The Village of North Hills Board of Trustees approved this week the mailing of a survey around May 1 to residents to determine if there is a need for a transportation service for the community.
After speaking with various residents throughout North Hills, Mayor Marvin Natiss said he realized that those who were unable to drive or walk need a way to get around the community.
“Some people no longer have vehicles so they need [transportation] to get to Waldbaums or a shopping area so they can at least put food on the table,” Natiss said.
The mailer will include a cover letter by Natiss and the survey. According to the mayor, the survey should take approximately five minutes to complete and expects 30 percent to 40 percent to reply.
“We’re trying to find the needs of the residents in terms of what transportation they need so we can then determine what we can make available,” Natiss said.
Natiss said the village will most likely be paying for this service.
“I don’t want to buy buses but we might make arrangements for a couple of jitney’s (small buses) to assist the residents that need assistance.”
The Mayor intends for the service to be exclusive to the village.
Once the responses are mailed back to Village Hall they will be sent to an engineering firm where the data will be analyzed and returned to the mayor within 30 days.
The goal of the survey, the mayor said, is to find out how best to assist the residents.
“We’re a community of people getting on in years so we want to make life easier for them,” he said.
Village of North Hills Planning Board member Eli Weinberg worked extensively on the survey and was happy to see it approved.
“I’d like to thank the board for taking this step. I hope a lot of useful information comes from it,” he said.
