The Norman Transcript

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May 13, 2009

Survey to capture 'voice of the residents'

By Andy Rieger

City officials will spend about $30,000 this summer to gauge the opinions of Norman residents on a variety of services and civic priorities.

The questions will help staff members address questions about how citizens really feel about services and issues.

"It's really a good way to capture the typical voice of the residents of the community," said Steve Lewis, Norman's city manager. "This gives us an accurate way to speak to an issue."

Chris Tatham, a representative of the ETC Institute, said his company has surveyed more than one million people in 46 states. They plan to identify about 2,400 residents in Norman with hopes of getting survey responses from at least 800 of them.

Questions will be tailored to the community but will most likely address police, fire, transportation, traffic flow, stormwater, trash, recycling and code enforcement. Surveyors also will ask about parks and cultural activities.

Mayor Cindy Rosenthal asked council members Rachel Butler, Tom Kovach and member-elect Al Atkins to serve on a committee to pare down the questionnaires.

"At the end of the day, the survey is going to have to be shorter than it is," Rosenthal said.

Tatham said calls will be made in June with the results available in July. They will make automated calls to those residents selected to alert them to the upcoming survey.

"We expect to get a pretty good response rate," he said.

Results will be "geo-coded" to assure all areas of the city are represented. Council member Doug Cubberley asked about getting responses from younger residents who only have cell phones.

Tatham said the company identifies addresses and then finds the telephone number -- be it a land line or cell number -- associated with it.

Council members also discussed the prospects of selling up to 8 million gallons of water a month to the Town of Goldsby.

The McClain County town wants to build a 14,000-foot pipeline from 24th Avenue SW and State Highway 9 to its treatment plant. They are applying for a $1.2 million loan to build the line. They would also enlarge a line from 8 inch to 12 inch.

"It's a perfect customer for us," said Ken Komiske, the city's utilities director. "They would use less than 2 percent of our overall usage."

If the city rationed water or urged conservation, Goldsby would also have to cut back on water purchases. It would be a constant customer and couldn't go over 8 million gallons, even in peak demand months.

"It's kind of nice. We get a customer with no additional line maintenance."

Council members will vote on the 20-year contract with Goldsby on May 26.

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