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INFORMATION ITEM <br />__4U_.0 <br />%QP <br />Department of Environment, <br />Agriculture, Parrs &Recreation <br />Memorandum <br />To: Frank W. Clifton, County Manager <br />From: David Stancil, Director of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation <br />Date: May 21, 2013 <br />Re: Parks and Recreation Master Plan - Update <br />Just a quick note on the current activities and status of the Parks and Recreation <br />Master Plan: <br />In terms of public outreach, we have completed one round of Public Input <br />Sessions (November 2012), a Youth Survey, and most recently a series of <br />seven Focus Groups on specific topics related to the plan. A listing of the <br />focus groups and their topics is provided as Attachment 1. The Focus <br />Groups were different from Public Input Sessions in that they were <br />targeted to a cross - section of 12 -15 stakeholders on the topic in question, <br />and held in a facilitated informal small group format with three staff and <br />three Parks & Recreational Council (PRC) members. Summaries of the <br />Focus Group discussions will be incorporated into the draft plan, and <br />included as appendices. <br />Consulting professors from UNC- Greensboro administered a scientific <br />random - sample Community Needs Assessment survey of around 10% of <br />Orange County households in the last four months of 2012. A valid survey <br />response of 12.2% was received. Finishing touches are being put on this <br />document and the findings within. However, while the survey will tell us <br />many interesting things about resident interests, one of the shortcomings <br />of the survey is the under - representation of minority responses. Staff is <br />working with community organizations and other departments to distribute <br />a "supplementary" Community Needs survey that will attempt to increase <br />participation to rates to that of the County's demographics profile. <br />Because it was not part of the scientific random - sample, these results will <br />be tabulated separately, but used in the survey findings within the <br />Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation <br />PO Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Phone: (919) 245 -2510 <br />Fax: (919) 644 -3351 <br />