Crawford County commissioners authorize postcard mailer, agree to anonymous online survey to boost participation

Crawford County commissioners on Feb. 6 authorized a postcard mailer and asked the county clerk or treasurer to provide a mailing list to support a countywide comprehensive-plan survey, after hearing a detailed presentation on survey design, anonymity and data-integrity safeguards.

The survey consultant, Joshua Calvin, told the commission that requiring respondents to enter names and email addresses on the questionnaire would likely reduce participation "by at least a 50 to 70%" and recommended publishing the survey without name and email fields while capturing identifying data on the back end through IP and other analytics. "But I believe for the best participation in the survey that we should leave the name and email address off of the actual survey itself and allow it to be tracked through IP addresses," Calvin said.

Calvin and county officials said the goal is to maximize participation on polarizing topics such as zoning, wind and solar development while preserving the ability to detect duplicate or automated responses. He explained SurveyMonkey tools and additional analytic checks — including IP-geosyncing, comment-text comparison and manual review of flagged responses — to limit fraud and overlap between mailed, paper and online returns. Calvin said paper copies will be available at county buildings, city halls and libraries, and residents may request a mailed paper copy or call an automated number for assistance.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the survey will inform the county's comprehensive plan and could affect future zoning and development decisions. Several commissioners and residents emphasized that broad participation is essential to making the survey statistically useful across age groups and locations.

Key details from the presentation and discussion: - Mailing and production costs: a postcard mailing to about 30,000 addresses was quoted at roughly $4,000 if the county supplies the list; mailing a multi-page paper packet to the same addresses was estimated at about $10,000, depending on postage and envelope size. Calvin said about 10% of recipients typically request a paper copy. - Survey length and response behavior: Calvin said SurveyMonkey analytics suggest most respondents will finish in under 12 minutes and aimed to keep the survey under 15 minutes to preserve completion rates. - Anonymity and tracking: Calvin described using IP address tracking, geosyncing and AI-assisted text-comparison to detect duplicate or suspicious submissions. Paper responses with no identifying information would be placed in a review queue for county staff to validate and decide whether to include them. - Accessibility and distribution: paper copies will be distributed at county buildings, city halls and public libraries; an automated phone number and a dedicated comprehensive-plan web page with embedded FAQs and the survey will be made available. Calvin also described a QR-code campaign (including physical clings) to increase visibility. - Open-records implications: Calvin noted the county remains subject to public-records law and that whether specific respondent data could be disclosed may depend on legal exemptions and any judge’s determination in an open-records request.

Resident Becky Willard, who addressed commissioners during the meeting, urged easy access to paper copies and said she would help distribute hard copies to people she knows who are less comfortable online: "If I have to drive them to you, I will do that to get people to fill it out," Willard said.

The commission approved a motion to authorize the postcard mailer and to request the address list from the county clerk or treasurer; a motion to that effect was made and seconded during the meeting. Commissioners also discussed logistics for accepting and processing paper returns and agreed the county clerk’s office would serve as an official drop-off point so staff could manually enter and verify mailed responses.

The consultant recommended the commission wait six to eight weeks after publication to hold a preliminary open meeting to review early results and address questions from residents who want more information or who need help completing the survey. Calvin said the commission’s marketing strategy would include simultaneous postcard mailings, social media, local media spots and QR-code placements in high-traffic locations to maximize turnout.

Votes at a glance: - Motion: authorize postcard mailer and authorize the county clerk/treasurer to provide mailing list for survey distribution. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Outcome: approved (formal tally not specified in transcript). - Motion identifiers read at the meeting (agenda motions): "25-05631" (consent agenda); "25-057" (open public hearing on an item described as "the eighteenth of Spring and Gross"); "25-058" (close public hearing); "25-059" (adopt resolution 2025-003); "25-060" (executive session); "25-061" (approve fiscal year 2027 high-risk rural road project). Outcomes for those motions were not specified in the transcript excerpt.

What's next: commissioners directed staff to proceed with the postcard mailer, implement the distribution and paper-copy plan described, and return to the commission with logistics and a timeline for the public-review period and the preliminary results session six to eight weeks after the survey goes live.