BROOKVILLE — A group of citizens, who formed a political action committee called Keep It Rural, are gathering signatures to recall mayor Chuck Letner and vice mayor James Zimmerlin.

At a press conference held Friday, July 26, at the Upper Lewisburg-Salem Road home of Mark Hayworth, members of the group, who call the campaign “Take Our City Back,” listed on the petition the reason they want to recall Letner and Zimmerlin as the individual “has failed to listen to their constituents and have failed to be transparent on potential infrastructure issues of the city. The citizens of the community have no confidence in this individual’s ability to lead and grow the city in a positive direction.”

Separate recall petitions are being circulated for Letner and Zimmerlin.

According to Johnsville-Brookville Road resident Mike Hughes, in order to place the recall issue on the ballot, the group must collect signatures from qualified electors equal to 25 percent of the votes cast at the most recent regular municipal election.

Hughes estimated the group needs approximately 538 valid signatures from Brookville residents who are registered to vote.

Hughes said the group has 90 days to obtain the signatures.

Hughes said the petitions must be delivered to the Montgomery County Board of Elections by Oct. 10.

Hughes said the board of elections will verify the group has obtained the required number of valid signatures and a special election will follow 60-75 days after the petitions are certified.

Hughes said Letner and Zimmerlin can avoid the recall election by resigning five days after the petitions have been certified by the board of elections.

“We are starting the recall petition to recall the mayor and vice mayor of our community due to improper processes that they have done in the community and the failure to be transparent with the community,” Hughes said.

Hughes cited several reasons to back his statement.

One of the reasons is the city’s proposed development plans for 85.611 acres of recently annexed Clay Township land on Upper Lewisburg-Salem Road.

The city is proposing that approximately 27.465 acres of the land situated at the front of the annexed land be zoned as General Business District while the remaining 58.146 acres zoned as R-1A..

Council plans to place both the General Business District and the R-1A zoning under a Planned Unit Development Overlay District, so council and the city can have control on how the land will be developed.

The proposed plan resulted in the group garnering enough signatures to place the issue on the Nov. 5 ballot so that citizens can decide if they approve or disapprove the city’s plan.

“Expanding the city doesn’t mean having high-density housing. It means having controlled growth and the proper types of homes in our community,” Hughes said. “Having a bunch of vinyl-sided homes that are built 15 feet apart is not what you want in a community,” Hughes continued.

Hughes indicated another reason for the recall is council’s approval of issuing a permit to a company that plans to set up marijuana cultivation, processing and testing operations in an empty building located at 325 Carr Drive.

Hughes said residents who voiced concern with council’s approval were particularly upset after planning commission voted against recommending the license be issued.

Hughes said another reason for the recall centers on residential and business growth and the affects it will have on the city’s infrastructure, specifically on the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

Hughes stated that future growth includes new housing developments, new apartments, a new hotel, a gas station and the DMAX expansion.

At the July 16 council meeting, Hughes presented information received from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that the wastewater treatment plant has exceeded its permitted capacity “11 percent of the time, which is 176 times in four years (May of 2020 to May of 2024).”

Hughes also stated at the July 16 council meeting a report issued by engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer hired by the city in 2023 to analyze and evaluate the plant, indicated “in part, the projected (city) growth will exceed the current permitted capacity of the plant and localized growth will likely exceed capacity of existing collection system infrastructure.”

“What this means is the wastewater system can’t handle what you’re trying to zone in and the collection system, which means the size of our sewer pipes along and under roadways, can’t handle it either,” Hughes said.

Salem Street resident Jaime Iaquinta agreed with Hughes.

“We are here to fight for our city. We have noticed a lot of change recently and a lot of explosive change that doesn’t seem to be thought through very well,” Iaquinta said.

Hughes said the group believes Letner and Zimmerlin are controlling what takes place on council.

“We believe the mayor and the vice mayor are pulling the strings. They are the most aggressive people during council meetings. You don’t hear from any other councilmember. We believe they are being told how to vote,” Hughes said.

Iaquinta also believes Letner and Zimmerlin are the ones who are controlling what is taking place.

“They have been the ones who have green-lighted a lot of the projects that are going to dramatically degrade our infrastructure,” Iaquinta said, adding “we don’t have the current infrastructure to support all of these new developments.”

Iaquinta said they want to work with council to “find a collaborative approach” to the issues.

“So far that hasn’t happened,” Iaquinta said.

“When questions are asked at the end of council meetings it is the mayor and vice mayor who have taken kind of a combative approach to discussing issues with the citizens,” Iaquinta said.

Hughes said he believes this occurs because the majority of council is uninformed on issues.

“This council currently here is slow to react. They’re uninformed. They need to learn about the issues before they vote yea on everything,” Hughes said.

Letner said the group has the right to file the recall petitions.

“I think it’s a little misguided, but they have every right to do it,” Letner said.

Letner said council has answered questions from the group at several council meetings.

“They literally ask the same questions every time at every meeting,” Letner said.

“The questions get answered by Jack (city manager Jack Kuntz), myself or maybe another person will answer the questions,” Letner continued.

“The questions get answered and they come back the next meeting and say you never told us. You’re not telling us the truth,” Letner said.

Letner said that is particularly the case with the wastewater treatment plant.

“We’ve explained the numbers and capacities and they don’t hear us. They don’t want to buy in to what we are saying,” Letner said.

Letner stressed untreated sewage has never escaped from the plant.

“Everything is treated. We don’t release anything into Wolf Creek that is not treated. We never have,” Letner said.

Letner also said the city has never received a violation from the OEPA.

“That’s a tribute to the plant itself and the guys that operate it,” Letner said.

“In fact, if you test the water upstream from the plant, you will find more chemicals from runoffs from the fields than you will find downstream after it’s been treated by the plant,” Letner said.

Letner also said OEPA officials “are amazed at the city’s paperwork and how precise the record keeping is when they come to inspect.”

Letner said every time the city plans “a development project such as the DMAX plant, the EPA looks into it and makes sure our wastewater treatment plant can handle it.”

Letner said all current projects have received a permit from the OEPA.

“What we are telling them is the truth, but they’re not listening or don’t want to listen to us,” Letner said.

Letner said the marijuana cultivating company locating in the city plans to refurbish the building.

“The company purchasing it is planning to make over a $3 million investment and bring 60 jobs to Brookville,” Letner said.

“We will get $40,000-$60,000, which is money the city can use,” Letner added.

“It’s going to be a very quiet operation,” Letner said of the facility.

“It is regulated by the state. All the employees are vetted through the state and the security is top notch,” Letner continued.

Letner also noted everyone on council was given the opportunity to tour the company’s facility in Bethel Township.

Letner said he and Zimmerlin do speak up during council meetings.

Letner said that although the other councilmembers might not be as vocal, they have their opinions on issues.

Letner said all councilmembers receive a packet of information prepared by city staff the Friday before every Tuesday council meeting.

Letner said councilmembers study the information in the packet and talk to city staff for questions or further information.

Letner also said council doesn’t always vote in unison on every issue.

“We’ve had some dissenting votes on the cultivation plant,” Letner said.

Letner emphasized council and the city staff are not hiding information from the public.

“The thing with transparency is we’re more than transparent. That’s all we are,” Letner said.

“We are out front in our meetings, We state everything that we think needs to be stated. We have an open checkbook. You can look on line to see who we are writing checks to,” Letner continued.

“What my concern is the city is financially sound because by law we have to have a balanced budget. We can’t have a deficit like the federal government,” Letner said.

Letner said the city tried three times to pass a levy and all three were “soundly defeated.”

“So if the citizens don’t want to pass a levy, we can’t just sit back and say OK. We have to do something,” Letner continued.

“We’re not here to tear the city down. We took an oath to take care of the city and make it better,” Letner said.

Zimmerlin replied that “being on council is a thankless job.”

“There are very few, if any, decisions made where you are going to get 100 percent consensus from voters,” Zimmerlin said.

Zimmerlin noted a few years ago, “Brookville was in a precarious situation financially.”

“We lost several of our biggest employers, including Payless, which required city council to make some tough decisions,” Zimmerlin said.

“I believe city administration and city council has done a great job to move the needle on turning the city around financially,” Zimmerlin continued.

Zimmerlin said development is affecting “numerous communities across the Miami Valley.”

“There are stories every week in the news, most recently in Springboro, Union, Huber Heights, Clayton and Centerville, regarding new development and resident opposition,” Zimmerlin said.

“New development, both commercial and residential, is a critical lever needed to keep municipalities financially solvent and to support our business community,” Zimmerlin said.

Zimmerlin said “change is difficult.”

He noted “most of the residential development in Brookville, such as Hunters Run and Meadows of Brookville, were planned long before I got on council.”

“Every decision that I have made takes into account the comprehensive land use plan, current zoning, and ensuring we protect the City of Brookville from litigation. The city cannot deny a new business or development if it is appropriately zoned and legally permitted in our zoning code,” Zimmerlin said.

Zimmerlin said there is a lot of misinformation on social media concerning the city’s wastewater treatment plant in relation to development.

Zimmerlin noted information is available on the city’s Facebook page. He also said the city plans to do a formal presentation on wastewater treatment plant operations to address some of the resident concerns at the Aug. 6 council meeting.

Zimmerlin said supporting the marijuana cultivation and distribution facility was a tough decision.

“My main focus was to continue to prohibit retail sales within the city, which we did,” Zimmerlin said.

“There were a lot of factors that went into my decision, including Issue 2 voting in Brookville was virtually 50/50, the facility was vetted by city administration, including our police and fire chiefs,” Zimmerlin said.

“The prospective business will be making a multi-million dollar investment in a dilapidated building in our industrial park, creation of additional jobs, and 40,000-$60,000 annual income tax revenue coming into the city.

Zimmerlin also said the marijuana cultivation facility will be a top five employer in the industrial park,

“I do not take the referendum or potential recall petition personally, as it is part of the process that is afforded to the residents by the city charter,” Zimmerlin said.

“If fact, a little more than seven years ago, I helped lead similar initiatives to repeal the income tax credit reduction, place term limits on city councilmembers and prevent emergency passage of tax and zoning legislation,” Zimmerlin continued.

Zimmerlin noted he and two other council members “only have another year left before we hit our term limit and have to step aside.”

Zimmerlin said since being on council he stands behind every decision he’s made.

“I do not believe those leading this charge are doing so with the best of intentions, nor do I think it is putting Brookville in a positive light,” Zimmerlin said.

“I see what is going on in some of our surrounding communities and I fear Brookville is not far behind,” Zimmerlin said.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].