LUCKEY – Residents do not support using a local quarry as a water source and are making their opposition heard.

An estimated 60 people crowded into the village’s municipal building Wednesday to share why they are not in favor of using Luckey Quarry, which is across Gilbert Road from a former beryllium production facility, as a source of public water.

Luckey Village Council wants to use eminent domain to acquire the quarry and use it to provide water in the village.

Many residents said they are using well water and are happy to continue doing so.

“You are not representing your constituents by doing this because we don’t want it,” said Kerri Wohltman.

She suggested council members take a poll of residents.

“You will lose badly,” she said.

We have safe drinking water that is free, she said, and you can test the water in the quarry a thousand times.

“You are not fooling us, we are not going to drink that water,” Wohltman said. “We are not going to drink water that comes from that quarry.”

If you somehow find a way to force this through, “I believe that this council and this administration will go down as the group that has ruined our beloved village,” she said.

Mary Welch asked if there was a way to recall this council.

“You work for us, and we are not with you on this,” she said.

Several of those in attendance praised the work council members were doing, including their work to better the village, their core values, and for looking at options for a public water source.

Belinda Brooks wondered why it took the village two years to file eminent domain after declaring the need as an emergency in 2021.

She also wondered why the village did not consult with the Environmental Protection Agency and asked who the consultant was who advised the village to purchase the property.

Mayor Cory Panning said the meeting was not going to be a question-and-answer session.

“I don’t understand how council members can say this water is safe,” she said. “This water is not fit for consumption,” said Grace Fields after she reviewed water sample reports.

Alexa York explained her experience working as an intern with environmental legislation. She provided a printout of everything that had been detected in the quarry, including lead, radium 226, thorium, uranium 238 and uranium 234.

The EPA is not going to approve a permit and she said she didn’t understand why that wasn’t the first step.

“Either you’re not coming from an informed standpoint to make this decision or you’re hiding something,” she said.

“There’s nothing about this that makes sense,” she said.

Village council adopted a resolution on Sept. 21, 2022, declaring its intention to purchase the Luckey Quarry, comprising 61 acres on Gilbert Road and 13 parcels on Luckey Road.

The resolution was passed as an emergency, which only required one reading rather than the standard three.

The owners of the land are Timothy Snyder and Steven Snyder as well as T&S Agriventures LLC, formed by the Snyders.

The village offered the property owners $525,000 but the offer was rejected.

The Snyders in December 2022 filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

The village filed a civil suit in Wood County Common Pleas Court on March 17, asking the court to rule in favor of the village “to appropriate property for a public use and to determine compensation for this appropriation.”

No date has been set in the federal suit; closing arguments are set to take place Nov. 10 in the county court.

Panning read the letter that has been posted on the village’s website and said the post will be updated monthly.

After an hour of public comment, Panning said he appreciated the comments.

“We are all listening. You’re opinion matters,” he said.

At the end of its regular meeting, council members entered into executive session to discuss litigation.

The next council meeting will be Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.