This article by Amy Oberlin appeared on the kpcNews website on July 14th, 2019.
BRYAN, Ohio — A Williams County, Ohio citizens’ charter initiative to establish home role is running up against road blocks and deadlines.
Monday, the Williams County Board of Elections deemed the charter — signed by 2,534 Ohio residents — unconstitutional.
Tish O’Dell, who heads Ohio’s branch of the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said the board’s action was illegal. The CELDF assisted the Williams County Alliance in creating the charter, which would shift Williams County governance from the state to the county with a goal of better protecting the Michindoh Aquifer.
A private company, Artesian of Pioneer, has applied with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to tap into the aquifer to serve communities in the Toledo area, potentially taking 15 million gallons a day.
The aquifer spans 10 counties in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Meetings have been held over the past year by county commissioner representatives pertaining to constituent concerns about the Michindoh Aquifer. The 10 boards of commissioners are in the process of creating the Ohio-Michigan-Indiana Regional Council of Governments.
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