The City of Piqua will hold no city commission meetings for the next two weeks, cancelling the meetings scheduled for November 10 and November 17 because there are not enough currently seated commissioners to form a quorum, WHIO News Center 7 reported.
The cancellations follow last week’s November 3 special election, in which Piqua residents voted to recall three commissioners, including the mayor, over their support for data centers, WHIO reported. A city spokesperson told WHIO both meetings are cancelled due to a lack of a quorum among the currently seated commissioners.
The recalled commissioners continue to serve until the Miami County Board of Elections certifies the special-election ballots, WHIO reported. The board said the earliest certification and swearing-in could happen is Monday, November 23, and the first meeting with the new commissioners is scheduled for Tuesday, November 24 — a budget work session, set to continue as planned unless the board is delayed, WHIO reported.
Residents who spoke with News Center 7 sounded ready for the change. “It would be problematic to have recalled commissioners still conducting city business,” Nancy Roof told News Center 7. Roof told News Center 7 she has confidence the incoming commissioners know what they are getting into, because all three have been attending commission meetings for some time and know what questions to ask. “I think we’ve got a lot of people inspired and hopeful that their voice can now be heard. But we still need more people to get engaged,” Roof told News Center 7.
Dalton Hammons, a Piqua resident for 15 years, told News Center 7 he hopes the budget is used to clean up downtown instead of building more things outside of town, and, on data centers, told News Center 7 he can only see them increasing energy bills. Supporters of data centers argue they boost the economy and bring jobs and will not use as much electricity and water as critics fear, WHIO reported in its reaction coverage.
The recall was part of a larger vote. On November 3, Piqua voters also approved a charter amendment prohibiting construction of a data center in Piqua, passing with 67 percent, WYSO reported via WVXU. What that ban means for a planned Meta project — the company bought more than 600 acres and signed agreements with the city in January, according to national roundups of the vote — remains unclear, and the city’s immediate business is more basic: seating a commission that can legally meet.
Additional special meetings may be scheduled before the end of the year to keep projects on track and complete the full budget review before the new fiscal year, WHIO reported, and the city said it will continue updating the public as the transition continues. What happens next is certification on or after November 23, the swearing-in of the new commissioners, and the November 24 budget work session — Piqua’s first commission meeting in three weeks.