Citizens' Survey to Arrive in Mailboxes Soon

Members of the North Canton Citizens' Survey Committee are hoping to get a strong response when the city's second survey arrives in residents' mailboxes at the end of September.

The new survey gauges opinions about how satisfied residents are with their neighborhoods, city council, public services and communication from the city, just to name a few things.

Although committee members are still deciding which questions will make it into the new survey, they want to make residents aware right now that the new survey will be heading their way soon.

One area of focus for the new survey is communication from the city. Committee members discussed at a meeting Wednesday night how North Canton could increase communication between the city and residents. Ted Hall, soon-to-be-retired dean of students at , has looked into similar communities, such as Hudson and Green, which have a communication director.

"We're trying to come up with a way to make communication more effective and more real in the city of North Canton," said Larry Breckenridge, member of the North Canton Citizens' Survey Committee.

Breckenridge said the new survey also will touch on topics that have come up in the news recently, such as  and attracting young families to the city.

The city distributed its first survey about two and a half years ago and used the residents' answers to create a plan of action to increase economic development, improve access to the city and address ecological concerns, like flooding. They'll reexamine some of those issues in the second survey to gauge improvement and determine areas that are still a concern.

A notification about the upcoming survey should arrive inside residents' water bills this week (the actual surveys will come out in the water bills, too), and other notifications will follow at the end of July. Committee members also plan to be at the Main Street Festival in August to get the word out.

Residents will have 30 days to complete the survey (through the mail or an online option), then the answers will be tabulated and formal presentations made to city administration and City Council in January.