City Seeking Input On Curbside Expansion
City Seeking Input On Curbside Expansion
If a Saskatoon market survey company calls you, in the next little while, and you would like to have your say on curbside garbage collection, the City of Moose Jaw would like you to pick up the phone.
Starting at the end of the month, Insightrix Research, out of Saskatoon, will be telephoning 400 random Moose Jaw residents and asking them voice their opinions on curbside garbage collection.
“It’s a survey on curbside collection, as last Fall Council directed administration to consult with residents before further curbside expansion,” Craig Hemingway, Communictions Director for the City of Moose Jaw said.
The $10,000 telephone survey will see 200 people called in Zones 1-4 (areas which have already transitioned to curbside) and 200 people called in Zones 5-8 (areas not yet transitioned to curbside) to get their input. All of the people telephoned will be done at random.
The survey will consist of eight to ten questions and will only take a few minutes. The questions are still being drafted by the Engineering and Communications department, with the assistance of Insightrix, who are experts in the field.
“We value resident’s input,” Hemingway said, while encouraging residents to complete the telephone survey.
Asked if Insightrix would use the list of residents answering the phone for unrelated projects, Hemingway said “not that I am aware of.”
The telephone survey was chosen because it was seen as the most objective way for residents to voice their opinions.
The topic of budgetary impact also will be part of the survey.
It needs to be noted that there were some efficiencies found in the initial curbside rollout. Plus, there are quality of life aspects to be considered, Hemingway said.
At their January 13th Budget Committee meeting, Council was told GPS data showed curbside, in the areas already transitioned, was 18 per cent more efficient.
“This is valuable information for Council. Council will ultimately decide how to proceed,” Hemingway stated, adding “this will be the most objective information and the best information available.”
Unlike most telephone surveys, there will be some cell phones contacted as well.
“As long as they are a Moose Jaw resident they may be called" Hemingway said.
The telephone survey is slated to take anywhere from a week to a week and-a-half to complete, with information compiled by the end of February. A final report will be completed by March 9th.
The issue of curbside garbage collection was a hot political topic in 2017, as numerous citizens opposed the initiative approved in the 2017 budget. A major public forum was facilitated by Citizens Advocating Sustainable Taxation (CAST), which allowed residents to voice their concerns publicly. The organization took no side on the issue but wanted to allow citizens the opportunity to publicly voice their opinions. CAST has so far not made any indications whether they will be facilitating a similar forum.
Numerous council meetings were seemingly devoted to the issue, as Council finally backtracked following a public outcry.