Eagles, Wetlands, and Overlooked Concerns: Vermilion’s PUD Drama Unfolds

Commentary:

Look at the PUD ordinance for Vermilion. The ordinance was designed to make sure that Council could do their due diligence, after a public hearing, before voting on it. Due diligence means investigating, follow up. It takes time. Definitely not the three minutes Vermilion City Council used for a break between the Public Hearing and their Regular meeting on Monday. 

I walked in at 5:30 to the courtroom and it was filled with DBR representatives at the tables and the podium area. Looked like a meeting was already occurring. I checked my phone to make sure I didn’t get the time wrong. There was a lot of talking between what seemed to be a quorum of Council persons and the administration. I sat for the next half an hour and watched the meeting before the meeting occur. 

The meeting started with DBR representatives touting the scope and financial benefits of the project to the city and its infrastructure. The owner Dan Resar, emphasized he is local, from Lorain County and has family and friends here. He said he would comply with everything the EPA and State agencies wanted them to do.  

He also stated he did not want to interfere with anything that happens in Vermilion. 

The next two hours were citizens giving their concerns about the proposed PUD:

The state of current infrastructure

The strain on our current infrastructure Years of maintenance & repair lapses by the city

Inadequate staffing levels for police and fire 

Home values dropping 

Traffic increases 

Density of homes

Firelands schools is already at capacity

Ryan Homes reputation 

Three Eagles nests

Endangered/protected animal/plant species

A loss of privacy for residents in the area

A disruption of storm water systems on residents property

Higher property taxes

Residents potentially having to connect to City water/sewer when they have septic

I honestly don’t know how you can accomplish your goal of not interfering in anything Vermilion, with a list in front of you from Vermilion residents saying this is going to seriously interfere. This PUD will interfere with all of our daily lives and routines. It will radically transform the area. 

How can the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Service Director and City Council not see what’s right in front of them? No additional resources needed. Are you currently gouging us then on services? Are we way overstaffed and paying too much? I don’t think you can have it both ways here. A significant increase in people will need an increase in services to match. 

The citizens asked in vast majority for City Council to pump the brakes and do their due diligence and investigate. Many of them know the history of the Development area. How it was green lighted before and never came to be. They know Eagles live in the area and the area around the development is protected wetlands, which hosts a protected plant called Carey’s Smartweed. 

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/flowering-plants/careys-smartweed

The American Eagle has a long history in our area. I suspect as our Lakefront areas got developed, the eagles nestled deeper into Brownhelm to where they currently reside. 

https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-eagles-of-brownhelm.html

Vermilion City Council had the majority of this information in front of them. They had an ordinance that requires them to do their due diligence and even explicitly describes the circumstances where they should not continue, unless they are rectified. The ordinance was read to them by Council President Steve Herron earlier in the public meeting.  

Council then took a three-minute break and then proceeded to have a lighting round Regular meeting where they passed the PUD ordinance 6-1. Seemed to me like this was a done deal and the people’s concern and current legislation was an afterthought. 

Let’s hope the PUD criteria City Council ignored doesn’t come back and bite all parties involved. Let’s hope no one sues or a Federal agency doesn’t get involved. I saw many unhappy people who had reasonable grievances seemingly be shrugged off. Seems to be the status quo now at these meetings.

If City Council and the Administration continue to ignore public sentiment, I would count on more packed meetings, phone calls, contested races and referendums in the future. The people will be heard.