Agenda - 02-11-2014 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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� 1 47 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 6-Community Needs Assessment and Public Input 6 Community Needs Assessment and Public Input Introduction One of the most important components of a master The purpose of this assessment was to determine plan is to assess how residents feel about existing the leisure interests and preferences of Orange services and facilities, future needs, and other County residents.The information presented here- important considerations. in will help to determine the Over the past interests and preferences of residents regarding p year, County staff and UNC- Greensboro consultants worked to create a compen- recreation programs and services, and will become a dium of comments, remarks and opinions as part of key building block for the master plan recommenda- a Community Needs Assessment or CNA. This CNA lions for park and recreation program and facility takes several forms, as will be identified and dis- development for Orange County. cussed below — from statistical sample surveys to In order to attempt to develop a robust assessment informal comments and opinions expressed at that included all components of the county popula- community focus groups and public input sessions. tion, a random-sample survey was augmented with As noted in Appendix 6-1, CNA's are conducted for other"Supplemental Surveys" to provide for a more several reasons, including: comprehensive assessment. 1. To provide county residents the opportunity to CNA and Public Outreach Methods express their views regarding parks and recreation as A. Youth Survey part of community life; Young people are an important part of the constitu- 2. To provide county residents the opportunity to ency for parks and recreation programs, so gaining express their views relative to satisfaction with insight into their opinions is appropriate and valid. existing park and recreations area, facilities, programs,and services; To this end, in summer 2012, UNC Master of Public 3. To identify county residents' interest regarding the Administration intern, Renisha Howard, met with a implementation of new programs and services that series of County and Cooperative Extension summer meet the needs of the county and respond to new camp counselors and campers to ask their thoughts trends in parks and recreation; about our needs and existing programs. The full 4. To avoid unnecessary duplication and over-provision report on the 2012 Youth Parks and Recreation of programs and facilities; Survey may be found as Appendix 6-2 to this docu- 5. To identify county residents' interest in the develop- ment of future park and recreation areas and •x ,1 facilities; ' 6. To provide public officials with the information needed to prioritize future park and recreation area and facility development; 7. To justify capital improvements, quite often as part of a grant process; 8. To identify funding mechanisms that are acceptable r. a•. `" for parks and recreation area and facility development;and 9. To foster ownership of park and recreation programs and facilities by county residents. t, I 6-1