KEENE, NH – The City of Keene has issued their first survey using the program FlashVote to gain feedback from the community on Robin Hood Park.

FlashVote is a program meant to connect communities with their local governments in a fast, easy, and productive way by sending out “Civic Tasks” on behalf of the city. That’s usually in the form of short surveys that address local issues.

Rebecca Landry, Communications and Marketing Director for the City of Keene, said FlashVote provides a scientific method to gather information from the community outside of things such as meetings and workshops. She also said it’s a helpful tool to include residents who have something to say but may not be able to make it to those meetings.

“We’ve also been hearing quite a bit, especially in the last year, that there are people who would like to be more involved in the council conversation, but they can’t make it to the public meetings,” Landry said in an interview with WKBK. “In addition to getting statically accurate information from the public we’re also providing another mechanism for people to participate.”

Parks and Recreation Director Andy Bohannon joined WKBK’s Open Mic program last week and discussed some of the proposals under the Robin Hood Park Renovation project. There have been a couple of public meetings where citizens have been able to discuss some of those proposals, but the city is using that project as an opportunity to launch their FlashVote Surveys. Residents should note that the project is still in the very early planning stages and won’t break ground for a few more years.

The first survey, which is about Robin Hood Park, was sent out Wednesday morning. It’s a brief survey with only four questions and a fifth allowing for any other comments or suggestions. It includes questions such as when the last time you visited the park was, what improvements are most important to you, how much the city should invest in the project, and what would be the most valuable improvements for the community.

The city has entered into a pilot program for the next year with FlashVote to see if it’s effective for the community.

Those who are interested in signing up for the program to receive the surveys can do so on the city’s website or by calling 775-235-2240 to participate by phone or text only. The Robin Hood Park Survey is available until Friday.