Ashville, Ohio is a small village of about 4,000 people. In April 2026, the village council approved a deal bringing two massive data centers and a natural gas power plant into town, without ever asking residents what they thought.

Local officials did not just skip a conversation with the community. They used a legal loophole, declaring the deal emergency legislation specifically to block residents from putting it to a public vote. When residents gathered enough signatures for a referendum anyway, Ashville's fiscal officer, April Grube, simply refused to send the petition to election officials.

It took the Ohio Supreme Court to force the issue.

On August 7, 2026, the Court ruled that the village council never explained why the project could not wait the standard 30 days that would have allowed a referendum to happen. The emergency label was empty, according to the Court's opinion in State ex rel. McNamara-Smith v. Grube.

The referendum is now headed to the November 3 ballot. But the harm this project could cause will not wait for an election.

Gas power plants bring air pollution and constant noise.

Data centers draw enormous amounts of water and electricity, often straining small town infrastructure that was never built to support them.

Ashville residents never got a real say before this deal was struck, and the village council has still not reversed course.

The Ashville Village Council can act now. Council members can pause the EdgeConneX development agreement and commit to honoring whatever voters decide in November, instead of locking in a done deal before residents ever cast a ballot.

Sign the petition to demand the Ashville Village Council halt the data center and gas plant project until voters have their say on November 3.