KRTA tentatively selects Epic MRA to conduct millage survey; board to host vendor at July meeting

The Kiwanis Regional Trail Authority on Tuesday tentatively selected Epic MRA to conduct a scientific millage survey and will invite Epic to the authority's July meeting to review sample sizes, question design and cost options.

Bob Ford summarized three proposals the authority received: telephone-based options from Epic MRA and consultant Emma White, and a mailed questionnaire option from Michigan State University’s College of Social Science. "Epic gave us quite a breakdown… they do a 12-minute interview," Ford said, describing telephone survey approaches and the vendors’ ability to stratify results by township or city.

Board members discussed tradeoffs between sample size, interview length and margin of error. One member noted the margin of error for a 300-sample phone survey (~5.7%) improves to about 4.9% with 400 samples, but that longer interviews risk higher dropout rates. Ford said firms typically keep calling until they obtain the target number of completed surveys, and he recommended limiting question count so interviews remain conversational.

Multiple board members favored Epic MRA for its detailed proposal and previous work with municipal and regional clients. "Epic MRA seemed to be the most detailed," one member said. After discussion, S5 moved to tentatively select Epic MRA and bring them into the next meeting to evaluate the proposal matrix; the motion was supported and approved by roll call. Bob Ford agreed to contact Epic and schedule them for the July 8 meeting.

The board did not finalize sample size, question wording or timing; members flagged concerns about survey fatigue during election cycles and asked staff to prioritize obtaining data for township-level analysis so the authority can tailor outreach where support may be weak. The authority will revisit vendor details, sample-size choices and final costs when Epic presents options to the board.