A small group of Carlisle volunteers will take to the phones starting today to ask one simple question:
Where do you stand on hydrofracking?
Results will be presented to the town board in a month or two; the informal survey is also intended to be low-key, said Jacqueline Turnquist, one of the volunteers.
"The town board has no information of where people stand on fracking, so we thought this would be useful," Ms. Turnquist explained.
"We have no agenda...we're not an organization for or against fracking, but we thought some sort of feedback would be valuable."
When the volunteers call they'll ask simply whether the person answering the phone is for, against, or undecided on fracking.
"We wanted to give people a heads-up, so they're not surprised out of the blue," Ms. Turnquist added. "And also to let them know we're not calling from someplace they never heard of. We live in Carlisle. We're their neighbors."
Most of the calls will likely be done in the evening, she said, depending on when the volunteers have time and can reach people.
She estimates the survey, which is being modeled after similar efforts in other towns, will take about a month.