RESULTS OF THE TELEPHONE SURVEY

Ville de Deux-Montagnes conducted an automated telephone survey among local residents on March 30. Its purpose was to accurately measure public interest in an agreement that would give citizens access to the new Saint-Eustache water park, at the same rate as their Eustachois counterparts. The initial agreement would have cost Deux-Montagnes taxpayers $333,000, amounting to an extra $50 annually per address. The majority of survey respondents (74%) said no to such an agreement and cost, with a margin of error of 0.5%.

Given the high financial stakes of this project, the Deux-Montagnes town council first sought the consent of taxpayers. A consultation was essential since many residents had expressed an interest in such an agreement. We therefore had to gauge the actual level of public interest for this service in order to find out exactly where the public stood.

“We wanted to be sure our citizens supported it,” said Mayor Marc Lauzon. We now know that most people didn’t want to spend such an amount for this type of service. However, we also acknowledge the 20% of citizens who were ready to pay for this service. We will now try to work out another agreement with Ville de Saint-Eustache that will meet the needs of those 1500 or so families,” he concluded.

Deux-Montagnes managers will thus get in touch with officials from Ville de Saint-Eustache in the coming weeks to try and forge an agreement that will satisfy both parties – Ville de Saint-Eustache and the Deux-Montagnes families who wish to use the water park. The goal will be to draft an agreement that will meet their needs without penalizing the residents who do not wish to use this service.