The town of Brighton is requesting survey responses from its residents as part of their Adirondack Park Community Smart Growth sustainable economic development project.
"The project's purpose is to try and make Brighton a place where people can live and work and stay, and when their kids grow up and go to college, they can still have jobs around here," said Rebecca Buerkett, a project scientist with F.X. Browne Inc., the Saranac Lake-based consulting firm hired to conduct the study. "We're trying to keep our town economically viable."
The survey is being mailed to all business and property owners in the town.
Town residents are asked to complete the survey online at townofbrighton.net by Feb. 9.
Questions on the survey range from ranking the most important community issues - such as property taxes, Internet access and the closure of Camp Gabriels prison - to what Brighton's primary identity should be: for example, a recreational haven or a college town.
Any resident that did not receive a paper survey can contact Rebecca Buerkett at F.X. Browne Inc. at 891-1410 or rbuerkett@fxbrowne.com, or Elaine Sater, Brighton town clerk, at 327-3202.
A state Smart Growth grant for $46,400 is funding the project.
Buerkett said a tourist brochure highlighting recreational opportunities, businesses and attractions in the town is to be one result of the project. The brochure, a relatively inexpensive opportunity to publicize Brighton businesses to potential visitors, would be distributed at area chambers of commerce, hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and other tourist venues.
"What happens is, people come to Brighton to bring their kids to Paul Smith's College, the VIC, the corn maze, and don't know the other things that are going on here," Buerkett said. "We wanted to put that together in this survey."
All Brighton businesses that would like to be included in the brochure are asked to contact Buerkett at F.X. Browne Inc.
A land-use analysis, an environmental-risk assessment and energy-efficiency workshops will also be done as part of the Smart Growth grant project.
The workshops will be held at the Adirondack Visitor Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths at 9:30 a.m. on March 21.
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Contact Emily Hunkler at 891-2600 ext. 24 or ehunkler@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.