August 28, 2021
Letters, Ohio

Wind farm meeting cancellation questioned

Letter to the Editor: Wind farm meeting no-show | Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum | Aug. 27, 2021 | www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com

On Aug. 18, I traveled from Huron County to Crawford County in support of the Honey Creek Wind Farm opposition after a notice was sent out announcing Apex was meeting with the Crawford County commissioners at 11 a.m. Since this meeting was covered by Ohio’s Sunshine Law, it was open to the public.

A little over a dozen citizens were in attendance at this meeting. They were there to see what Apex Honey Creek project manager Ben Yazman had to say so they could keep themselves informed on any issues in this project. After waiting several minutes past 11, Commissioner Doug Weisenauer said there was no reason to have a meeting because “Ben” was not there. Since this was not a regular commissioners meeting with anything else on the agenda and was a special meeting just for the purpose of meeting with Ben Yazman, they moved quickly to adjourn the meeting.

When those in attendance asked when the meeting was going to be rescheduled, Commissioner Weisenauer said that was up to “Ben” since he was the one who had called them requesting this meeting time, not the commissioners. When asked if “Ben” had called to say why he was not there, Weisenauer said he was unaware of any such call at this time.

The commissioners seemed to be unfazed by this inconsiderate behavior from the wind company. They did not seem upset in the least that they had showed up for this meeting when the person requesting it had not – or even given them the courtesy of calling to say he couldn’t be there.

One has to wonder, and some in the audience warned the commissioners to be aware of these business tactics from this company. We constantly see and hear Apex reminding everyone they want to be good neighbors. They portray they are an upstanding company which is open, community oriented and willing to answer any questions the public may have. Why the secrecy and no show?

You have to keep wondering when our public officials are going to listen to their constituents.

Sheila Poffenbaugh, Willard

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/08/28/wind-farm-meeting-cancellation-questioned/