City of Rehoboth launches new digital engagement platform
The City of Rehoboth Beach recently launched a new digital platform designed to provide enhanced information, gather input and ultimately result in better decision-making.
Residents, property owners, business owners, visitors and other stakeholders are invited to explore Reach Out Rehoboth at reachout.cityofrehoboth.com to learn about current city projects, and to provide suggestions, ideas, comments and questions through a variety of engagement tools.
Information on the newly launched site relates to current projects and includes: the traffic and parking study; construction of a new beach patrol and comfort station facility; possible establishment of a stormwater utility; Wilmington/Baltimore avenues streetscape improvements; a variety of upcoming maintenance projects, such as Rehoboth Avenue repaving and new water meter installations; replacement of the water main on Laurel Avenue; and a hot topics survey.
The initial survey focuses on whether Rehoboth Beach should allow leashed dogs on the beach during certain hours in the summer season.
"We're excited to offer this new engagement tool and see where it takes our community," said Laurence Christian, city manager. "Ultimately, we believe that it will lead to more collaborative, better decision-making. Increased communication/engagement is one of the top priorities identified in our comprehensive development plan, and it's a goal that is extremely important to elected officials and city staff. We're eager to take community engagement to the next level in Rehoboth Beach."
The Reach Out Rehoboth site features a suite of tools and widgets provided through the Granicus Engagement HQ platform. Tools allow registered site visitors to respond to surveys and polls, ask questions, and share ideas, comments and stories. The widgets function as ways to provide information such as links to documents and photos, timelines and key dates, and information about staff who are involved on the project.
The City of Rehoboth Beach has opted to require registration for most engagement activities on the site to ensure a higher quality of input and better understand the relationships that people who are providing feedback have with the city.
