The Town of Normal wants to make progress implementing its new sustainability plan even in a tight fiscal climate. A status quo budget next year means the town can't afford to hire the sustainability coordinator called for in the plan. City Manager Pam Reece said there are workarounds.
"We're going to pick off some things we think we can handle in house, work on a committee basis, and prioritize the recommendations of the sustainability plan," Reece said on WGLT's Sound Ideas.
Among those early easy items to make real are tree planting initiatives, energy efficiency surveys in town buildings, and continued work on bike and pedestrian network plans, she said.
Community survey
The Town is also taking community survey results to heart; 81% of respondents say they are satisfied with the job town government is doing. Reece said it's less than that, 63%, in positive feelings whether people feel Normal is a safe community.
"One of the survey results indicated they would like to see more of a patrol presence out in the neighborhoods and throughout the community. That's a matter of prioritizing and staffing," said Reece. "We've taken steps with council support."
She said the police department is at full staff. And changes in shift structure have allowed an increase in patrols.
Other changes the town is making based on the survey results include providing a longer lead time in sending out notices to residents of new projects in their neighborhoods they might want to talk about at zoning and planning meetings. Other results include:
- 74% score the town's quality of life as good or excellent
- 70% are satisfied with access to quality education
- 63% rank the overall sense of safety as positive
- 63% are likely to recommend the town as a place to live
- 61% are likely to be living in the town five years from now
The town said those scores meet or exceed national and regional rankings for overall quality of services, by 13 and 15 points, respectively.
