The Haywood County Board of Commissioners will use a mail survey of Bethel residents to gauge sentiment about a controversial $4.7 million proposal to run water and sewer lines to the mostly rural, agricultural valley.

“Everybody wants us to vote with the majority on whether to run water and sewer lines, but we don’t know what the majority is,” said Commissioner Kevin Ensley.

“We want a more accurate assessment of the level of support or non-support on the issue,” Commissioner Mark Swanger said.

When a former board of county commissioners proposed running water and sewer lines to Bethel four years ago, a mail-in survey also was conducted. Out of about 1,000 surveys, 400 were returned with 57 percent voting “no.” Commissioners then dropped the proposal.

Sentiments haven’t changed for the opponents. They fear that water and sewer lines will fuel growth and development, spur the loss of farmland, open the door for annexation by Canton and generally alter the community’s character with a residential building boom and commercialization. Those who favor the proposal, however, cite the need to provide water and sewer to the elementary and middle schools, to keep septic discharges from polluting the Pigeon River and to allow for economic development.

The overwhelming majority of Bethel residents who spoke at a public hearing on the issue last month were against the lines.

But commissioners said those in favor of the lines aren’t speaking out publicly for fear of being snubbed by their fellow community members — including the prominent and respected members of the farming community — who are against the lines.

“Ideally you would like to see a clear majority one way or another,” Swanger said of the survey results. “That may or may not happen.”

The survey results will be a factor in the commissioners’s decision, but not the sole factor, especially if there is a close margin, Swanger said.

Swanger said the survey will also help the rest of the county to understand the commissioners’ position. Media reports have falsely depicted a scenario where the commissioners are disregarding the vast majority of Bethel residents by proposing the lines, Swanger said. A survey would likely show that there is no “overwhelming majority,” if a majority at all, Swanger said.

Survey says ...

The survey’s exact wording has not been decided, but it will seek answers to two questions: do Bethel residents want water and sewer; and do they want a locally-elected water and sewer board to oversee and manage growth associated with the lines. Commissioners have supported the idea of giving a local water and sewer board autonomy over the lines, enabling the community to control who hooks on, thereby controlling growth.

Dave Curphey, a Bethel opponent of water and sewer, fears the county will attempt to slant the survey.

“We will try every way we can to make it a fair survey and not misleading,” Curphey said.

Wording is critical to the survey’s accuracy, according to Chris Cooper, associate professor of political science at Western Carolina University.

One segment of residents could be disenfranchised if the survey is not worded correctly — residents who would say “no” to the lines, but if the lines come, would say “yes” to a local water and sewer board to oversee land-use planning.

Cooper, who specializes in polling and survey work, suggested the second question be worded along these lines: “Regardless of if you want water and sewer lines, if they come, do you want to have a water and sewer authority?”

But, according to some commissioners, the county might structure the survey in a such a way that only those who answer “yes” to water and sewer can go on to respond to the second question. In this way, the county could pigeon-hole those concerned about growth into voting “yes” for the lines so they can go on to vote “yes” for a water and sewer board.

“I would say if people want to be in charge of their own destiny, they’ll say they want water and sewer, and a water and sewer district,” said county board Chairman Bill Noland.

Ensley wonders if the two could be combined into one question: “Do you want water and sewer lines in conjunction with a locally-controlled water and sewer authority, or do you not want water and sewer?”

“I think it’s a given we’re going to make allowances for the community to control growth,” Ensley said. Water and sewer lines open the door for certain types of development that more dramatically affect surrounding property than the types of development possible without water and sewer, Ensley said.

One question will not be appearing on the survey: “If sewer and water lines do not come, do you still want to develop a land-use plan for Bethel?”

“I don’t think we’re asking that question. That’s land-use planning and that’s not in this question,” Noland said.

The surveys will contain a postage-paid return envelope to encourage participation among as many residents as possible, Swanger said. Households that will be affected by the initial construction and those who could reasonably have access to the lines 20 years out will be targeted in the initial survey.

Curphey argued for larger boundaries.

“Those of us who live a couple of miles from the lines will still be impacted by the results,” Curphey said.

The survey will be mailed to all lproperty owners and registered voters within that boundary. The survey four years ago targeted only property owners. By including registered voters, surveys will potentially reach renters or spouses of property owners who are not jointly listed on property deed. Ensley predicts it will reach twice as many people as the last survey.

County Manager Jack Horton is drafting the survey language, which will be critiqued at the next commissioner’s meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 19.

“We have to make sure the survey is wordsmithed correctly. It needs to be simple and precise,” Swanger said.

Proper protocol?

The commissioners discussed the idea of a survey at a special meeting Tuesday, March 30. The agenda for the meeting did not state that Bethel water and sewer lines would be discussed. The meeting was not taped recorded, as is protocol for the regular bi-monthly meetings.

“It was just a planning session,” Noland said.

So far, commissioners have only discussed Bethel water and sewer lines during such planning sessions, which typically are neither taped nor announced with a formal agenda of topics. Commissioners have not discussed the lines during any of their regular bi-monthly Monday meetings.

The announcement of the March 30 meeting stated: “The Board will consider the contract to construct waterlines to Barber’s Orchard and the easement acquisition process. At the conclusion of the special meeting, the Board of Commissioner will conduct a work session to discuss capital improvement plans.”

The announcement did not cite which capital improvement plans. Capital improvement plans could allude to any number of projects the county commissioners have discussed in recent months, including: the new jail, the new justice center, new Haywood Community College buildings, renovations to the historic courthouse, renovations to the Department of Social Services, or a new economic development commission office. Haywood Community College construction was discussed at the meeting along with the Bethel issue.

The announcement was issued to media outlets Friday morning, four days before the meeting was held and well within the legally required 48-hour notice for special meetings. Commissioners do not review such announcements before their release. Ensley said the announcement should have spelled out the topics for discussion. Ensley said he called Bill Holbrook, a Bethel farmer who is a leader in opposition to the lines, the day before the meeting to make him aware of it.