Majority Floor Leader William Seitz,
My name is Benjamin Dean. I am a resident of Miller Township in Knox County Ohio.
I wanted to follow up with you on the letter you sent to the OPSB in favor of the proposed Frasier Solar Project in Knox County. I am writing to you again to request that you reconsider and withdraw your support for this project.
In your letter to the OPSB, you acknowledged the relevance and reality of local opposition to this project but then you stated that there was vocal support as well. I believe you have significantly underestimated just how much local opposition there is here.
The vast majority of actual citizens of Knox County are opposed to the Frasier Solar Project. The Trustees of Miller Township (where most of the project would be located) have passed a resolution opposing the project because of the outcry of their constituents. The Mount Vernon City Council also has passed a resolution expressing opposition to the project.
In the recent Republican primary for County Commissioner the incumbent, Thom Collier, who was also the chair of the county Republican Committee at the time, came in third behind two other candidates, both of whom had made opposing the Frasier Solar Project and all utility solar developments on farmland a major part of their platforms and campaign messaging. The result was that over 70% of the votes cast in that race went to one of the candidates opposed to the Frasier Solar Project.
Additionally, your colleagues in the House of Representatives who represent parts of Knox County, Beth Lear and Darrel Kick, signed a letter recognizing that a strong majority of their constituents oppose the project. They were joined by State Senator Andrew Brenner who also represents our area.
Furthermore, as of today, 17 of the 22 townships in Knox County have passed resolutions asking the County Commissioners to make them exclusion zones for future utility-scale solar developments. They are doing this because the community at large is seeing what is happening in Miller and Clinton Townships, and citizens across the county have rallied to protect their homes and communities from the same sort of intrusive development.
In light of all of this, I want to once again urge you to retract your letter supporting the Frasier Solar Project.
If you are unwilling to do so, would you be at least willing to meet with a group of Knox County citizens who are opposed to this project and listen to their concerns?
Sincerely,
Benjamin Dean
Knox County Resident
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