A survey about the Evergreen Park & Recreation District is coming to residents’ mailboxes.

More specifically, the postcard is coming.

The postcard is key to answering the survey that will help guide the EPRD board’s decisions as it plans for the next three to five years. The postcard, which is being mailed to all 9,000 households in the rec district, will have an individual code that must be used to access the online survey, and the survey can only be answered by one person per household.

Those who don’t want to or can’t take the survey online can bring the postcard to either the Wulf or Buchanan Park rec centers to get a paper copy.

The postcards should be mailed by March 24, and people will have 10 days to answer the survey, which should take 15-20 minutes. Board members and staff hope as many people answer the survey as possible to give them an accurate picture of what the community wants from its recreation district.

For those who live outside the district or a second person in the household, there’s a path to take the survey for you, too: A link will be available on the EPRD website to access the survey.

The difference is that responses from those with postcards — those living and paying property taxes in the district — will be tallied differently than the responses of others.

The EPRD board hopes to meet in early May to discuss the survey results. That date has not been set, and the meeting will be open to the public.

Board members on March 14 went through the fourth draft of the survey, making minor changes as they went through the 25 questions. They emphasized that even though each household will have a separate code to answer the survey, names will not be associated with the answers. The board will get data on general responses.

Those who take the survey and provide their name and email address will be entered into a separate random drawing. Three participants will have their choice of a 10-punch card to use at the rec centers, a 10-punch ice-skating pass or a 10-punch boating pass.

EPRD board members and staff have spent many hours in the last month honing the survey questions to get the information they believe will help them decide what programs and facilities the community wants.

Ultimately, the board will decide what projects it wants to complete in the next three to five years, what it can afford and when it might be able to partner with other entities to provide services. High on the list is tackling some of the deferred maintenance at its current facilities.

The board also will decide whether to ask voters for more money in November. It must decide by July 30, which is the date it must inform Jefferson County that it wants to put something on the ballot.