Survey

 

The LRA Membership Survey Results are in….  Click here.

We had a really strong response rate to our survey, with 74 responses out of the 118 LRA members solicited for the survey, yielding a 63% response rate.  This included a survey sent to and received from Bob McConnin via snail mail.
 
As you will see from the slide deck of the results, the survey yielded a lot of helpful data, comments, and perspectives from our fellow LRA members.  Most importantly, it gives an equal voice to all who participated in the survey.  I want to thank all who participated.
 
This is the PDF of a slide deck taken that I compiled from the dashboard created by SurveyMonkey, with responses presented either in chart form where we provided specific answer choices or in the form of verbatim textual answers provided by respondent where we prompted them (that’s Questions #4, #9, and #10 in the survey).  For the benefit of all the members, I have copied these responses directly into the slide deck.
 
Because Question #4 asked respondents to give their greatest concerns about the lake, I categorized the responses by common themes and put the results into pie charts under priorities (a), (b), and (c) as we had requested in the survey.  The verbatim answers are provided in the Annex to the slide deck and listed under the respective pie chart category for reference.
 
For me, the major take-aways from the survey are:
 
  • The majority of lake “uses” are kayaking, swimming, and fishing — activities that appreciate calm waters.
  • “Water quality/Invasives/Environment” category registered at the highest percentage for all three levels of “concern” we asked respondents to identify in response to Question #4.  Additionally, “Biological Health of the Lake” was ranked first as the most important mission of the LRA in response to Question #8.
  • “No Regulation of Lake Uses” category was statistically significant at 20% under priority (a) in response to Question #4.
  • A significant number of respondents, over 70%, see a role for the LRA in addressing their concerns.
  • These responses, together with a number of comments that the LRA lake community be managed in a non-divisive, harmonious fashion, suggest to me that next steps could be: 
    • A volunteer, educate, and awareness approach to water quality and water safety (speed limits near shore, swimmers and other boats).
    • Continued engagement with the Greeter Program and the Lake Wise program
    • Presentation about water testing and access to training sessions
    • Workshops, group kayak outings, walks to identify vulnerable points (runoff) in the lake, on roads, etc.
    • Helping members address septic run-off into the lake
    • Special topic speakers
    • More social and family activities
    • Resource list of trades people for addressing homeowners issues
    • Addressing road safety and light/noise pollution, as well as crime prevention.  
The new bylaws will allow six Trustees to be dedicated to ad hoc committees so perhaps we can find some candidates to take on some of these causes (assuming the new bylaws are passed on July 10) as well as offer up other ideas.
 
A flip book of the survey will be available at the July 10 meeting at which point we will have a summarized presentation.  Hope to see you there.  
Thanks, 
Ann Loughran, 
Chair of Survey/ A1 Committee

A1 Committee Members

 
Andrew Adams
Cecile Baker
Michael Bragg
Bob Brody
Pam Farr
Holly Winger Fortner
Chessia Kelley
Scott Kurtzman
Ann Loughran (chair – avgl@optonline.net)
Jack Widness