"What services do you want?"
That is the question Tenafly lawmakers are asking residents.
Municipal Lawmakers compiled a list of questions regarding services and programs that they are considering. But instead of just unilaterally making that decision as a governing body, the list was posted on the borough’s Web site and asked the residents want they wanted.
This wasn’t the first time the governing body sought resident’s opinions via a Web-based survey.
"The Web site is an ideal tool to get feedback," Mayor Peter Rustin said. "We have covered numerous topics and typically get a good response. Usually a few hundred people."
The short survey had questions ranging from purchasing hybrid police vehicles to starting a program about gardening.
Rustin said the council has been considering buying hybrid police cruisers to replace current models once they are at the end of the use cycle.
Right now, the council is looking at buying two hybrid cars, Rustin said.
The hybrid was just one of the questions on this more recent survey.
Lawmakers asked residents about the garbage collection contract.
The current contract expires this summer. Lawmakers asked residents if they would support changing collection from rear-yard to curbside if the result was no less than $100,000 in savings.
But if as a Tenafly resident garbage collection isn’t a concern, how about a gardening program?
Adding a gardening program was just one of five programs lawmakers asked for feedback on. If approved, user fees would support the programs, which also include lawn care using green products, canoeing on the Hudson River, adult exercise programs and dog obedience training.
However, while the survey is designed with good intentions to give residents a chance to pick what services and programs they want, it doesn’t always translate into supportive action being taken.
Lawmakers used an online survey asking residents if they wanted a dog park. Rustin said the majority of the response supported that initiative.
However, economics came into play and the borough didn’t have the finances to grant the residents’ wish.
"There are always going to be other elements to the issue, like financing," he said.
It is not clear right now what, if any of this survey’s results will be used to continue catering services and programs to more of what the residents want.
But Rustin doesn’t think the government will stop asking, even if positive feedback can’t be enacted.
