GALLIA COUNTY Attempt to revive ghost town fails

A utility bought most of the homes in the village of Cheshire two years ago.
GALLIPOLIS, Ohio (AP) -- An attempt to repopulate a southern Ohio village left a virtual ghost town when a utility bought most of the homes failed last night when county commissioners rejected annexation petitions.
The Gallia County Commission agreed with lawyers for American Electric Power that the petitions to attach a 2-square-mile piece of Cheshire Township to the village of Cheshire lacked enough valid signatures.
Annexation backers said they had signatures from 58 of 85 property owners -- more than the 51 percent required. But a county review confirmed the utility's position that there are 121 property owners, meaning only 47 percent signed up.
The annexation would have added 170 residents to the Ohio River village.
Buyout
Columbus-based AEP bought out most of the property owners in Cheshire in a $20 million deal two years ago in exchange for promises not to sue AEP over emissions from its power plant there.
After the buyout, AEP expected the village to dissolve. A vote to disband it, however, failed and a movement began to add residents via annexation.
Petition organizer Paul Stinson and Cheshire Mayor Jim Rife have long said the move is not about gaining money through another buyout from AEP.
They say they want to pump new life into the community and for AEP to clean up the pollution that triggered the unique, town-buying deal.
Stinson said township residents also want village police protection, trash pickup and the authority to set speed limits.
A group that Stinson heads, Citizens Against Pollution, is suing the utility in federal court in Columbus, asserting that plumes of sulfuric acid still billow from the power plant's smokestacks. The suit, filed in May, demands the pollution be cleaned up.