People in Barton County have little more than a week to make their opinions known about what they think a healthy community looks like, and what they think it will take to make their communities better.

“ What we really want is to know if they have an idea for something we haven’t thought of,” said Donna Krug, Barton County Extension agent.  She serves on the 15-person Be Well Barton County Leadership Committee that has been collecting information since January.  

Krug says they are looking for a wide variety of answers from a wide variety of people.  Some of the suggestions offered so far range from  more bike paths and bike racks in town to more community garden space  and “skinny children”.  

“We are distributing the survey and flyer to anyone and everyone we can reach across Barton County,” said Lynette Lacy, a consultant with KL Connections and head of the committee.  “The information will be used to inform the Leadership Team of what the citizenry feels would be most useful in increasing healthy behavior in Barton County.  The information collected from the surveys will be used to develop the Community Plan.”

They would like all responses received by September 4.  “This is the first step in a process,” Lacy said.   “The Community Plan being developed will guide the County over the next 3-5 years in its vision of creating a healthier community.”

Survey fliers are available at the Barton County Extension Office or from committee members.  If sending them in by mail, they need to be sent by Friday, Aug. 31.  The online version can be taken by going to  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2012BeWellBartonCounty and following the simple instructions on the page.

BWBC hopes incentive gift certificates from Dillons, Walmart and Chambers of Commerce from around the county will encourage more to take the survey.  Survey respondents that include a name and means of contact at the end of the survey will be entered into a drawing for the certificates.  

The BWBC Leadership Committee is made up of 15 members from around the county.  There are representatives from each of the four major towns of Ellinwood, Hoisington, Claflin and Great Bend. Mercedes Helms with Prince of Peace Parish Catholic Church has also volunteered to translate the survey into Spanish and help distribute it to the Hispanic community, Krug said.  

In addition to Krug and Lacy, others on the committee include: Glenna Achatz, real estate agent with Coldwell Banker; Cris Collier, president of Great Bend CVB; Christina Hayes, Community Coordinator for the City of Great Bend; Diann Henderson, director of Great Bend Recreation; Dale Hogg, editor of the Great Bend Tribune; Janel Rose, P. Health Ed. with Barton County Health Dept.; Clark Rusco, Barton County Engineer; Kristy Rupe, program officer with Golden Belt Community Foundation; Jennifer Schartz, USD 428; Juan Uribe, community volunteer from Great Bend; Mel Waite, manager of National Billing, LLC; Curtis Wolf, site manager at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center; and Teddy Williamson, community volunteer from Hoisington.