The first ward meeting on the west side had people who discuss and vote on where to focus the 2013 city budget.
Don Leamen and Michael Costello both said the issues that were brought to light were no surprise to them.
Todd MacDonald leads the study group Performance Concepts, hired by the city to conduct the survey. He tells CHSJ news the results were clear.......People want to make sure they're getting good value for every dollar spent.
Ward 1 Councillors Greg Norton and Bill Farren both agreed seeing fire protection as a budget concern was a surprise but now the difficult part is focusing and finding what specific changes need to be made.
Farren says he saw a couple differences from what people wanted from when he ran for council. He said when campaigning door to door, people were concerned about safe drinking water and better recreation, whereas at the meeting, roads and the fire department were more prominent.
Norton says the survey provides an unbiased approach to the future budget.
The next ward meeting is tonight at Lorne Middle School starting at 6:00.
