By Sarah Hall
Editor
What do you want for Onondaga Lake?
That’s the central theme of a survey now available from F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse, a civic group that has been conducting research on the lake and the surrounding community for nearly 20 years. The nonprofit has been working to create the survey since July. It’s now online for residents and other lake stakeholders to fill out.
In 2012, F.O.C.U.S. released a citizen-centered report entitled F.O.C.U.S. on Onondaga Lake: A Roadmap to Facilitate Reconnecting the Lake with the Community. That report is available at focussyracuse.org. One of the report’s most significant findings, after conducting more than 1,000 citizen surveys and 100 stakeholder interviews, was that the majority wanted to make the lake more accessible to the public. That involved continuing the cleanup, as well as allowing for more public access and more public events.
From the 2012 report, F.O.C.U.S continued reaching out to the public to learn more about its desires for the lake. This online survey is the latest effort in that endeavor. Results from the survey, which will be conducted through 2017, will be incorporated with those of a July 2016 snapshot survey and stakeholder interviews into a report that will eventually be presented to Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney. The county will then use the report to decide how to proceed with the lake once cleanup is complete.
To take the survey, visit focussyracuse.org/ourlake.
