Two recent surveys conducted in Burns Lake have had interesting results.
The first survey, conducted by the Northern Brain Injury Association for an upcoming traffic safety study, showed a high volume of vehicles passing through Burns Lake during the busy month of August.
The survey logged more 475 vehicles per hour passing through downtown Burns Lake over a three day period.
This gives Burns Lake a distinct advantage over some other communities. According to reference material the Burns Lake Downtown Revitalization Committee (DTRC) has been looking at, traffic volume is the number one element for a successful downtown.
“In our case the traffic is already here,” said Village of Burns Lake (VBL) counc. Frank Varga. “What we need is more service-based businesses occupying [currently] empty spots. I think for us that is our challenge, both as the DTRC and as council.”
Another challenge the VBL has been wrestling with is improving its communications with Burns Lake residents.
A strong push towards using social media like Twitter and Facebook, as well as email, to get the message out about village business is part of the village’s commitment to reducing paper waste.
A recent survey conducted by VBL staff showed that Burns Lake residents are split on how they feel about moving away from the printed word to get the message out.
In 37 responses to the question, “Which of the following considerations do you feel is more important for village communications?”, 49 per cent thought that paper circulars were important, while 51 per cent indicated that electronic or social media should be used to reduce paper usage.
“We should trend towards electronic [communication], but some people are paper-bound,” noted counc. Wes Hart.
What this means for VBL council is that they will consider a few different options for increased print communication, including possible op-ed pieces in local media as well as increased print advertising.
All this doesn’t mean that the village will shy away from increased use of social media to get their message out. One idea floated for future consideration was a dedicated YouTube channel for official VBL statements or information pieces.