Concord task force outlines survey and outreach plan ahead of RFI results; members debate cost/tax framing

Members Malcolm and Liz (survey proponents) presented a draft knowledge-attitudes-practices (KAP) questionnaire intended to measure Concord residents’ awareness of Warner’s Pond, recreational use patterns, and sensitivity to cost and taxation implications for potential pond projects. They said the survey would help the task force know whether residents outside West Concord understand the issue and would inform outreach strategies if a warrant article advances to Town Meeting.

Survey leaders described two testable hypotheses: that residents outside West Concord are largely unaware of Warner’s Pond issues, and that informing residents will reveal whether they feel strongly about options or do not hold strong views. Members debated wording: some asked to replace a hypothesis framed as “majority don’t care” with a less leading phrasing (majority have no opinion or are not strongly engaged) to avoid biasing results. The group agreed it needs a lead-off question to identify whether respondents live in West Concord or elsewhere in town.

Discussion also centered on whether and how to ask about taxes or cost sensitivity. Several task force members warned that a blunt question about whether respondents “have concerns about their taxes going up” could bias responses toward no action. Others said cost sensitivity is material to decision-making (and to potential Town Meeting discussions) and should be included, with careful neutral wording. One member noted the Finance Committee’s presentation projecting multi-year tax pressure and said that fixed-income households might be especially sensitive.

Operational points covered: the subgroup expects to send a revised draft to Malcolm and Liz for wordsmithing and asked members to submit comments within a week. The task force agreed to refine survey sampling (including prompts naming recreational locations such as Jerome Park or Commonwealth Avenue) so respondents can link awareness to known town features. The task force did not finalize survey sampling or methodology on the night; members requested clearer sample-size assumptions and place-based prompts to avoid overrepresenting West Concord respondents.

The task force also discussed outreach timing: several members suggested a public workshop in January (after RFI cost estimates are available) rather than in December, and asked the subgroup to circulate revised survey language in advance so members can provide timely comments.