ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290050
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
For the second time, a Montgomery County Board of Supervisors member is conducting an issues survey electronically.
Until Sunday, users of the Blacksburg Electronic Village can reach Supervisor Jim Moore's nine-question survey through the government section on the village homepage.
This survey is Moore's fifth since 1991. He's been a board member representing the Blacksburg and Mount Tabor Road areas since 1990. In the past, he distributed the paper survey primarily to civic groups and clubs.
But by adding the electronic version early this year, he boosted the number of participants by 100 to a high of 339. Still, Moore's survey is nonscientific, because it is not based on a random sample of the adult population. But the supervisor, a retired Virginia Tech professor, says it helps him to know what's on peoples' minds.
In the last survey, 68 percent of respondents agreed environmental regulations are "too lax," while 79 percent said new subdivisions should be required to hook up to public utilities. Neither sentiment enjoys the support of a majority of the Board of Supervisors.
In the new survey, Moore asks about the role of political parties on School Board elections, the future of Blacksburg Middle School, a possible debt ceiling to county borrowing, the competing proposals for a new hospital in the Radford area and the controversial condemnation of land for the "smart" highway in a county conservation district, among other issues.
The electronic village survey requires users to enter their personal ID and password to prevent multiple votes. But people who use other on-line services can obtain a copy of the survey from Moore by e-mailing him (address: moorejvt.edu).
People who don't use a computer and want to obtain a paper copy of the survey can send him a self-addressed stamped envelope at: 1607 Greenwood Drive, Blacksburg, Va. 24060.
The survey's deadline is Sunday. To date, 166 people have filled out paper surveys and nearly 100 have responded electronically.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB