Residents and business owners in Castle Rock can be expecting to receive an important invitation by mail soon. This year, the Town is working with the Northwest Research Group to collect data, interpret it and find out what’s happening in our community.
Since 2011, the Town has created and sent out two voluntary surveys; one to residents and another to business owners. ‘We do this every two years to gauge a wide range of public sentiment in a wide range of areas,” said Fritz Sprague, Acting Town Manager for Castle Rock. “This info is particularly valuable not only for the community, but also for council.”
The gathered information acts as a community barometer of sorts, whose data can then be interpreted to help Town Council in their decision making. It serves to influence council when making calls for implementing policy direction and how they will draft the upcoming year’s budget.
Photo Credit: NickLucey.com
The data also allows Castle Rock to compare itself to other communities by noting successes and exposing areas in need of improvement. “These surveys will then be benchmarked against our previous surveys from 2011 and 2013 so we can see any movement over time,” according to Kristin Zagurski, the Town’s Senior Management Analyst.
Residents can expect to spend a little over 20 minutes to complete their version of the survey, while those who own a business locally should complete their survey in no more than 10 minutes. “Our intention is to invite all town licensed business to participate,” commented Zagurski.
Feedback is needed from local businesses concerning: the financial health of their business, what the environment is like to care for employees, affordable housing and if services offered by the Town to support businesses are adequate. Again, this will give our decision makers a more valid impression of what the business community is experiencing.
All surveys must be received by May 3, 2015 to be counted. After that an online forum will be held to discuss: water bills, recreation fees, traffic and transit, special events and community planning. As an extra incentive, all those who complete and mail in their answers by the specified cutoff, will be entered to win one of three $100 Visa gift cards.
For technical support: 206.489.2363 or to complete the survey by phone: 866.430.1210. Results from the survey are scheduled to be presented by the Town sometime in June.
