Clinton Township’s May 20 Board of Trustees meeting saw an influx of residents signing an anti-industrial solar petition, signaling growing discontent within the community.
One-hundred-fifty-five new signatures were added during the meeting, bringing the total count to over 350 concerned citizens, which comprises over 12% of the township’s roughly 2,800 residents.
While the topic was not on the May 20 agenda, residents used the open discussion period of the meeting to share their thoughts on industrial solar.
Residents described the meeting as "lively," with a notable turnout in the audience of those rallying against industrial solar development in the jurisdiction.
Clinton Township resident Rick McCament, who lives near the planned Frasier Solar Project, delivered the petitions and spoke out against the development.
“We've got over 350 signatures from Clinton Township registered voters who are in support of our trustees signing that resolution against the Fraser Solar project in Clinton Township,” he told Mount Vernon News. “I presented it to them at Monday's meeting and once again they are very quick to respond that they are neutral on this solar project.”
“They had signed a resolution about any new previous solar project weeks or maybe a few months ago, but they refused to be specific on this particular Frasier Project that's in the permitting stages.”
McCament also noted at the meeting that Clinton Township had, for the first time, restricted speakers.
“The meeting format had totally changed this particular Monday's meeting,” he said. “We were now all restricted to three minutes of speech time. Anyone (speaking) at the meeting had to live in Clinton Township, which we've never seen before today.”
The change in meeting structure meant those living nearby, but not in the township, were not allowed to speak.
McCament said that in his time attending the meetings, Clinton Township has shown a bias in favor of the Frasier Solar Project.
“The sense is that there's definite favoritism towards this project and not the citizens,” he said. “[Opponents] are always being told they are spreading misinformation and all of that. And, well, we want our voices heard and at the township meeting or not, no one feels their voices are being heard.”
The “neutral” stance adopted by Clinton Township has drawn criticism, with some residents expressing frustration over what they perceive as a lack of support from township leadership.
Clinton Township Trustee Donna Hochstetler said she and fellow trustees Jay Maners and Terry Thompson have not changed their stance since early January.
In regard to the petition drive, Hochstetler said that despite the board’s stance, she was taking the petitions to the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) hearing held in Mount Vernon on May 23.
Hochstetler, who residents have been considering for a recall election campaign that would remove her as trustee, was quick to express that the hundreds who signed the petition don’t represent the entire community.
“That's not the whole township,” she said.
Regarding the seven residents who spoke at the meeting, Hochstetler said five spoke in favor of industrial solar and two spoke against it.
“We were allowing only Clinton Township residents to speak,” Hochstetler told the Mount Vernon News.
She said most of those opposed to the project at the May 20 meeting live in Miller Township, as evidenced by Monday’s sign-in sheet.
“We have a sign-in sheet that our fiscal officer has, it has the names on it,” Hochstetler said.
Hochstetler also noted Open Roads Renewables, responsible for the Frasier Solar Project, also did not have a chance to speak.
“Craig (Adair, vice president of development for Open Road Renewables) comes to the meetings just like everybody else does,” she said. “They did not get to speak at the meeting Monday night. Frazier Solar did not get to speak. No. Because they're not Clinton Township landowners."
Barry Lester, a Clinton Township resident who is expected to win the November election as the GOP nominee to the Knox County Commission, has been lobbying the township to pass exclusionary zone resolutions since October 2023.
“They're trying to get the Clinton Township trustees to sign a proposal against Open Roads [Renewables] Frasier [Solar Project]. So they had, right around 350, area residents signed a petition,” Lester told Mount Vernon News.
Lester and McCament were the two who spoke against industrial solar at the meeting.
Lester noted the “property rights” argument wielded by so many supporters does not carry weight.
“If you have property rights, why is there zoning? Yeah, because if you have true property rights, you could put anything you wanted on your land,” he said.
Lester added that the situation never would have occurred if it were not for federal subsidies that companies like Open Roads Renewables reap for creating such developments.
“This is nothing more than a government subsidy that got pushed through before anybody knew it and now we're trying to catch it,” he said.
Lester said he and other speakers have been trying to sway the trustees for months to no avail.
“They have pretty much made it very clear that they are neutral,” he said.
The importance of local action is paramount. In early 2024, Knox County Commissioner Thom Collier called for townships in opposition to industrial solar to pass exclusionary zone resolutions asking for the development to not occur within their jurisdictions.
“Any township that wants their township to be in an exclusionary zone should forward their resolution to the commissioners,” Collier said at the time.
Eighteen of Knox County’s 22 townships, as well as the City of Mount Vernon, have passed such resolutions.
The OPSB is in its final stages of the permitting process for the nearly 1,400-acre Frasier Solar Project, having held two hearings in Knox County regarding the project on April 4 and May 23.
A third hearing was set for May 29 at 5 p.m. at Knox Memorial Theater.
An adjudicatory hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. at the Offices of the Public Utilities Commission in Columbus.
Recently, the OPSB shot down the Chestnut Solar Project in Marion County. Chestnut Solar's withdrawal of their application for an industrial solar plant marks a triumph for local activists who voiced concerns about environmental impact and health risks.
The decision follows stiff opposition from residents, highlighting a growing debate over industrial-scale solar development in Ohio, echoing similar grassroots efforts in Knox County against projects like the Frasier Solar Project.
