Hartford to Conduct Survey of Municipal Services in Town

Residents of Hartford, Vermont may soon have a survey to complete that will shed some light on what municipal services are most useful and important to them. The implementation of this survey was not a simple process and is only finally being set forth following a March 29th meeting of the town’s Selectboard.

At the meeting, it was revealed that a $10,000 agreement with the University of New Hampshire, who was to conduct the survey of town residents, had never been shaken on, even though the Selectboard was certain that they had voted last fall to authorize the agreement.

The idea of the survey came to fruition when the Selectboard realized last spring that there appeared to be a gap between the town’s revenues and the services it was providing, and that a survey would help close the gap.

A committee was formed that eventually recommended hiring UNH to complete the survey, but the committee disbanded before any true action could be completed. In addition there have been three separate acting town managers between August and February, making it hard to move the plan forward.

Now that the survey is being revisited, residents may soon be able to offer their input on the town’s municipal services.