather more detailed insight. Respondents to the citizen survey were asked if they would be willing to participate in a focus group session (35.5% of the sample agreed to participate) and this was the pool from which the participants were selected.

The survey consisted of 47 core questions with related subparts to several of the questions. Respondents were asked to rate the Town Government staff, Police Department, Fire Department, Parks & Recreation programs, streets/roads, perceptions of safety, quality of life, and solid waste/recycling services. The survey also examined other issues including information sources, tax rates, information dissemination, opportunities to participate in decision-making, citizen involvement barriers, new media usage, and potential internet-based services. Another series of questions examined Town Council focus areas in relation to issues such as keeping Cary best place to live, environmental protection, downtown revitalization, transportation, planning & development, and parks & recreation. The respondents were also asked actions that could improve dissatisfaction with these focus areas. There were questions examining new amenities/activities for downtown, farmer’s market, sustainable practices, plug-in vehicles, smart phones, internet access, and home telephone service. The respondents were primarily asked to use a 9-point scale. There were open-ended questions examining streets/roads and public areas needing attention and most important issues. The survey incorporated 9 demographic questions.

In January/February 2010, the Cary Biennial Citizen Survey was conducted examining numerous issues relating to the overall citizen satisfaction with the functioning and operation of Cary as well as current issues related to the Town. The results of this survey were followed-up by two focus groups conducted by BKL Research that examined specific issues from the survey in order to gather more detailed insight. Respondents to the citizen survey were asked if they would be willing to participate in a focus group session (44% of the sample agreed to participate) and this was the pool from which the participants were selected. The composition of the groups was controlled in respect to two factors, age and gender. Participants were selected so that there was a balance of both age and gender in each session. All the participants owned homes. A total of 6 participants were in the first session and 7 in the second session. Appendix A has the roster of participants for both sessions including their age groups and Appendix B contains the seating charts. The participants were compensated for their involvement.

The Town of Cary’s 2008 Biennial Citizen Survey was conducted from February 1st through February 23rd of 2008. BKL Research administered the telephone survey to 405 residents of the Town of Cary. This resulted in a ±5% margin of error.

The survey consisted of 46 core questions with related subparts to several of the questions. Respondents were asked to rate the Town Government staff, Police Department, Fire Department, Parks & Recreation programs, streets/roads, perceptions of safety, quality of life, and solid waste/recycling services. The survey also examined other issues including information sources, tax rates, internet access, the Town’s cable programming, information dissemination, opportunities to participate in decision-making, instant runoff elections, emergency preparedness, and sense of community. Another series of questions examined Town Council focus areas in relation to issues such as environmental protection, schools, downtown revitalization, transportation, planning & development, and parks & recreation. The respondents were primarily asked to use a 9-point scale. There was an open-ended question included to examine the most important issue facing Cary. In addition, the respondents were asked to suggest improvements for streets/public areas, desirability of Cary, quality of life, environmental protection, Cary as a place to live, school issues, downtown revitalization, transportation, planning & development, and parks & recreation. The survey also incorporated 10 demographic breakdown questions.

The Town of Cary’s 2011 Water Resources and Water Conservation Survey was conducted for CH2M Hill from October 29th through November 20th of 2011. BKL Research administered the telephone survey to 404 residents of the Towns of Cary and Morrisville. This resulted in a ±5% margin of error. The sampling frame included households that received billing for water/sewer from the Town of Cary which also includes Morrisville households.

The survey consisted of 42 core questions with related subparts to several of the questions. Respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of water supply issues, satisfaction with the Town’s water conservation program, reasons they conserve water, tools to encourage water conservation, information needed to manage their water usage, and cost issues related to usage. The survey also examined landscape/garden maintenance and usage of secondary water sources. A set of questions explored the respondent’s knowledge of several water saving methodologies. Another set of questions examined familiarity and participation with several Cary water saving initiatives. The respondents were asked how they prefer to receive information about water conservation. They were asked if they had taken any actions in the past two years to reduce water use. Those who did were subsequently asked which actions inside and outside the home they had taken. The last set of questions explored awareness of several Town watering ordinances. The survey primarily utilized a 9-point scale or a yes/no response format. The survey incorporated 6 demographic questions.