Survey sheds light on fields and recreation facilities in Barrington

Town Manager says recreation survey is a starting point, but views it ‘with a grain of salt’

By Josh Bickford
Posted 3/15/23

Results from a recent survey about athletic fields and recreation facilities in Barrington fill more than 120 pages, but numerous town leaders are skeptical about whether those results are …

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Survey sheds light on fields and recreation facilities in Barrington

Town Manager says recreation survey is a starting point, but views it ‘with a grain of salt’

Posted

Results from a recent survey about athletic fields and recreation facilities in Barrington fill more than 120 pages, but numerous town leaders are skeptical about whether those results are representative of the Barrington community. There were nearly 800 responses to the online survey, which was posted on the town’s website for about month, but Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey and other town officials are cautioning against drawing too much information from the responses shared. 

“It’s a data point through an imperfect survey,” Hervey said. “It provides a starting point …”

Hervey created the survey as part of the Barrington Town Council’s effort to investigate and potentially improve the recreation facilities in Barrington. Hervey also included a disclaimer atop the survey results: “It is a very incomplete picture of the community regarding these topics given the significant limitations of conducting online surveys.” 

In a recent interview, Hervey explained why he included the disclaimer. 

“It’s the type of survey. It’s not controlled,” he said. “It’s not designed to get an accurate cross-section of the community. There’s no control …”

Because of the way it was built, people could respond multiple times to the survey, although it is not clear if anyone did that. Hervey said that while he was aware of some potential drawbacks to the survey, he believes it holds some value. 

“Just reading the open-ended comments, they’re pretty accurate,” Hervey said. “People did spend time to respond to it. That suggests people were making a good effort to provide answers that are accurate.

“I think a lot of people spent a lot of time. I think there’s a lot to be said for that. But it’s not an accurate cross-section … it’s not verifiable.”

Hervey said the town would have needed a professional survey to have verifiable results, and he did not have the time needed to do that. 

“We have a very short timeframe where we’re trying to get that input. We wanted to get this out there … Just take it with a grain of salt,” Hervey said.

Council listens and reacts

Hervey shared a brief summary of the survey results during the March 6 town council meeting. He spoke about the ages of the respondents, and the percentage of respondents who have children playing youth sports in town.

Councilor Kate Berard spoke briefly, referring to the number of people who commented on pickle ball and other court sports. Councilor Braxton Medlin said the survey provided good information, but he felt more information is needed. He said he feels like there are 10,000 more voices out there. 

The survey’s written comments are separated by the ages of the respondents and vary along those age lines. For example, there are more responses about pickle ball from the older ages, and more responses about youth sports fields from the younger ones. 

The survey also featured a question about turf. A closer look at the 680 responses reveals strong support for an artificial turf field in town (see accompanying pie chart), but Hervey again said the results need to be taken with a grain of salt. 

“To really drill down, you would have to do a professional survey,” he said. “The value (in this survey) is that you can read the comments and get a sense of the strength of feelings — pro-synthetic turf or anti-synthetic turf. Those comments are really useful.”

Barrington Town Council President Carl Kustell said he believes the fields and facilities survey was a good exercise. Kustell said it was part of the exploratory process, adding that the quality of the comments shared was great. “They’re not just out there throwing mud,” Kustell said. “I’m excited that people are engaged.”

Kustell said he did not want to step on the toes of school officials, but felt confident that the likely location of an artificial turf field in Barrington would be on a school property.

He added: “…it’s pretty much going to be in the school committee’s court.”

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.