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Phillips Survey Results
Purpose
A survey was conducted to measure public opinion in Phillips about
issues facing the town in the coming years, so that the Town's comprehensive
plan will adhere as closely as possible to the wishes of the voting
residents of the town.
Methods
The survey was distributed by mail in December 2003 to more than
400 addresses in Phillips. The names and addresses were gathered
from various sources including the 911 list of town residents and
the voter registration list. In addition, people were able to pick
up a survey in the town office. There were four drop-off places
for the surveys, the United King Field Bank, the Phillips Library,
the Town Office, and Edmund's Grocery Store. Ninety-seven respondents
answered the survey. Not every respondent answered every question
on the survey, since all questions were optional. The survey's results
were tabulated by Shelby Rousseau, and this report and analysis
is written by Maria McManus.
Characteristics of Respondents
Most of the respondents, about a quarter of them, live on the Salem
Road.
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Where in Phillips do you live?
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Route 142 Salem Road
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24
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No answer
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18
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Tory and Wheeler Hills
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17
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Number 6/Bear Hill
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10
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Toothaker Pond
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8
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Pinkham / Dill
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7
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Bridge Street / Rout 149
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7
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Route 142 Weld Road
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6
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The overwhelming majority live in single family homes.
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What kind of home do you live in?
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Single-family home
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76
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Two-family home
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4
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Mobile home
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4
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Retirement community
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1
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No answer
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12
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The majority has lived in Phillips for more than 20 years.
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How long have you lived in Phillips?
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Less than a year
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3
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1-2 years
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5
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3-5 years
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8
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6-10 years
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6
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11-20 years
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14
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More than 20 years
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50
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Most of the adults in the respondents' households were employed
full or part time, but a significant number, one third, were retired.
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Employment status of adults in household
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Employed full-time
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50
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Retired
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46
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Self-employed
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20
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Full-time homemaker
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14
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Employed part-time
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15
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Student
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9
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Unemployed
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8
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This can equal more than 97.
More than half of the adults in the respondents' households had
had no level of college education.
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Education level of adults in household
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Less than high school
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4
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Some high school
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12
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High school
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46
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Vocational or technical training
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11
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Some college
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28
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Undergraduate degree
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21
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Graduate degree
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11
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This can equal more than 97.
Of the 72 people who answered the question about the annual household
income, most earned less than $35,000.
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What is the total income of your household?
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Less than $10,000
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5
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$10-000 - 24,999
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21
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$25,000 - 34,999
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19
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$35,000 - 49,999
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9
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$50,000 - 74,999
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14
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$75,000 +
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4
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Most of the respondents attended the town meeting at least sometimes,
but more than a third said they almost never attend town meetings.
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Do you attend town meetings?
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Every year
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Sometimes
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Almost never
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28
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25
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33
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Results of the Survey
General Character
More than half of the respondents indicated that their most important
reasons for living in Phillips was the Rural Character and the Low
Crime Rate.
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How important to you are these reasons for living in Phillips?
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Very Imp
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Important
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Not Imp
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Rural Character
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53
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21
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6
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Low Crime Rate
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53
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23
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2
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Property Tax Rate
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40
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27
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7
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Close to Family and friends
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37
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30
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17
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Affordable Housing
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33
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30
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12
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Quality of School System
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26
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23
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21
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Attractiveness of Town
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26
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37
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12
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Close to Farmington
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25
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31
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24
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Town services
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21
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40
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14
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Near Job
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20
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25
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30
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When asked what qualities best define the character of Phillips,
respondents most often chose Scenic Views, Quietness, Hard-Working
People.
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What qualities best define the character
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Scenic views
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33
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Quietness
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31
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Hard working people
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25
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Friendliness
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22
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Plentiful forest
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22
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Everybody knows everybody
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20
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Little traffic
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19
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Sense of belonging
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19
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Crime-free
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17
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Lack of development
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17
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Children playing free
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12
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Historic building
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10
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Farmland
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8
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Non-industrial
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7
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The great consensus of the town is that most important issue Phillips
will face in the next 10 years is Job Opportunities. 70 respondents
identified it as a very important issue. There was more agreement
on this than on any other question in the survey. The other two
issues most commonly chosen issues facing Phillips were "Controlling
Taxes" and "Town Management"
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Most important issues Phillips will face
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Very Imp.
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Important
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Not Imp.
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Job Opportunities
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71
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9
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2
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Controlling taxes
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67
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16
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4
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Town management
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56
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21
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1
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Loss of individual property rights
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49
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21
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13
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Welfare and poverty
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50
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25
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5
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Maintain quality of environment
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44
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29
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2
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Attractiveness of the town
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38
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35
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5
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Maintaining town's character
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38
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35
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3
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Controlling rate of development
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31
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20
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11
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Civic spirit
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29
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34
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7
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Subdivision sale of land
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26
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30
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20
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Controlling large parcel land buys
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23
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40
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20
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Reducing loitering
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19
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32
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19
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Town Services
Satisfaction
When asked how satisfied they were with Town Services, the respondents
mostly satisfied. Three services stood out as being highly satisfying
to the town: Snow Removal, Library and the Transfer Station. The
greatest dissatisfaction was for Sidewalks, Recreational Services,
Youth Services, and Street Lights.
Across the board, more respondents did not wish to spend money
to improve services than respondents who noted they were will to
spend money. The services that the respondents were most willing
to spend money to improve were; Fire protection, Emergency medical
services, sidewalk maintenance, and senior services, though there
was a high level of general satisfaction for both fire and emergency
services.
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How satisfied are you with these Town services?
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Highly Satisfied
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Satisfied
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Dissatisfied
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Greatly Dissatisfied
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Spend
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Don't Spend
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Fire protection
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5
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40
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1
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0
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18
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22
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Emergency medical services
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5
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39
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2
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0
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17
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29
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Sidewalk maintenance
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3
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19
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17
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2
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15
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22
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Senior services
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4
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34
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6
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0
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15
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15
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Road maintenance
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11
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34
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4
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3
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14
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19
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Youth services
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3
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30
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13
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0
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14
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19
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Recreational services
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0
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30
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17
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3
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12
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17
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Snow removal
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23
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28
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2
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0
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11
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22
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Street signs
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3
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31
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10
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7
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10
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21
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Library
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21
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31
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0
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0
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10
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21
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Street lighting
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6
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34
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11
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1
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9
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25
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School system
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4
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24
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8
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0
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9
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16
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Code enforcement
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1
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37
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4
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6
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8
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22
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Animal control enforcement
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2
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29
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2
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3
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8
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21
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Water system
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7
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33
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2
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0
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6
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23
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Phone lines / Internet
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5
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35
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5
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5
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6
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26
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Police protection
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4
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41
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6
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0
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5
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24
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Solid waste disposal transfer station
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18
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39
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2
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0
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0
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18
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Development
In general the respondents were not willing to have their taxes
raised to develop new services, but when they said they were willing
to spend money on town services is was most often for a New Town
Office and a Grant Writer. There was most opposition to developing
Recreational Sports Fields, Public Access to Private Lands, and
a Recreation Director.
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Services to be developed
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Yes Tax
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Yes Don't Tax
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No
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No Opinion
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New town office
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15
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13
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9
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9
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Grant writer
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13
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15
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14
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9
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Town recreation director
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9
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14
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24
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3
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Local Law Enforcement
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8
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20
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18
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4
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Recreation sports fields
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9
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14
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28
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8
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Other recreational facilities
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7
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23
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15
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4
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Elderly care facilities
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7
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22
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15
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10
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Affordable housing program
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6
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17
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20
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7
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Town access to pond/river
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7
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21
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9
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3
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Child care facilities
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3
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22
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18
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6
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Public water
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2
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12
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15
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7
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Public sewer
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1
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3
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22
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13
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Garbage Pickup
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1
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9
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22
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7
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Public access to private land
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0
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12
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27
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9
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Recreation
When asked about what recreational / cultural activities they would
like to see developed, respondents responded most favorably to Hunting/Fishing,
Hiking Trails, Cross Country Trails, Bike Paths and Railroad. While
more people did not want to see their taxes raised, the greatest
willingness be taxed was for the development of a Community Center,
Adult Ed, and Hiking Trails.
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What recreational / cultural activities to be developed
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Yes Tax
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Yes Don't Tax
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No
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No Opinion
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Community center
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17
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19
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4
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8
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Adult Ed/Vocational
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11
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24
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1
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8
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Hiking trails
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9
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29
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2
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9
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Cross country ski trails
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8
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29
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5
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17
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Horseback riding
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8
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13
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6
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17
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Railroad
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8
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30
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1
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9
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ATV/Snowmobile trails
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8
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25
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5
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6
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Bike paths
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6
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29
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3
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9
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Ice skating
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6
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24
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5
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14
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Museums
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6
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17
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3
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13
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Musical events
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5
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28
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1
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13
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Tennis
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5
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18
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6
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12
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Other
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4
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5
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0
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3
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River recreation
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4
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25
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5
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10
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Hunting / Fishing
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2
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46
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2
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11
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Crafts
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1
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19
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4
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19
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Bird watching
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1
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20
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5
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18
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Land Use
The most agreed upon question in the survey, other than the need
for jobs, was the question of whether or not to protect natural
resources. More than half of the respondents wanted to see all aspects
of their natural resources protected especially water and wildlife
habitat.
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Natural resources to protect
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Very Imp
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Important
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Not imp
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No Opinion
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Protect
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Don't Protect
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Aquifers/ground water/clean drinking water
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55
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18
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1
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1
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62
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4
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Wildlife habitat
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43
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26
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3
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0
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55
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8
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Open space
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42
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22
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1
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4
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51
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8
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Farmlands
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41
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27
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2
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2
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49
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10
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Woodlands
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40
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24
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3
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1
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59
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9
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Scenic areas
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38
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29
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4
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1
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47
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9
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Riverfront lands
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37
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28
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8
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1
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51
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13
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Historic sites/areas
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33
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26
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5
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1
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51
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8
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Potential park or recreation land
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30
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28
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10
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2
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51
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10
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Wetlands
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29
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29
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12
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1
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47
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12
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When it came to land use preferences, respondents tended to encourage
retail stores, elderly housing, professional offices and light manufacturing.
They were tended to discourage auto graveyards and mobile homes.
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Land use preferences
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Allow Anywhere
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Confine
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Encourage
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Discourage
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Individual retail stores
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15
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15
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24
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8
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Housing for elderly
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13
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20
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24
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1
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Professional offices
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19
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13
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23
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0
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Light manufacturing
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15
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20
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23
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2
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Industrial parks
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3
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28
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22
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7
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Farms
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25
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8
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