A controversial plan to use a spot on the Neuse River to supply Franklin County with water is "doable," the county's public utilities director said Thursday after hearing from a consultant.

Franklin officials met with a county-hired engineering firm Thursday to go over a report on whether it makes sense for Franklin to pull water from the Neuse next to the former Burlington Mills textile plant on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.

Raleigh is considering new environmental rules for 5,000 acres, including Wakefield Plantation, Bedford at Falls River and Falls River, to protect the watershed around the former plant's water intake pipe, a plan that has caused widespread protest.

The county sent the engineers back for more work, but the message was clear, said Bryce Mendenhall, Franklin's public utilities director.

"It's still alive," Mendenhall said. "It is a doable project."

More than 150 people turned out for a public hearing in Raleigh this week to oppose the proposed environmental rules, which would make it more difficult to add a deck, driveway or other hard surface to many homes. Some said it didn't make sense for Franklin to pull from the spot.

State regulators are requiring Raleigh to protect the source. The city appealed the decision but failed. It now faces fines if it does not move forward with the rules.

The city's Planning Commission will consider the new rules at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 222 W. Hargett St. in downtown Raleigh.

Mendenhall said the report found that about 8 million gallons of water a day could be withdrawn from the spot.

"It has some price tags attached to it that we're going to have them do a little bit of checking on," Mendenhall said.

Engineers also noted that there will be some hurdles. Most of Franklin County is in the Tar River basin, for instance, and an "inter-basin transfer" of water could force strict state regulations.

"Everything that was there lets us know that, certainly, if our elected officials decide to pursue the option ... it's obviously a path that we can elect to go down," Mendenhall said.