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Trustees began the process of updating the Village of Lansing Comprehensive Plan Monday.  Mayor Donald Hartill suggested that he and the four trustees split up the current document, last updated in 2005, and make recommendations for changes that reflect the current makeup of the Village.

But Yasamin Miller, who is running for a seat on the Village Board, argued that because of significant changes between the 2000 and 2010 censuses a survey of villagers would better inform any changes Village officials should be considering.  While the overall population total has not significantly changed since the 2000 census, she said the demographics of the Village have changed.  Hartill challenged Miller to explain what changes have been significant in the last ten years.

"When you change age, ethnicity, rental status it changes desires and goals," she said.  "Your comprehensive goals and recommendations need to be informed by what the people want, as opposed to four trustees and the Mayor looking at the documents."

Miller said the Village is older and ethically more diverse, and has fewer renters than in 2000 according to 2010 census data.  She added that there is a divide in the village between low income renters and high income homeowners.  Miller is Director of the Cornell Research Institute, a self-sustaining business within Cornell that conducts research and data analysis for academic, non-profit, governmental, and corporate clients.

"The kinds of things you might ask about is making it a more walkable village, having more recreational opportunities, do we need a better transportation plan, do we need a new village office, etc.," Hartill noted.  "If you back up a little bit from that and see what's currently in the comprehensive plan what would you expect to come out of such a survey?"

"Comprehensive plans have two objectives," Miller replied.  "One is to give you a snapshot of what your village looks like at this point in time with the data you have.  The other is to inform your goals and your recommendations.  If you look at the (current) Village goals and recommendations they are very intangible.  They read more like mission statements."

Hartill observed that a survey in 2000 yielded a disappointing return, noting that some responses asked for things like a police department that are beyond the Village budget.  Village Clerk Jodi Dake said at that time about 2,000 surveys were sent out but the only about 140 responses were forthcoming.

Miller said that her company can get between 70% to 90% resident survey responses.  She said that the wording of the questions can have an impact on the number of responses, and cautioned not to ask residents to suggest changes that are not viable.  She offered to help trustees develop an effective survey.

She said it takes at least two or three months to develop the questionnaire, at least two months for data collection.  There was some discussion of using Cornell students to develop and administer the survey, which trustees estimated could be done for about $15,000.  But Miller argued that you get what you pay for and a professionally administered survey, while it could cost up to $30,000, would be worth the veracity and quality of the results.  She said that surveys administered as a class project have different objectives, and less attention to detail.

"It's not cheap," she said.  "But you're making significant decisions for the future of the Village for the next ten to fifteen years it would be prudent to spend money doing a comprehensive survey of your residents."

Hartill asked each Trustee to review a portion of the plan and bring back recommendations for updating.  He said the next step would be to ask the Planning Board to do the same before it is brought back to the Trustees for adoption.

"I'd like to see how this first pass goes, then have the Planning Board look at it," he said.  "The we'll certainly look into whether a survey makes sense or not."

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