And they want your help.

Linda Zacher, city planner, said responses to the survey mailed recently to city households is running at about 9 percent.

“I’ve received 91 responses, and I’ve mailed out 934 surveys,” she said.

The response rate isn’t too bad, considering they were mailed out the day before the May 11 tornado.

Because of that, she’s extending the deadline for return of surveys to Monday so that survey responses can be tallied in time to be displayed by June 10 when residents celebrate Tonganoxie Days.

“However, I would like to have more responses,” Zacher said. “We’re going to use this information in creating our policies and the comprehensive plan. Our planning decisions will affect the town for the next 10 to 20 years.”

Zacher said input received so far shows that citizens are concerned about some of the same issues.

For instance, sidewalks.

“A lot of people are asking for more sidewalks,” Zacher said. “Mostly in residential areas.”

And the environment.

“I’m surprised that people are as interested in the environment as they are,” Zacher said. “The tendency is that in rural areas they’re so much natural area that it’s not always important to people.”

And another recurring concern, traffic.

“A lot of people are concerned about having some traffic signalization along 24-40 highway at the grocery store, the high school or at highway 16,” Zacher said.

For those who may have misplaced their 26-question survey, more are available at these sites where the return boxes are located: The Mirror, City Hall, Fourth Street CafHoltz Pharmacy, Community National Bank, First State Bank and Trust and B & J Applemart. Survey participants do not need to use their names.