BUCYRUS—Crawford County Commissioners held a special meeting Monday to accept signed petitions collected by the Honey Creek Action Pack on behalf of Apex Energy.
The signatures, if validated, place the issue of whether or not wind turbines can be constructed in Crawford County on the November ballot.
Crawford County is the first County to use Senate Bill 52 (effective last October) to put the decision in the hands of voters.
In May, Commissioners passed (by a vote of 2-1) exclusion zoning that stopped potential construction. That action set in motion a 30-day period for Apex’s Honey Creek Action Pack to gather signatures from 8% of the registered Crawford County voters.
Tyler Fehrman, Field Manager for Apex Energy and executive director of the pack, presented the signatures to the commissioners.
Fehrman explained that he worked with Apex’s legal team to craft the language of the petitions correctly:
“We brought in a team of local folks and out-of-town folks. We brought in a team of professionals who do this well, who operate with integrity and honesty and who know the rules and the laws. “ Fehrman said.
He told Commissioners that his workers met citizens on their porches, at baseball games, and in parking lots.
Fehrman thanked Doug Weisenauer, Tim Ley, and Larry Schmidt for being the first three to sign the petition.
“Wind energy is good for Crawford County and 2,604 registered voters agree,” Fehrman said.
Crawford County resident Dan Butte shared his positive feeling about the next step.
“It’s a great day to make some electricity in Crawford County.” Butte said.
He also told those in attendance that it’s going to be a long five months to the election. He encouraged people to make an informed decision before they vote. He suggested voters visit both the Crawford County Anti-Wind and Honey Creek websites.
“Look at the Honey Creek website too and see the positives of it. I wanna commend the commissioners for proudly being the first signatures to get this thing going.“ Butte said.
Commissioner Doug Weisenauer noted that Crawford County is the first County in the state to exercise this option, setting a precedent for the entire country.
Not everyone was so enthusiastic. One man asked if there was a method to take a signature off the ballot if they felt misled by the canvasser. He was told the matter would have to be handled by the Prosecutor. The gentleman said he asked the Prosecutor while attending a recent First Friday event and was told by the Prosecutor himself didn’t know what he could do.
As previously reported, Crawford County Now asked a representative of the Board of Elections that very question. Crawford County Now was told the only way to remove your signature from a petition is to track down the person who solicited your signature.
That would have been a difficult task since many of the canvassers were not local or known to local residents.
Board of Elections Director Kim Rudd reassured attendees that the validation process is a strict one.
If the signature on the petition is not an exact match with what the board has on file or if the addresses do not match the signature is deemed invalid.
Crawford County Now will continue to follow this developing story.