City needs at least 1,200 more citizens to take online survey
In order to make the City of Batavia's Citizen Survey viable, at least 1,200 more residents need to log onto its home page and take eight minutes to answer eight questions.
For all those Batavians with a bone to pick, two cents worth, a word of praise or some pointed recommendations, here's a quick, easy opportunity to get it on the record for the city council to consider.
Simply put, more people need to weigh in in order for the data to be useful for planning purposes.
The website is <http://www.batavianewyork.com>.
City residents and those who work in the city are asked to provide input in order to gauge how citizens perceive the quality of several city services.
The survey also inquires as to whether citizens plan to remain in Batavia in five years and provides an area for general comments. The data received from the survey can be broken down by ward, age group and/or gender.
The survey was developed by city administration and is being administered free of charge through the use of software owned by Genesee Community College’s BEST Center.
While the city has contracted with the BEST Center to help it develop a strategic plan, the administration of the survey is being offered at no cost to the city.
“We are grateful to the BEST Center for allowing us to utilize its existing resources,” said City Manager Jason Molino. “This is our first time to administer an electronic survey, and we need more citizen involvement.
"We chose electronic means because it is environmentally responsible, provides efficiency with data interpretation and was offered to us free."
According to Molino, data from the surveys can be organized and reported out with the use of various filters within a matter of minutes.
“Efficiency and environmental consciousness aside; we need enough citizens to complete the survey in order to have quality usable data for our planning process,” Molino said.
“We are strongly encouraging all residents to log on to the website and spend a few minutes to give us the feedback we need to make citizen-involved decisions during our planning process.”
For individuals without computer access, the Richmond Memorial Library encourages Batavia residents to use its free Internet service to take the survey. The library offers several computer terminals from which the survey can be taken. The service is free; however individuals must sign up to become a library member.
Membership to the Richmond Memorial Library is free and simply requires a few minutes to provide some basic information. Summer library hours are: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The library is located at 19 Ross St.
If there are any questions, please contact:
Office of the City Manager
One Batavia City Centre
Batavia, New York 14020
Phone: (585) 345-6330
Fax: (585) 343-8182
E-mail: jmolino@batavianewyork.com
