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Sugar Grove asking residents' opinions of life in the village

Residents to give opinions of village

Sugar Grove wants to know, again, what residents want and what they think about the town.

The village board Tuesday authorized spending $13,800 to conduct a survey, hiring National Research Center.

That's the same firm it used for its last survey, in 2007. The board picked NRC so that results of this year's survey can be compared to the 2007 survey.

Not everyone will get to give their opinion, according to Village Clerk Cynthia Galbreath, who is overseeing the project. Galbreath said she believes it will be offered to about 2,000 households. Those selected will get a postcard saying the survey is coming, then the survey itself and a follow-up reminder. In 2007, the response rate was about 48 percent.

NRC will pick the recipients.

New this time is an option to take the survey online.

The board also purchased an option to compare Sugar Grove's results to other towns of fewer than 40,000 residents.

The survey will ask about safety, quality of village-provided services, opinion of elected officials, opportunities for employment, quality of cultural offerings and more. In the 2007 survey, residents said Sugar Grove lacked employment and shopping choices.

The board will, at its next meeting or two, come up with several Sugar Grove-specific questions to ask on the survey, as well as one open-ended question. Village staff has suggested that the survey ask residents about priorities for village services if the village needs to cut back due to financial problems and whether residents want to continue, eliminate or modify the ban on overnight street parking. Twice this year residents have asked the village board to loosen that restriction, because their households have more cars than can fit in their garage and driveways.

If the village board submits its questions by July, the survey could be conducted as soon as October, Galbreath said.

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