Editor’s note: Caroline Zollinger, a recent Denison University graduate, has covered the communities of Alexandria and St. Albans Township for the last two years for The Reporting Project. She says the time she spent in zoning meetings, at the village fire department and on people’s porches made her a stronger journalist. Before she moves to South Carolina for her next journalism position, she wanted to thank the residents and leaders of Alexandria and St. Albans Township for their time and their help in telling the stories of their community.
In June 2023, I showed up to Denison University’s campus to start working for The Reporting Project. It was the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, and I didn’t know what to expect.
I met with Professor Doug Swift in his office on campus and he asked me what I wanted to work on for the summer. I had no clue. I didn’t know what was going on off “the hill” of the Denison campus. He pitched an idea to me about a proposed asphalt plant in Alexandria. What is an asphalt plant? Where is Alexandria?
Alexandria is an easy, 5-mile, 10-minute drive from Denison’s campus, but a place I had never been during my first two years of college. Alexandria’s main street is lined with cute old homes. The village center includes local shops, churches, a library and a museum. Alexandria and St. Albans Township residents care about preserving their small-town and rural atmosphere. Many residents in the area are farmers and love the way their community was before Intel announced a $28 billion computer-chip manufacturing campus 10 minutes away in 2022.
The first time I went to Alexandria was to write about a meeting of Clean Air and Water for St. Albans Township and Alexandria. Residents from Granville, Alexandria and St. Albans township gathered to prepare to make public statements at an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency hearing for an air permit for a Shelly asphalt plant.
Nearby residents were – and still are – outraged by the potential asphalt plant because the proposed site for it was near Alexandria’s village center. It would also sit in a flood plain next to Raccoon Creek and could potentially contaminate residents’ drinking water.
We all sat in yellow chairs outside on West Main Street. The residents discussed their grievances with the potential Shelly asphalt plant, and the heavy truck traffic that already burdened the community. Residents raised their voices so everyone could hear as the big trucks rumbled by us. Allison Riggs and Stephanie Taylor handed out signs that said “Protect our air, water and quality of life: NO ASPHALT PLANTS, NO MORE TRUCKS.”
I continued to attend meetings regarding that asphalt plant and other proposed industrial plants that summer, and I got to know the community members of Alexandria and St. Albans Township.
In July 2023, I went to a St. Albans Township Board of Zoning appeals hearing involving the Shelly Company. The meeting was held in the basement of the St. Albans Township Fire Department, and like many other public meetings I attended that summer, the room was completely full. People pulled up lawn chairs and they opened the window and put a speaker outside so more people could listen in.
It showed how many people cared about the fate of their community.
I continued to show up at zoning meetings, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency hearings, trustee and village council meetings for two years. Of course, people started to recognize the 20-year-old with a canvas tote bag, colorful water bottle and a press pass. Now, I walk into meetings and am greeted by several residents with a “Hi, Caroline,” and a “thank you for coming.”
The acknowledgement of my presence and work means more to me than any byline.
Not everything in Alexandria is clouded with industrial fumes. I got to celebrate with the community, too.
Every year, Alexandria hosts “Alexandria Fun Days,” which includes a parade with people from the fire and police departments, and children on floats squirting the crowd with water guns and throwing candy. Alexandria is home to a wonderful library, which is a central meeting location for residents, and I got to know business owners around the village.
I’m sure most of us are drowning in national news these days. But it’s important to pay attention to what is happening locally. People in Alexandria have shown me the difference you can make if you care enough about an issue. Citizens have power and they can use it by going to meetings, giving public statements and even creating a merger commission.
And while this “government stuff” is going on, you see your neighbors and create relationships because you are in this together. I hope that after graduating from Denison University in May that I find a community like the people of Alexandria have found.
A sense of community has been ever-present in Alexandria since the asphalt plant was proposed in Alexandria two summers ago. Residents banded together to research and speak out against the industrial development of their rural home. The Village of Alexandria is a bright light in a dark cave of national division. Although it was under difficult circumstances, the people in Alexandria and St. Albans Township came together. And that is inspiring.
Caroline Zollinger wrote for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. After graduation, Caroline will join the staff at Garden & Gun in Charleston, South Carolina as a print editorial intern.
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