DuPage County Forest Preserve District commissioners are curious about area residents’ opinions on a variety of issues, and they plan to spend nearly $30,000 to find out.
Commissioners unanimously approved Tuesday a contract for $29,260 with Richard Day Research Inc. of Evanston to conduct a telephone survey of 500 or more county residents. Among other things, the survey is expected to help commissioners develop long-range plans for the district, establish priorities, identify underserved groups and allocate resources.
District President Dewey Pierotti said that the commission had wanted to conduct such a poll for some time and had provided funding for the project in the 2003-04 budget. The district’s last countywide survey was completed in 1992.
“We felt this would be a good time to get the pulse of the people,” Pierotti said.
According to district spokesman Bill Weidner, Richard Day Research was chosen from among five area firms that submitted survey proposals and were interviewed by forest preserve staff earlier this summer. The fact that the company has done similar polls for forest preserve districts in Lake, Will and McHenry Counties was a plus, Weidner noted.
“We’ll not only be establishing a benchmark for DuPage County, we will be able to compare our data with information from similar agencies,” Weidner said.
According to the proposal, calls will be computer-generated and respondents will remain anonymous.
Each interview may include questions about the most important issues facing DuPage as well as the district; how often survey participants visit preserves or take part in district programs; and willingness to fund capital improvements and other projects.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners approved a contract for $571,115 with Chicago environmental engineering firm MWH Americas Inc. for project design, monitoring and other services related to a site remediation program in progress at Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve in Hanover Park. The contract runs through June 30.
The affected area, known as the White Farm site, covers about 30 acres of the undeveloped 1,165-acre preserve and has been closed to the public since contaminants were discovered there in 1981.
It was later determined that former owner James “Jerry” White, now deceased, had permitted drums full of volatile organic compounds to be buried on the property.
