The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
Online answers provide first insights into priorities, but Town Hall meeting will look at analysis of all community responses
A word cloud shows the ten responses that appeared most often in some form to the survey question "What one thing makes you proudest about living in Lincoln?" The larger the word, the more often it appeared.
A hard no. The responses to a question on the Lincoln Master Planning community Survey, taken only from the surveys submitted online, show that, by and large, community members have no appetite for incorporation or additional taxes to fund projects
A town hall meeting planned for next Wednesday, April 27 will look at the full results of the Lincoln Master Planning Community survey that was in circulation around town and online from early March until April 8.
The responses will help guide the development of a master plan by highlighting common concerns, what Lincoln community members would like to see and what they are dead set against.
As March drew to a close, the Lincoln Master Plan Steering Committee extended the survey submission deadline to April 8 to ensure as many community members as possible had time to respond.
Last week, Dustin deYong of Freestone Development, the contractor hired to develop the master plan, provided the steering committee a look at early results based on the online responses. He is still compiling the responses from the hard copy surveys and analyzing answers to the open-ended questions to look for themes.
The survey received a total of 120 responses online and 33 hard copy responses, although community members picked up more that 115 of the hard copies at businesses around town.
The 153 responses accounted for an estimated response rate of 18.9 percent. According to 2020 Census data, Lincoln has about 998 residents. Subtracting both the 2022 school population of 138 and an estimated Pre-K population of 50, the target population came in at about 810 people
DeYong said he's pleased with the response rate, which isn't too far off the typical response rates similar for surveys in Montana.
Based on the online responses, several things were clear right off the bat. To begin with, Lincoln residents are very pound of their community and the people in it.
Even more evident is that the topic of incorporation or funding projects through additional taxes is a hard no. However, there seems to be considerable support for accomplishing projects through community fundraising, volunteer labor and grants.
The final numbers may change somewhat as the hard copy responses are factored in, but the preliminary results show definite trends related to funding, concerns about Highway 200 and the importance of the town's heritage.
Other responses, some of which are published below, provide insight into the demographics of residents who filled out the surveys.
The April 27 Town Hall Meeting to discuss the survey results is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Lincoln Community Hall.
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