Hampshire County commissioners on Tuesday authorized staff to finalize and publish a countywide public survey seeking resident feedback on a proposed high-voltage transmission line route and related impacts. The commission also preauthorized a $500 prize pool to encourage participation, subject to approval from the county prosecutor.

The vote followed a staff presentation about survey design and rollout. Commissioners asked staff to limit the survey to about 10 questions, verify respondent addresses against voter rolls where possible, and structure questions so results can be compared regionally or reused by neighboring counties.

Key elements discussed

- Purpose: Collect quantifiable public opinion data the commission can use when communicating with state regulators, legislators and neighboring counties about the proposed line.

- Scope and rollout: Staff (Aaron) will draft a concise (target: 10 questions or fewer) survey that is county-agnostic so other jurisdictions could reuse it. The rollout will include social media, county web pages and QR codes; staff suggested cross-checking physical addresses against the voter registration list to validate responses.

- Incentives: Commissioners discussed offering a randomized drawing for ten $50 Amazon gift cards (total $500) to increase response rates; elected officials will be ineligible to win. The commission asked staff to confirm legal permissibility with the county prosecutor before prize distribution.

- Response goals and timing: Commissioners discussed prior county surveys (one 2024 survey produced 641 responses) and said a high-quality result would be in the hundreds to low thousands. Staff aimed to have the draft questions ready within a week and the survey running before Thanksgiving if scheduling with neighboring counties allowed.

Outcome

A motion to authorize staff to revise and publish the survey and to preauthorize the $500 prize pool pending the prosecutor’s review passed by voice vote.

Ending

Staff will present a revised question set for review; commissioners also approved outreach to neighboring county commissions about a possible joint meeting and regional survey coordination.