Frank Mustac, Contributor
Committee members approved a resolution calling for spending $4,000 on an online survey tool that would allow residents to provide feedback to municipal leaders on issues facing the township., Hopewell township will be contracting with a company called Bang the Table USA, LLC, which offers “two digital citizen engagement software solutions to government, public sector and private enterprise clients,” according to the firm’s website., Voting in favor of the resolution were Committeewoman Julie Blake, Mayor Kevin Kuchinski and Deputy Mayor Vanessa Sandom. Committeeman Todd Brant was the sole dissenting vote., Committeeman John Hart was not present for the vote held on June 27., During previous Hopewell township committee meetings, Sandom suggested that the online survey software could be used to ask residents what kind of bulky waste program they want., Hopewell township had been offering curbside pickup of bulky waste, which includes large items such as old furniture, but the service stopped in the aftermath of a fire in March 2015 that damaged the Department of Public Works building and more than 20 DPW vehicles parked inside the building’s garage. The truck that had been used for the bulky waste program was among the vehicles deemed unfit for service., “We don’t have to do a bulky waste (online survey) now,” Sandom said., The reason, she said, is because the finance advisory committee is “looking at different options that we could be presenting to the public.”, Mayor Kuchinski at the the June 13 Committee meeting suggested that several options for a revamped bulky waste program be investigated along with their associated costs so that proposed fees that would be charged to residents for the service could be calculated., “I actually don’t even know at this point I need to hear the response for bulky waste,” Committeewoman Blake said. “Slowly I’ve been hearing from everybody I meet that they definitely want bulky waste pickup.”, Despite a previous report in the Hopewell Valley News that stated that Blake was in favor of a system by which residents could drop off bulky waste items at dumpsters in town on designated dates, she said she didn’t “believe I ever said that I was in support of a drop-off.”, “I was actually more interested in a pickup service, but wanted to hear from the finance advisory committee what the different options were,” she said., During the June 27 meeting, before the vote on the resolution was held, Brant spoke about why opposed the measure., “I struggle with authorizing $4,000,” he said, explaining that discussions about the necessity for the funds could have taken place during meetings held earlier this year between the township committee and the township’s all-volunteer finance advisory committee to hammer out the 2016 municipal budget., “I feel like we’re putting so many ways out there for people to communicate with us that we’re not focusing on any of them,” he said. “I hesitate having another way out there for people to communicate with us in a way that we’re not quite sure how we’re going to collect the information … we have so many ways for people to talk with us. I want to make sure we can focus and funnel it in one place so we can make the best decision.”, In response, Sandom said she felt today’s technologically inclined populace has become more accustomed to online surveys than they have to talking with their elected officials., “I think that it is imperative for this government to start reaching out to citizens who normally wouldn’t be talking to you or talking to me, and who might not necessarily be talking to anybody in the public, but who would be very willing to respond electronically from the comfort of their own home,” she said. “If we don’t take this first step, we’ll never take this step. We have been talking about this for many years.”
