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UH, GOOD EVENING[ TOWN OF GREENBURGH PLANNING BOARD AGENDA WEDNESDAY, May 17, 2021 – 5:00 P.M. Meetings of the Planning Board will be adjourned at 8:00 p.m. ]
AND, AND WELCOME TO A SPECIAL MEETING OF, UH, THE PLANNING BOARD.TONIGHT'S SPECIAL MEETING, UH, WILL BE SPECIFICALLY, UH, DEVOTED TO THE PROPOSED, UH, UH, UH, BEST LAW THAT, UH, THE PLANNING BOARD IS WORKING ON FOR, HAS WORKED ON, SUBMITTED THAT TO THE TOWN BOARD.
UH, THE BEST COMMITTEE SUBMITTED THAT TO THE TOWN BOARD, AND NOW THE TOWN BOARD HAS ASKED THE PLANNING BOARD TO INE ON THAT.
THE PROCEDURE WE'D LIKE TO USE TODAY IS THAT WE GOT THE ORIGINAL, UH, UH, LAW, UH, THAT WAS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING BOARD FROM THE TOWN BOARD.
UH, WE HAD A MEETING WITH THE COMMISSIONER DAIN, WHERE HE WENT THROUGH THE LAW AND, UH, FOR QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD TO EXPLAIN THE VARIOUS PROVISIONS, PROVISIONS OF THE LAW TO PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS.
IN ADDITION, UH, UM, THERE'S SOME FOLLOW UP INFORMATION THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER DUQUE, UH, UH, PUT TOGETHER FROM INPUT FROM VARIOUS OTHER AGENCIES AND, AND, UH, CONCERNED PARTIES, WHICH HE WILL, WHICH WAS IN YOUR PACKET THIS EVENING, OR IN YOUR PACKET THAT YOU RECEIVED, UH, UH, LA UM, UH, LAST FRIDAY.
AND SO HE WILL GO OVER THAT AND WE'LL, WE'LL REVIEW THAT INFORMATION.
THEN, IF THERE ARE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS OR SPECIFIC POINTS THAT BOARD MEMBERS, UH, WOULD LIKE TO MAKE BASED UPON THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE COMMISSIONER OR FROM SOME OF THE LETTERS THAT, UH, WE WERE COPIED ON FROM, UH, UH, UH, NYSERDA AND OTHER INDIVIDUALS, AND YOU HAVE SOME SPECIFIC CONCERNS THAT YOU WANT TO RAISE, THEN AFTER HIS PRESENTATION, THEN WE COULD GO THROUGH THAT AND SIT AND SEE WHETHER OR NOT ANY OF THOSE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, UH, SHOULD BE INCORPORATED IN OUR FINAL PROPOSAL.
SO THAT'S THE WAY WE WOULD, UH, LIKE TO PROCEED.
SO, BASED UPON THAT, I'LL TURN THAT OVER TO COMMISSIONER DECAY TO, UM, TO CONDUCT THE MEETING.
AND, AND, UH, AND FIRST OFF, I WANT TO THANK ALL THE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS FOR, UH, THE EXTRA TIME, UH, BEYOND YOUR, YOUR, UH, BIMONTHLY, UH, MEETINGS.
SO YOU'RE TAKING EXTRA TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY AND IT'S, IT'S MOST APPRECIATED FOR, FOR AN IMPORTANT TOPIC HERE, THE BEST LOCAL LAW DISCUSSION.
UM, JUST BUILDING ON, ON WHAT, WHAT, UH, THE, THE LAYOUT THAT CHAIRPERSON SIMON JUST, JUST, JUST, UH, WALKED US THROUGH.
UH, I, I DO THINK, UM, FORMAT WISE, IT DOES MAKE THE MOST SENSE TO START OFF WITH, UM, ANY CONCERNS OR COMMENTS FROM PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS ON THE LOCAL LAW AS WAS REFERRED TO YOU.
UM, AND AS I PRESENTED IT ON, UH, APRIL 21ST.
SO JUST, YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME HIGH LEVEL ASPECTS OF THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE TIER SYSTEM? UM, DO, DO YOU THINK THAT THE TIER SYSTEM'S APPROPRIATE? UM, DO, DO, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE THE WAY WE'VE APPROACHED, UH, THE VARIOUS ZONING DISTRICTS IS APPROPRIATE? YOU KNOW, ARE THERE ANY CONCERNS BASED ON THAT LOCAL LAW, UM, THAT, THAT, THAT YOU HAD, OR ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THAT YOU FELT, UM, MAY OR MAY NOT MAKE SENSE? UM, SO I, I, I THINK THAT THAT WOULD MAKE THE MOST SENSE.
I DO KNOW, UM, MR. HAY BOARD MEMBER HAY REACHED OUT TO ME INDEPENDENT AND HAD SOME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS AFTER MY APRIL 21ST PRESENTATION, ASKED FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ON, YOU KNOW, WHY THE TWO ACRE MINIMUM AND, AND, AND A FEW OTHER QUESTIONS ALONG THOSE LINES.
SO I DID REACH OUT TO HIM AND GAVE HIM THAT INFORMATION.
SO LIKE, IF THERE'S FOLLOW UP BASED ON THAT, BY ALL MEANS, UM, I, I'M HERE TO, YOU KNOW, DO THE BEST I CAN AND ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, BUT I, I, I DO THINK I'D LIKE TO JUST OPEN UP THE FLOOR, UM, TO PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS JUST TO GET A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU'RE AT WITH THE LAW AS PROPOSED.
AND I SEE AARON HAS HIS HAND UP THERE.
UM, JUST ONE NOTE FOR PROCEDURAL PURPOSES, I THINK BECAUSE THIS IS AN OFFICIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD, ALTHOUGH A SPECIAL MEETING, WE SHOULD PROBABLY JUST HAVE A QUICK ROLL CALL FOR THE RECORD.
FOR THE RECORD, ALSO, WE SHOULD, UH, UH, PUT IN THE RECORD, THIS IS CASE, UH, NUMBER
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TB 21 DASH OH FOUR.JUST ONE QUICK NOTE, I DO HAVE ALL MY SHADES DOWN HERE.
THE SUN IS BLARING INTO MY OFFICE.
SO
I'LL, I'LL, I HAVE SOME THINGS, BUT, OKAY.
UH, I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WANTED TO TAKE THE LEAD, WALTER.
WELL, J JUST A, A GEN A GENERAL COMMENT IN THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF DISCUSSION ON SAFETY AND BASED UPON SAFETY, WE CREATED SOME, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS DISTANCES, UH, UH, UH, FROM A BUILDING.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER NUMBER AND HOW MUCH OF, UH, ENERGY OR, UH, THE STORAGE CAPACITY IN A UNIT, ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF IS THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP AS A, BASICALLY LEGISLATION THAT IS FAIRLY STATIC FOR INDUSTRY THAT IS DYNAMICALLY CHANGING.
AND SO HOW DO WE DO THAT? SO WE HAVE TO LOOK AT ALTERNATE WAYS OF LOOKING HOW YOU DO THAT.
I THINK ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR IS THAT THE USE OF, OF, UH, CONCRETE BARRIERS AROUND THE UNIT WILL GREATLY, UH, AFFECT OR ADDRESS, UH, SOME COMPONENTS OF SAFETY.
SO WE NEED TO LOOK AGAIN ON THE RELATIVE DISTANCE BETWEEN A UNIT AND A BUILDING, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO PUT A CONCRETE BARRIER AROUND IT.
SO I THINK THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO CONSIDER AND TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT, UH, WHAT IS THE FACT OF A CONCRETE BARRIER AROUND IT, AND THE FACT THAT WE COME UP WITH A LAW THAT WILL HAVE ENOUGH FLEXIBILITY IN MAINTAINING SAFETY, AND AT THE SAME TIME ALLOW FOR GROWTH BECAUSE, UH, UM, YOUR PHONE, THE PHONE THAT YOU HAVE TODAY IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN YOUR PHONE YOU HAD 10 YEARS AGO.
AND THAT'S THE SAME THING THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WITH BATTERY PACK.
SO WE HAVE TO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
YOU WANT ME TO GO NOW, WALTER? NO, PLEASE DO.
UH, SOME OF WHAT, UM, I HAD IN MIND YOU, YOU COVERED, BUT LET ME JUST SAY, OVERALL, IT IS A VERY DETAILED, VERY EXTENSIVE PIECE, PIECE OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION.
AND IT'S, IT'S GOT SO MANY SPECIFICS.
IT'S REALLY HARD TO, YOU KNOW, SINGLE THEM OUT AND, AND DEBATE THEM OR, OR DISCUSS 'EM.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THE COMMITTEES COMMITTEE WENT INTO TO PUT IT TOGETHER.
BUT OVERALL, I JUST WANT TO SAY, I THINK MY MAIN CONCERN IS TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, SAFETY AND THE FACT THAT THESE ARE GONNA BE MORE AND MORE IN DEMAND AS WE GO FORWARD.
AS RENEWABLE ENERGY BECOMES MORE AND MORE WHERE WE GET OUR POWER AS ELECTRIC VEHICLES BECOME MORE AND MORE THE NORM, THESE KIND OF UNITS, AS WAS POINTED OUT IN SOME OF THE DOCUMENTATION WE GOT, ARE GOING TO BE MORE AND MORE NECESSARY.
SO, AS YOU SAID, WE SHOULDN'T TRY TO FIX IT, UM, TOO RIGIDLY, WHILE KEEPING IN MIND THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, A LOT OF THIS IS UNPROVEN AND WE DON'T KNOW THE IMPLICATIONS OF A LOT OF THINGS.
SO WE, IT'S THE BALANCE IS THE IMPORTANT THING, I GUESS, IN, UH, THE DOCUMENT FROM I P P SOLAR, AND I SEE THE, UH, AUTHOR OF THAT ON, UM, ON THE SCREEN HERE AND ALSO FROM THE GREENVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
I FELT LIKE A COUPLE THINGS, UM, STRUCK ME.
ONE WAS THE SETBACKS THAT WE'VE PUT INTO THE LAW SEEM TO EXCEED WHAT A LOT OF, OR AT LEAST BOTH OF THOSE PARTIES AND SOME OTHERS FEEL IS NECESSARY.
SO I FEEL MAYBE WE'RE AIRING A LITTLE TOO FAR ON CAUTION THERE.
UM, AND THAT MIGHT BE REDUCED.
AND AS YOU POINTED OUT, I THINK MAYBE WE WANT TO FOCUS MORE ON THE SIZE OF THE FOOTPRINT AS OPPOSED TO THE SIZE OF
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THE, UM, ENERGY STORAGE.LIKE IF WE LIMITED OUR COMPUTERS TO 64 MEGABYTES WHEN THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, AN UNIMAGINABLE AMOUNT, WE ALL BE IN THE STONE AGE STILL.
UM, AND, AND THOSE WERE REALLY THE THREE THINGS, THE BALANCE BETWEEN MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO HAVE THESE UNITS IN OUR TOWN.
IT'S NOT SO RESTRICTIVE THAT IT KEEPS, UM, OUT THAT OPPORTUNITY, BUT THAT, UH, WE DO MANAGE SAFETY AS WELL, THAT THE SETBACKS, I THINK CAN BE REDUCED AND THAT WE FOCUS MORE ON THE SIZE VERSUS THE, UH, STORAGE CAPACITY, WHICH IS GOING TO CHANGE.
I MEAN, A LOT OF OTHER THINGS WITHIN THAT.
BUT THOSE WERE MY MAIN POINTS.
WELL, UM, KURT, UH,
I DO IT FIRST THEN, WALTER? YES.
YEAH, MY OVERALL COMMENTS IS, UH, UH, BASICALLY I THINK WE, AS YOU SAID, THAT WE KIND OF ARE TRYING TO SECOND GUESS THE NEW TECHNOLOGY AND THE, UH, THE NEW WAY IT'S GOING TO CHANGE.
AND WE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH CELL PHONE, UH, LOCAL LAW THAT PUT PUT TOGETHER AND, UH, AND, AND, AND, AND PAST EXPERIENCE WHERE WE TRY TO SECOND GUESS THE NEW TECHNOLOGY COMING IN.
SO, I FULLY AGREE WITH YOU, WALTER.
UM, THE OTHER COMMENTS I HAVE IS A GENERAL, SINCE I'VE BEEN ON MORE THAN 10 YEARS ON THE BOARD, IS THAT WE HAVE THIS IMPRESSION ABOUT TOWN OF GREENBERG BEING VERY BUSINESS, UH, UH, NOT VERY BUSINESS FRIENDLY.
AND, UH, I THINK, UH, WHAT THIS LAW IS BEING, UH, WHAT TOM SAYS IS PRETTY STATIC AND VERY, UH, ARBITRARY IN MANY WAYS REGARDING THE SETBACKS AND THE SIZE AND, AND, UH, UH, TRYING TO BE TOO, TOO, UH, PRECARIOUS ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE EVEN DON'T KNOW.
SO I WOULD SORT OF, GENERAL TONE IS A, UH, SHOULD, WE SHOULD REALLY WORK ON MAKING IT A BUSINESS FRIENDLY.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SAFETY IS IMPORTANT.
AND I'M, I,
A, UH, THEY HAVE A LOT OF EXPERTS PUT TOGETHER BASED ON SCIENCE AND EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING IT.
WHILE WE JUST BASICALLY HAVE THIS ARBITRARY NUMBERS COME UP WITH IT WITHOUT, UH, BASIS OF ANY SCIENCE, AS I KNOW, UH, EVEN OUR CONSULTANTS ARE SORT OF REFERRING BACK TO THE, UH, EITHER THE NEW YORK STATE BUILDING CODE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST STRINGENT BUILDING FIRE CODE IN THE COUNTRY.
SO I THINK WE SHOULD BE REALLY CAREFUL TYING OUR HAND WHERE, UH, THE, THE BUSINESSES WILL FIND NEXT DOOR IN ELMSFORD, IN PLAINS, WHICH HAS HAPPENED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
UH, LOOKING AT CENTRAL AVENUE, UH, DON'T NEED A, UH, PHD, H D TO UNDERSTAND WHY SORT OF NICE DEVELOPMENT STOPS AT THE END OF WHITE PLAINS AND PICKS UP AT YONKERS.
AND, UH, SO I, I WOULD BE KIND OF, UH, VERY, VERY CAREFUL TO PUT NOT TYING OUR HANDS AND, UH, LET THE, LET THE EXPERT DECIDE AND LET THE EXPERT, UH, UH, KIND OF DO IT.
UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, SAFETY, UH, I WOULD SAY THAT, UH, UH, I'VE WORKED WITH PORT AUTHORITY MANY YEARS, AND WE HAD A SPECIAL CORE WAS DEVELOPED FOR THE, UH, MASS TRANSIT TRAIN STATIONS.
I KIND OF, WE HAD IT, I WAS ON A COMMITTEE THERE, BUT THEY PUT N F P A ONE 30, AND IT WAS SPECIALLY CREATED BECAUSE IT DOES NOT MEET WITH THE LOCAL BUILDING CODES.
AND IT WAS BASED ON MOSTLY THE, UH, REQUIREMENT OF MAINTAINING IT, MONITORING IT, AND, UH, KIND OF A CONSTANT EVALUATION OF THE SITUATION.
SO I THINK THAT SHOULD BE THE DIRECTION THAT WE SHOULD REALLY FOCUS ON TODAY.
UH, THAT'S MY GENERAL COMMENTS.
I, I'M AGREEING WITH TOM AND WITH CORT ON THEIR COMMENTS, UM, IN, IN THE SAME FOOTPRINT, I BELIEVE THAT
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THESE UNITS CAN CONTINUE TO GROW, AND JUST LIKE THEY HAVE IN OUR CELL, I'M HOLDING UP MY CELL PHONE HERE IN OUR CELL PHONES, THEY CAN GROW IN CAPACITY.AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO HAPPEN WITH THIS.
WE'RE GONNA FIND THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE COMING BACK TO US AND TELLING US THAT THEIR POWER IS GONNA GROW WITHIN THE SAME FOOTPRINT, UM, JUST LIKE OUR CELL PHONES HAVE.
AND WE CAN'T WRITE LAW, UM, BY, UM, BY THAT WE HAVE TO DO IT BY THE FOOTPRINT.
THE THING THAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT IS THE SAFETY AND THE TRAINING OF THE PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY OUR FIRE, UM, DISTRICTS.
AND I'M CONCERNED BECAUSE THE WAY OUR PARTICULAR FIRE DISTRICTS WORK IS BY MUTUAL AID.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR FIRE DISTRICTS ARE TRAINED APPROPRIATELY, NOT JUST THE FIRE DISTRICTS WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE PUTTING THESE STORAGE FACILITIES, BUT ALL OF THE FIRE DISTRICTS IN GREENBURG ARE TRAINED APPROPRIATELY BECAUSE OF THE MUTUAL AID SITUATIONS.
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THE PARTICULAR UNIT IS PLACED IN ELMSFORD.
WHAT IF THE MUTUAL AID COMES FROM TARRYTOWN OR IT COMES FROM, UH, ARDSLEY.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY IS TRAINED APPROPRIATELY, AND THAT'S WHAT HAS TO TAKE PLACE HERE FOR GREENBERG, THAT EVERYBODY WHO COMES IN IS TRAINED APPROPRIATELY, AND WE MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR THAT.
THAT'S WHAT I WANNA MAKE SURE IS WRITTEN INTO THE LAW.
ANYONE ELSE? YEAH, IF YOU DON'T MIND, WALTER.
I, I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY WITH CURT, YOU'RE JUST DOING SOME PRELIMINARY RESEARCH BEFORE I GOT ON THE CALL THIS MORNING ABOUT, UH, THE BATTERY STORAGE, UH, PHENOMENON THAT'S HAPPENING.
THERE WAS A BIG FIRE, AN EXPLOSION IN 2019 IN ARIZONA, AND AT THE TIME, THERE WAS STILL LEARNING ABOUT HOW IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED AND EVERYTHING THAT ALL OF THE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS THAT THEY PUT INTO PLACE WORKED EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO, BUT IT WAS STILL A CATASTROPHIC LOSS FROM A BATTERY PERSPECTIVE, NO LOSS OF LIFE, JUST THE EQUIPMENT.
AND WHAT THEY FOUND OUT WAS, UM, I WAS RESEARCHING THIS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THE, UM, THE POTENTIAL REACH OF AN EXPLOSION WOULD BE, BECAUSE WE WERE FOCUSING ON FIRES SPECIFICALLY, AND WE KNOW BATTERIES HAVE A PROPENSITY TO EXPLODE.
WHAT THEY FOUND OUT WAS THAT THE BATTERIES NEVER EXPLODED.
IT WAS AS A RESULT OF THE GASES THAT IGNITED, THAT CAUSED THE, THE BATTERY EVENTUALLY TO, TO, TO CATCH ON FIRE AND TO MELT.
SO BASED ON THE SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE ALREADY THERE, WE WERE KIND OF FOCUSED ON THE, IN THE EVENTS THAT A FIRE ALREADY OCCURRED, NOT ON PREVENTION PER SE.
UM, AND I'M GETTING A LITTLE SIDETRACKED.
THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE IS, I, I THINK OUR ROLE, OUR TIME WILL BE BEST SPENT AROUND ENSURING THAT THERE'S A GROWING, UH, CAPABILITY FOR, UH, SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AS THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPS AND WE LEARN MORE.
I THINK IF WE DECIDE AT THIS POINT TO FORM LAWS BASED ON WHAT WE DON'T KNOW, UH, TO K'S POINT, WE COULD DISCOURAGE THE, UH, INVESTMENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES BY OTHER SUCH ORGANIZATIONS THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN DOING THIS.
INSTEAD, I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO DO JUST THE OPPOSITE AND ADVERTISE OUR INTEREST AND WILLINGNESS TO BE ABLE TO ENTERTAIN THESE TYPE OF BUSINESS.
SO, KEEPING SAFETY IN MIND, IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE PARAMETERS THAT WERE LAID OUT FROM THIS PROPOSAL AND OTHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, UH, DESIGNATION OF AREAS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY SUPPORT, NOT NECESSARILY FOCUS ON CAPPING OR CONTROLLING, BUT AGAIN, JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE FACILITATE SAFE ENVIRONMENTS FOR BOTH RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES AS THESE BUSINESSES DECIDE TO, UM, EXPRESS INTEREST OR INVEST IN GREENBERG WHERE HE COMES FROM.
IS ANYONE ELSE LIKE, YEAH, WALTER, I, I, I HAD A QUESTION OR A COMMENT.
GARRETT, THIS LAW, WAS IT BASED ON A MODEL LAW? WAS IT WRITTEN FROM SCRATCH? UM, WHERE DID IT COME FROM? YES, SURE.
IT WAS BASED ON A MODEL WHICH WAS, UH, GENERATED BY NYSERDA.
AND NYSERDA CREATED THE, THE BEST LOCAL LAW MODEL.
AND WHAT WE DID IS CUSTOMIZE THAT, THAT THAT LOCAL LAW BASED ON INPUT WITH A PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT HIRED BY THE TOWN, AN ENGINEERING CONSULTANT THAT SPECIALIZES IN FIRE SAFETY.
UH, THEIR NAME WAS ARU, AND I MENTIONED THEM
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IN ONE OF THE MEMOS.I PREPARED, UH, O OBVIOUSLY ALONG WITH INPUT FROM THE COMMITTEE WHO INTERACTED WITH THE PROFESSIONAL.
SO ARU HAD SOME, SOME SUGGESTIONS THAT WHERE, UM, WE COULD ENHANCE THE NYS CERTA LOCAL LAW.
AND, UM, AND, AND I THINK, UH, UNDOUBTEDLY ALL THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE.
SO YES, USING THE BASE, UM, UM, LOCAL LAW, BUT THEN TAILORING IT TO GREENBERG AND, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY OUR, OUR VERY VARYING ZONING DISTRICTS.
UM, AND ESSENTIALLY CUSTOMIZING IT, UH, BASED ON COMMUNITY CHARACTER AND CONCERNS AND SAFETY CONCERNS.
GARRETT, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO SHOW US THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UH, THE ZONING CODE YOU'RE PROPOSING AND THE MODEL CODE? OR MAYBE AT LEAST BRIEFLY DESCRIBE, DESCRIBE THE FIVE OR 10, YOU KNOW, MAJOR CHANGES THAT WERE MADE, UM, SO WE CAN SORT OF GET AN INSIGHT INTO THE THINKING OF THE COMMITTEE? YEAH, I WOULD SAY IN TERMS OF, UH, LET'S SAY LAND USE PLANNING, MEANING, UM, THE, THE, THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE SPECIAL PERMIT PROCESS AND HOW, HOW YOU REGULATE THIS BASED ON, YOU KNOW, LAND AREA IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
I WOULD DESCRIBE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES AS NICE SERTA IDENTIFYING A TWO-TIER SYSTEM, MEANING TIER ONE IS ADMINISTRATIVE, STRAIGHT TO BUILDING PERMIT, AND THE VERY SMALL SCALE SYSTEMS, RIGHT? AND WE, WE MIMIC THAT.
NYSERDA THEN GOES ON TO IDENTIFY THAT MUNICIPALITIES IN NEW YORK STATE SHOULD HAVE A SECOND TIER, WHICH IS, LET'S CALL IT EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND ONE, ONE GOOD EXAMPLE OF A WAY THAT, THAT, UM, WE, WE, WE HAD, I, I'D SAY SIGNIFICANT, UH, DIVERGENCE FROM THAT IS IN THE TOWN OF GREENBURG, WE IDENTIFIED, UH, A TOTAL OF THREE TIERS.
SO WHAT WE DID HERE IS WE RECOGNIZED THAT GREENBERG'S UNIQUE BECAUSE OF THE, UH, TWO SUBSTATIONS THAT ARE PRESENT, WHICH ENABLE A VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTIC OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE, MEANING MORE, UM, LARGE SCALE AND, UM, NOT TIED NECESSARILY TO A SPECIFIC SITE, BUT MORE FOR THE REGIONAL, UH, ENERGY NEEDS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE IDENTIFIED AS A, AS A TIER THREE FACILITY.
AND WE ALSO HAVE A TIER TWO FACILITY, UM, IN THE TOWN, WHICH DOES, YOU KNOW, IS CLOSER TO WHAT SERTA INDICATED.
UM, CLEARLY WE CUSTOMIZE IT TO THE VARIOUS ZONING DISTRICTS IN THE TOWN.
SO OUR TIER TWO APPLIED TO THE COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS IN THE TOWN, THE MIXED USE DISTRICTS.
IT JUST SAYS, YOU KNOW, HAVE TIER TWO SYSTEMS IN YOUR TOWN.
IT DOESN'T INDICATE, UM, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE SETBACKS SHOULD BE FOR THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.
UM, USES A LOT OF DEFAULT MECHANISMS. UM, SO I WOULD SAY FROM A LAND USE PERSPECTIVE, THAT'S THE MAIN, UM, DIFFERENCE.
AND ACTUALLY, NYSERDA, WHEN THEY LOOKED AT OUR LAW, THEY, THEY, I DON'T THINK THEY UNDERSTOOD WHY WE WENT WITH THE THREE TIER SYSTEM.
AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT IF I WAS ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE RE THE RATIONALE BEHIND IT, UM, I THINK I COULD GET THEIR SUPPORT.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THEIR, THEIR, THEIR LETTER, THEY, THEY FELT THAT THE TWO TIER SYSTEM WAS, WAS, WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, MADE THE MOST SENSE.
UM, WE DO HAVE CAPS ON, ON STORAGE SIZES FOR, FOR OUR TIER TWO, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S UNIQUE TO GREENBERG AND TO SOME OF THE POINTS THAT, UM, PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS MADE ABOUT POTENTIALLY EVOLVING TO A FOCUS ON FOOTPRINT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH TAKES MORE INTO ACCOUNT NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER, UM, THAT MAY MAKE SENSE AND GO CLOSER TO NYSERDA, WHICH IS, UM, I THINK A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBLE TO ACCOMMODATE FOR TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES.
UM, I WOULD REALLY SAY THOSE ARE THE TWO.
OH, I GUESS ALSO NYSERDA DOES NOT HAVE A LOW END, UM, SIZE LIMIT ON, ON SITE SIZE.
UM, THEY COMMENTED THAT THE TOWN OF GREENBURG IS SIGNING A TWO ACRE MINIMUM FOR, UM, BEST FACILITIES IN THE, YOU KNOW, THE TIER TWO, UH, SITES.
UH, THEY DON'T SPECIFY A SITE MINIMUM.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, AS I INDICATED, UH, TO THE PLANNING BOARD DURING MY, MY, MY INITIAL PRESENTATION, YOU KNOW, SO PART OF THE RATIONALE THERE IS THE LARGER THE SITE, THE BETTER FLEXIBILITY IN APPROVING BOARD HAS TO, UM, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH AN APPLICANT TO ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY WITH SITING.
YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE THAT FLEXIBILITY ON THE SMALLER SITES.
A LOT OF OUR SMALLER SITES ARE TIED TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
SO I THINK WE WERE COGNIZANT OF THAT.
SO, I MEAN, I THINK FROM A LAND USE PERSPECTIVE WHERE THERE'S DIVERGENCE, I THINK THERE'S A VERY STRONG REASON WHY.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE LAW IS WRITTEN AS IT IS.
AND WITHOUT GETTING INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL ON THE SAFETY SIDE OF THINGS,
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UM, YOU, WE HIRED A CONSULTANT AND, YOU KNOW, THEY MADE COMMENTS LIKE, UH, THE N F P A, UM, UH, PROVISIONS THAT THEY RECOMMENDED ARE, ARE IMPORTANT, AND THEY, THEY GIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, AN EXTRA LAYER OF, UH, UH, OF, OF, UM, YOU KNOW, SAFETY TO A MUNICIPALITY.SO I, I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE, CERTAINLY THE COMMITTEE, UM, WAS NOT ABOUT TO DIVERGE FROM OUR CONSULTANT ON, ON IN THAT REGARD.
SO, UM, I, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S THE, THE AREAS WHERE THERE'S, THERE'S DIFFERENCES.
AND I ADD TO THAT FOR, FOR MICHAEL, THE, UH, THE, THE OTHER, UH, UH, KEY AREA THAT, UH, WE NYSERDA IS SAYING THAT YOU COULD HAVE ONE OF THESE UNITS THAT'S CLOSE TO 10 FEET FROM A BUILDING.
BUT IF YOU GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS THAT WE WANT TO HAVE A SYSTEM WITH MORE FLEXIBILITY AND GROWTH.
SO IF YOU TAKE ONE OF THESE, UM, UNITS AND BASE IT UPON A FOOTPRINT, SO AS THE POWER INCREASES, WHICH WILL WILL HAPPEN, YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALL RIGHT, IT'S IN THAT FOOTPRINT.
BUT THEN THE OTHER ISSUE IS, OKAY, BUT DO YOU WANT IT AS CLOSE AS 10 FEET? IS, IS MAYBE IT SHOULD BE 25 FEET, OR, BUT IF THAT, IF THAT UNIT YOU HAVE A FI UH, IS A FI UH, IT IS WITHIN A FIREWALL, CONCRETE FIREWALL THAT ADDS F UH, ADDITIONAL SAFETY OF THAT UNIT NEXT TO A BUILDING, WE MIGHT WANT TO SAY, WELL, 10 FEET IS STILL TOO CLOSE TO A BUILDING, BUT IT'S 25 FEET.
IF YOU HAVE A CONCRETE, UH, BARRIER AROUND IT.
UH, SO THOSE ARE THE TYPE OF THINGS I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE A, UH, A GOOD LOOK AT.
UM, GARRETT, DID WE GET THE NYSERDA COMMENTS TO THE DRAFT TOWN LAW? BECAUSE I'VE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH MY PAPERS, SO I DON'T SEE IT.
AND, UM, I ALSO DID A SUMMARY DOCUMENT THAT SORT OF PARAPHRASED THEIR COMMENTS AND PUT THEM INTO, UM, NOT CATEGORIES, BUT, UM, JUST ISOLATED THEM SO THAT YOU COULD KIND OF GET RIGHT TO THE POINT.
A AARON, I'M GONNA ASK A PERSONAL FAVOR.
CAN YOU SEND THEM TO ME AGAIN? YEAH, BUT AARON, I MEAN, UM, GARY, YES.
GARY, MAYBE THIS MIGHT BE AN APPROPRIATE TIME FOR YOU TO PUT THAT ON SCREEN AND WE'LL, WALTER, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO TALK YET.
YOU HAVEN'T ASKED BECAUSE I WAS WAITING PATIENTLY.
BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN I SHOULD BE CUT OFF, RIGHT?
UM, I WANT TO CORRECT A, A FEW THINGS.
I, I LISTEN TO EVERYBODY AND I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN SINCE THE COMMITTEE STARTED, AND THE COMMITTEE DID AN AWFUL LOT OF RESEARCH OKAY.
AND FIRST OF ALL, UM, NEVADA WASN'T THE ONLY TIME A BATTERY HAS CAUGHT FIRE OR, OR EXPLODED FOR THE RECORD.
AND I SUGGEST IF ANYBODY HAS NOT READ THE, UH, TESLA, UM, OWNER'S MANUAL AND LOOKED AT WHAT, UH, THEY, THEY WERE, THEY TELL YOU TO DO, UH, TO, TO DEAL WITH A, A BATTERY FIRE, YOU SHOULD, OKAY? THERE, THERE IS SAFETY ISSUES WITH THESE, THESE, THEY DO CATCH FIRE OCCASIONALLY, AND IT TAKES ABOUT 3000 GALLONS OF WATER NOT TO PUT IT OUT.
'CAUSE YOU CAN'T PUT IT OUT, WHICH YOU DO TO, TO KEEP IT FROM EXPLODING IS TO KEEP IT COOL.
NUMBER TWO, UM, AS TO THESE ARE NEEDED, UH, FOR, FOR PEOPLE TO CHARGE ELECTRIC CARS.
NOW WHAT'S NEEDED IS GENERATING ENERGY.
JUST REMEMBER, THESE DON'T GENERATE ENERGY.
ALL THEY DO IS THEY TAKE ENERGY OFF THE GRID AND, AND LOW AND LOW DEMAND TIMES AND PUT IT BACK IN HIGH DEMAND TIMES, WHICH IS STILL IMPORTANT, PARTICULARLY AS WE MOVE TO GREEN ENERGY, WHICH IS, UH, LESS DEPENDABLE IN TERMS OF OUTPUT AS A RESULT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS.
SO TRUTHFULLY, THE BEST USE OF THESE THINGS IS IN CONCERT WITH SOLAR OR, OR, OR WIND.
OKAY? THAT'S REALLY WHAT THEY'RE FOR.
NOT WITH WHAT OUR CURRENT PROPOSAL IN FRONT OF.
AND, AND THAT'S IN FRONT OF THE ZONING BOARD AT THE MOMENT IS FOR, SO, SO THAT'S THE SECOND COMMENT I WANNA MAKE.
THIRD COMMENT IS ABOUT NYSERDA.
DON'T TAKE NOORDA
NYSERDA HAD A CHARGE, OKAY? GOVERNOR CUOMO HAS
[00:30:01]
COMMITTED THE STATE TO BE A HUNDRED PERCENT GREEN BY 2050, I THINK IT IS.YEAH, A HUNDRED PERCENT GREEN ENERGY BY 2050.
THERE'S A CHUNK OF MONEY GIVEN AS A MANDATE TO START PUSHING THESE THINGS.
SO THINKING THAT THEY REALLY HAVE TOTALLY OUR BEST INTEREST AT HEART WHEN THEY DRAFT A LAW, WOULD BE, UH, REALLY FOOLISH TO THINK THAT.
I MEAN, THEY DID GIVE US SOME GOOD INFORMATION.
THEIR TEMPLATE WAS EXCELLENT, OKAY? BUT IT WAS JUST THAT.
BUT TEMP ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.
WE ARE NOT, YOU KNOW, SOME AREA THAT ISN'T DENSELY POPULATED WE'RE DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF THAT.
I THINK THE, THE, THE LAW TO RELY ON, AND IT'S IN THERE.
'CAUSE SAY, I THINK SAFETY AND TRAINING THE ISSUE, I THINK MOTOR'S A HUNDRED PERCENT CORRECT THERE.
UM, THE LAW OF THE, THE CODE TO, TO DEPEND ON IS, UH, THE FIRE, THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION 8 55.
THAT GIVES YOU VERY GOOD GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WHAT IS NECESSARY TO, UH, COMBAT ONE OF THESE FIRES.
AS I SAID, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU DON'T DO IS TRY TO PUT IT OUT.
THE OTHER THING YOU DON'T DO IS, IS GO ANYWHERE NEAR IT WITHOUT PPE COMPLETE P P E ON INCLUDING BREATHING, BREATHING APPARATUS.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE THERE ARE TOXIC FUMES THAT ARE RELEASED, OKAY? AND, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE THINGS CALLED WIND, OKAY? SO ONE OF THE REASONS YOU DON'T WANT TO, YOU WANNA WORRY ABOUT THE SETBACKS IS YOU DON'T WANT THESE TOXIC FUMES TO BLOW, YOU KNOW, DIRECTLY ONTO A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY, FOR EXAMPLE.
NOW, HAVING SAID THAT, I THINK I'VE HEARD AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE TALK ABOUT FOOTPRINT.
I AGREE THAT THE F AND WE DISCUSSED THIS EARLIER TODAY, GARRETT, UH, WALTER AND I DID IT WITH DAVID, UM, THAT LOOKING AT FOOTPRINT IS A MUCH BETTER WAY TO LOOK AT THIS THAN CAPACITY I THINK THAT ALLOWS FOR IN IMPROVEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY OVER THE PERIOD OF TIME.
AND WHAT WE'RE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT IS SAFETY WITHIN IN THAT AREA.
SO I THINK THAT'S A, A VERY GOOD IDEA.
ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS WE HAVE TO WRESTLE WITH.
AND TO ME, THE THING THAT I'M, OH, THE OTHER THING ABOUT THREE TIERS VERSUS TWO TIERS, WHAT THE, THE MIDDLE TIER DID FOR US IS ALLOW FOR INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT THESE THINGS ON THEIR PROPERTY.
LIKE SCHOOLS, LIKE, UH, CONTINUING CARE FACILITIES, UM, LIKE CHUR, LIKE CHURCHES, OKAY.
THAT'S WHY WE HAD THE SECOND TIER.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WANTS TO HAVE SOMETHING THE SIZE OF, UH, WHAT WOULD EAGLE ENERGY IN THE MIDDLE OF A RESIDENTIAL AREA.
SO THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE SECOND TIER.
AND WE, AND WE LOOSENED UP THE, THE, UH, GUIDELINES IN INDUSTRIAL AREAS VERSUS RESIDENTIAL.
SO TO ME, THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON.
HOW CAN WE ENSURE THAT THE FIRE DISTRICT IS PRO FIRE DISTRICTS? BECAUSE WE DON'T CONTROL ANY OF THEM, OKAY.
ARE PROPERLY TRAINED AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED.
AND TWO, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO, TO PROTECT TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, OKAY? UM, THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS FROM A POTENTIAL CATASTROPHE.
YOU KNOW, IT'S NICE TO SAY, WELL, WE DON'T KNOW IT.
WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT'S NOT THE WAY WE PUT VACCINES OUT.
WELL, WE DON'T KNOW IF, KNOW IF THE COVID VACCINE'S GONNA KILL ANYBODY, BUT WE KNOW IT, KNOW IT WORKS WELL, I DON'T THINK IT WOULD GO, IT WOULD'VE BEEN APPROVED IF WE DID THAT.
OKAY? THE FACT IS THERE ARE UNKNOWNS ABOUT THIS, AND WE GOTTA, WE NEED TO DO, I THINK, TOM, YOU SAID IT, I THINK THAT WAS PERFECTLY PUT.
WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE BALANCE BETWEEN THE TWO.
AND I THINK WE CAN MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO WHAT WAS PROPOSED BY THE BATTERY STORAGE, UH, COMMITTEE THAT BOTH WALTER AND I SAT ON TO DO EXACTLY THAT AND DO SOME CERTAIN THINGS WITH THE SETBACKS TO MAKE THEM MORE FLEXIBLE.
I MEAN, IT ACTUALLY IS MORE FLEXIBLE THAN PEOPLE THINK, BECAUSE WE, IT WAS UP TO A HUNDRED, IT WAS A HUNDRED FEET.
BUT IF THEY CAME IN WITH A SAFETY PLAN THAT SAID, WELL, I CAN SHOW YOU IT SAFE AT 25 FEET, IT COULD BE THE A HUNDRED FEET COULD BE WAVED.
SO IT WAS, IT WAS NEVER REALLY A HUNDRED FEET, BUT WE CAN MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBLE, MORE OBVIOUS TOO.
SO YOU GOTTA BALANCE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE DID THIS, AND GARRETT DID A FANTASTIC JOB OF LEADING OUR COMMITTEE.
UM, WE LOOKED AT NYSERDA, WE TALKED TO NYSERDA, WE TALKED TO CONED, WE TALKED TO, UH, THE CONSULTING FIRM, OKAY.
THAT WE BROUGHT IN MORE THAN ONCE WE TALKED TO THEM TO TRY TO
[00:35:01]
GET THE BEST.THIS WASN'T COMPLETELY ARBITRARY.
THIS WAS DONE AS BEST AS WE CAN, GIVEN THE SCIENCE THAT'S AVAILABLE.
AND AS WE'VE ALL LEARNED IN THE LAST YEAR, THE SI INFORMATION CHANGES FOR ACTUALLY IN THE LAST TWO DAYS, I GUESS, RIGHT? WITH THE C D C INFORMATION CHANGES AND NEW CHANGE, WHICH THE OTHER THING THAT WE DID, WE TALKED ABOUT TODAY, UM, IS A WAY OF DOING THIS.
IF THIS LAW CANNOT BE A STATIC LAW, IT NEEDS TO BE REVIEWED, UH, ON A PERIODIC BASIS, NO MORE THAN, UH, TWO YEARS.
TWO YEARS, UNLESS IF THERE'S A DRASTIC INCREASE IN A CHANGE IN THE TECHNOLOGY.
IF PERSON, SIMON, I SEE MR. SNAGS HAS HIS HAND UP.
I WAS JUST THINKING IN TERMS OF THE, THE ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD THAT, THAT WE HAD GOING, UH, SOME TIME AGO TO, IN ORDER TO BRING MORE INVESTMENT INTO THE COMMUNITY, MORE BUSINESSES INTO THE COMMUNITY, NOT DISMISSING ANY OF THE WORK THAT WAS DONE.
OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS DID DUE DILIGENCE AND A LOT OF RESEARCH BEHIND IT.
BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THE MESSAGE THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE SENT WITH THE, UH, LEGIS WITH THE LAW THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO IMPLEMENT IF IT'S PROHIBITIVE.
I MEAN, YOU MENTIONED SOME FLEXIBILITY WITH THE SETBACKS.
UM, ULTIMATELY THE ORIGINAL COMMUNICATION IS THAT THERE IS, UM, CON UM, MINIMUM CONSIDERATION AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO PROVE OTHERWISE.
OH, HOW DO WE GET THAT MESSAGE OUT AS WELL? THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY INTERESTED AND WILLING TO WORK WITH THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN POTENTIALLY LOOKING AT GREENBERG AS A COMMUNITY TO, UM, TO STAND UP A FACILITY.
SO MY CONCERN IS WITH THE, THE LEGISLATION IN AND OF ITSELF, UM, THAT MIGHT BE OUTSIDE OF WHAT'S ALREADY RECOMMENDED, THAT IT COULD SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE.
AND I WAS CURIOUS, UH, WHAT THE REST OF THE BOARD MIGHT HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT.
HOLD ON FOR A SECOND, SINCE I SAT ON BOTH BOARDS.
I, I THINK I CAN, I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO THAT.
FIRST OF ALL, THIS, THIS LEGISLATION IS NOT OUTSIDE ANY LEGISLATION, OKAY? WHAT, WHAT NYSERDA SENT US WAS A TEMPLATE PERIOD.
OKAY? THEY DID NOT SEND US LEGISLATION, IT HAD TO BE CUSTOMIZED BY OUR AREA.
SECOND OF ALL, I DON'T SEE THIS AS BEING RESTRICTIVE, UH, THE WAY, 'CAUSE I THINK THERE ARE SOME ADJUSTMENTS WE CAN MAKE TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO PUT THESE THING AND PUT, PUT THESE FACILITIES ON CERTAIN PIECES OF PROPERTY.
OKAY? UM, I MEAN, I COULD SAY THAT WE WANT TO HAVE 27, UH, MARIJUANA P POWERS AROUND TOWN TOO, BECAUSE IT'S GOOD FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
I DOUBT THE COMMUNITY OR ANYBODY ELSE WOULD WANNA DO THAT.
OKAY? THERE'S A REASON WHY YOU NEED TO CONTROL THESE THINGS, NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IS THERE ISN'T A LOT OF INFORMATION RIGHT NOW AS AS TO WHAT, HOW TO HANDLE IF THERE IS A SAFETY ISSUE, OKAY? AS I SAID, THAT'S WHY YOU REVISIT THE LAW, OKAY? I THINK WE CAN DO SOME THINGS TO THE LAW AS PROPOSED TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WE'RE NOT TRYING TO PROHIBIT THESE THINGS, OKAY? UNDER THIS EAGLE ENERGY WOULD BE APPROVED, COULD BE APPROVED EASILY, RIGHT? NO PROBLEM.
RIGHT? BECAUSE IT, IT FIT, IT WOULD FIT WITH THESE, ALL OF THESE SETBACKS, OKAY? BECAUSE IT MEETS ALL, ALL THE CRITERIA THAT, THAT ARE IN THERE FOR A TIER ONE.
IN FACT, THEY COULD PUT IN MORE CAPACITY IF THEY COULD FIT IT IN THAT FOOTPRINT.
SO IT'S ACTUALLY MORE FLEXIBLE THAN WHAT THEY WANT TO SOME EXTENT.
BUT YOU, YOU NEED TO BALANCE THOSE.
AND WE NEED TO CONSIDER, YOU KNOW, THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF OUR, OUR RE OUR RESIDENTS AS WELL.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU NEED TO CONTROL IT.
AND AS YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT IT, JUST LIKE MASKS, YOU CAN START RELAXING SOME OF THE, SOME OF THOSE REGULATIONS AS WE GET, BECOME MORE CONFIDENT THAT WE CAN HANDLE IT AND THAT THERE AREN'T SAFETY ISSUES WITH IT.
AND, AND, AND TO GO BACK, TO, GO BACK TO YOUR, YOUR QUESTION AND HOW DO WE GET THE MESSAGE OUT THAT WE ARE NOT ANTI-BUSINESS, BUT WE ENCOURAGE BUSINESS, BUT WE WANT TO DO IT IN A SAFE WAY.
WELL, THAT'S THE OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE THIS EVENING BECAUSE WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED TO THE PLANNING BOARD IS JUST THAT THE PROPOSAL, AND IT'S NOW IT'S UP TO THE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS TO SEE HOW WE COULD TWEAK THE LAW TO MAKE SURE WE GIVE
[00:40:01]
DUE CONSIDERATION TO SAFETY WITHIN THE ENVELOPE OF, OF, UH, OF ENCOURAGING FLEXIBILITY.NOW, ONE OF THE PROPOSALS THAT WAS MENTIONED IS THAT RATHER THAN TALKING A ABOUT, UH, THE POWER OR THE STORAGE CAPACITY, WE COULD LOOK AT FOOTPRINT AS THE WAY, SO AS THE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVE, YOU COULD GET MORE POWER IN THE SAME FOOTPRINT.
I THINK THAT'S A POSITIVE WAY OF, OF DOING THAT.
I THINK THE OTHER ISSUE IS, I THINK THE ONE I BROUGHT UP IN THAT, IN THAT YOU HAVE THESE, UH, FACILITIES, UH, WITHIN A, UH, A CONCRETE, YOU KNOW, WALL AROUND IT.
YOU COULD DRESS IT UP WITH FENCING AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND, UH, AND THAT WILL ADD A, A LEVEL OF SAFETY TO THOSE UNITS.
SO THESE ARE THE THINGS WE SHOULD LOOK AT, COME TO AGREEMENT ON.
AND THE OTHER ISSUE, WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT, HOW DO WE, UH, I WOULD HOPE AND THINK THAT IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOWN BOARD IS, IS, IS A MECHANISM FOR TRAINING.
NOT ONLY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WITHIN THAT AREA, THAT THE UNITS ARE BEING BUILT WITH ALL OF THE BACKUP FIRE DEPARTMENTS THAT MONA INDICATE.
SO I THINK THESE ARE THREE VERY SPECIFIC THINGS.
IF WE COULD REACH AGREEMENT ON, WE'LL GO A LONG WAY IN ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF SAFETY.
AND THE SAME TIME ENCOURAGING AND PROVIDING FOR THE GROWTH OF, UH, OF, UH, BATTERY STORAGE IN THE TOWN OF GREENBURY.
I THINK, UH, CAN I SAY WALTER? YES.
UH, I THINK JOHANN'S POINT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT IS, IT IS A MESSAGE AND, UH, AND THE, THE CODE WE PUT IT REMAINS THERE AFTER MANY OF US MAY NOT BE HERE OR MANY OF HAS NOT BEEN PART OF THE REVISION THAT IT'S COMES TO INTUIT.
UH, AND YOUR POINT, YOU IS TO, WE CAN CHANGE, WE CAN GO BACK TO THE CODE THAT WE HAVE.
BUT SO MANY TIMES WE HAD TO REMIND AARON OR WALTER, THE INCONSISTENCY IN THE EXISTING LAW FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS HASN'T BEEN CHANGED.
SO I DON'T AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT, THAT WE CAN JUST BASED ON SOMETHING COMES UP, WE CAN CHANGE.
NUMBER TWO IS THAT, UH, OUR, UH, THE, THE WHOLE IDEA BEHIND THIS CREATING THIS LAW IS CAME FROM A APPLICATION BY, UH, I P P POWER OR SOLAR POWER AND THEIR MEMO, I'M READING THROUGH IT AND IT DOESN'T SAY, OH, HALLELUJAH, YOU ARE BUILDING, YOU ARE MODEL CODE.
IT'S SO WONDERFUL AND WE APPROVE IT.
SO I THINK, UH, WE NEED TO REALLY READ THEIR TWO PAGE COMMENTS ON OUR CODE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE BUSINESS IS GOING TO LOOK AT IT OUTSIDE.
AND JOHANN'S POINT IS THAT HOW DO WE SEND MESSAGE IS TO TALK TO THEM, HAS TO KIND OF BE, THERE SHOULD BE THE LEAD IN CREATING THIS, THIS NEW PROVISION.
SAME WAY WE DID IT FOR CONTINUING CARE FACILITY AND OTHER CHANGES INTO OUR CODE.
WE WENT THROUGH, UH, REGION RUN, WE WENT THROUGH ALL MANY PLACES WHERE WE HAD CREATED, UH, EITHER A NEW CODE OR, OR, OR ADDED OR MODIFIED OUR CODE.
SO WHY DON'T WE JUST HAVE THEM PART OF IT AND FOLLOW THAT WHICH WILL HELP US TO GIVE A, UH, BETTER UNDERSTANDING OUTSIDE IN A BUSINESS COMMUNITY.
HE SAYS, YEAH, THIS IS A PLACE TO GO, GO AND WORK WITH IT.
SO, UH, I THINK WE SHOULD REALLY LOOK AT NYSERDA AND THE BUSINESS APPLICANT WHO IS TRYING TO KIND OF TEACH US, TELL US AND SPEND MONEY TO, UH, WORK WITH US.
CAN I RESPOND TO RE DAVID? DAVID HAS, I THINK YOU, YOU CAN GO FIRST BECAUSE I, I HAVE A CALL IN MY BACKGROUND ANYWAY.
RE WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS YOU BUILD INTO THE LAW THAT REQUIRES THE LAW TO BE REVIEWED EVERY TWO YEARS.
'CAUSE I AGREE WITH YOU, IF YOU DON'T PUT SOMETHING IN THE LAW THAT REQUIRES IT TO BE REVIEWED, IT WON'T BE BE REVIEWED.
SO, SO, SO IT, IT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING YOU WOULD PUT INTO THE LAW THAT REQUIRES THAT TO HAPPEN.
[00:45:01]
OKAY.SECOND, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, YOU DON'T HAVE THE BENEFIT OF BEING ON THE BATTERY COMMITTEE.
UH, THE BATTERY COMMITTEE WAS NOT ONLY MADE UP OF, OF PEOPLE LIKE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS, IT WAS ACTUALLY MADE UP OF, OF, I THINK WE HAD TWO PEOPLE, TWO OR THREE PEOPLE, UH, THAT WERE ACTUALLY BUSINESS PEOPLE.
ONE, I THINK IN THE BUSINESS, OKAY.
I THINK THAT'S RIGHT, GARRETT.
WASN'T IT ONE PERSON THAT'S ACTUALLY IN THIS BUSINESS? ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR? I THINK THAT'S RIGHT.
NO, HE WASN'T IN THE BUSINESS, BY THE WAY.
I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE GUY THAT'S A MEMBER OF, UH, THE COUNTRY CLUB.
I'M TALKING ABOUT, THERE'S ANOTHER GUY IN THERE THAT I THINK ACTUALLY DID A LITTLE BIT OF THIS BUSINESS.
THERE WAS ANOTHER PERSON OWNER SHOPPING CENTER, RIGHT? SO THE BI BUSINESSES ACTUALLY WE'RE, WE'RE INVOLVED IN CREATING THIS LAW, OKAY? AS I SAID, THE OTHER THING YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER IS BECAUSE OF, OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE HERE, THE REASON WHY YOU WANT TO, WHAT WE WANT TO BUILD INTO THIS LAW IS DISCRETION, WHICH IS RARE TO BUILD INTO LAND USE LAWS.
GENERALLY, YOU WANNA DO THE OPPOSITE, RIGHT? YOU WANNA MINIMIZE THE DISCRETION.
SO THERE'S UNIFORMITY IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, YOU WANNA BUILD SOME DISCRETION TO THE LAW.
'CAUSE THE CIRCUMSTANCES REGARDING SAFETY ARE DIFFERENT FROM SITE TO SITE.
FOR EXAMPLE, WOULD YOU WANNA PUT THIS WITHIN 10 FEET OF, OF AN OFFICE WINDOW? I DON'T THINK SO.
BUT IF IT WAS A, IF IT WAS A CONCRETE WALL, OKAY, WOULD YOU WANT TO PUT IT WITHIN 10 FEET OF A CONCRETE WALL? YEAH, PROBABLY YOU COULD DO THAT AS LONG AS YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, FIRE, YOU KNOW, FIVE HOUR FIRE RESISTANT, ACTUALLY NEED MORE THAN FIVE HOURS BECAUSE HE'S BURNED FOR AT LEAST 24.
SO YOU NEED TO HAVE DISCRETION BUILT INTO THE LAW, WHICH IS, I THINK TO YOUR POINT OF THE MESSAGE TO BOTH YOU AND JOHAN, THE WAY TO DO IT IS SAY THERE IS DISCRETION IN THE LAW.
OKAY? WE'RE WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU ON THE SITE PLAN AND WE CAN ADJUST THINGS.
JUST HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY, WHY WE CAN DO THAT.
SO I WOULDN'T THINK, I THINK THERE'D BE VERY RARE INSTANCE, IF ANY, WHERE ANYBODY WOULD END UP WITH A HUNDRED FOOT SETBACK FROM THE PRIMARY BUILDING ON, ON THE PROPERTY.
NOW THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM WHERE THEY ARE FROM THE, THE BACK LINE THERE, FROM THE RESIDENTIAL, IF THEY'RE, THEY BACK UP ON RESIDENTIAL, THAT'S A DIFFERENT ISSUE BECAUSE THEN YOU CAN CAUSE A FIRE, UH, THAT GOES UP INTO THE RESIDENTIAL AREA.
YOU JUST FROM THE, YOU CAN CA CAUSE A POLLUTION THAT, THAT THEY'RE DIRECTLY AFFECTED, BUT VERY, VERY TOXIC FUMES.
OKAY? SO YOU DON'T WANT IT TOO CLOSE TO A RESIDENTIAL AREA.
BUT I, I THINK THE ANSWER TO THIS IS THIS LAW IS MEANT TO BUILD DISCRETION IN IT'S ALSO MEANT, BY THE WAY, AGAINST THE RECOMMENDATION OF AT LEAST ONE, ONE GROUP, OKAY? TO MAKE IT EASIER, EASY FOR, FOR RESIDENTIAL, UH, UNITS, HOUSES TO PUT IN THESE FACILITIES BY NOT REQUIRING A SPECIAL PERMIT FOR THOSE PEOPLE, WHICH I THINK MAKES ALL THE SENSE IN THE WORLD.
I DON'T WANT THEM TO HAVE TO COME BEFORE THE PLANNING BOARD EVERY TIME THEY WANNA PUT IN A SMALL BATTERY STORAGE FACILITY IN THEIR HOUSE.
IN FACT, THAT'S WHERE I THINK THESE THINGS BELONG.
OKAY? PRIMARILY BECAUSE THAT WOULD HELP US SMOOTH OUT, UH, SMOOTH OUT THE ENERGY MORE THAN ANYTHING.
IF YOU'RE STARTING TODAY, THAT'S WHAT YOU WOULD DO.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS? UH, YES, I WAS, I WOULD TO RESPOND.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I AGREE WITH WHAT HUGH SAID, AND WE HAD HAD A CONVERSATION.
THERE IS, UM, AN IDEA THAT, UM, YOU HAVE THIS LEGISLATION, BUT THERE ARE GOING TO BE REVIEWS OF, OF IT.
SO THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY GONNA BE THE LAW THAT YOU HAVE FOUR OR FIVE, SIX YEARS DOWN THE LINE IF, UH, YOU SEE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, THINGS IN THE MARKET OR TECHNOLOGY CHANGE.
THE OTHER ISSUE, AND IT'S REALLY TO ADDRESS, UH, BOTH CUR AND JOHAN'S ISSUE.
UM, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND REALLY WHAT THE PLANNING BOARD'S FUNCTION IN, IN THIS IS.
THE PLANNING BOARD ONE DID NOT COME UP WITH ITS LEGISLATION.
AND NUMBER TWO, UH, I MEAN WE HAD A COMMITTEE THAT CAME UP WITH IT.
THIS IS THE POINT FOR THE PLANNING BOARD TO MAKE THEIR COMMENTS TO THE TOWN BOARD.
UM, I THINK THE BOARD HEARS YOU LOUD AND CLEAR.
THERE ARE CONCERNS WITH RESPECT, UH, TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, AND THOSE IN YOUR REPORT TO THE TOWN BOARD SHOULD BE ADDRESSED.
AND THEN THE TOWN BOARD, UH, HOPEFULLY WILL LISTEN TO THAT AND CALL THOSE PEOPLE IN.
I DON'T THINK THE RIGHT MOVE IS FOR THE PLANNING BOARD, HOWEVER, TO CALL THE
[00:50:01]
BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN.THEY HAVE SOME, UH, SENSE OF WHAT'S THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY WANTS BECAUSE THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY PUT, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDED COMMENTS TO US, WHICH IS FAIR AND, YOU KNOW, WELL, BUT I DON'T THINK, I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD SLOW DOWN OR STOP THE PROCESS.
UM, I THINK YOU SHOULD RAISE THOSE ISSUES, YOUR CONCERNS, BUT THEN PASS THAT ALONG TO THE TOWN BOARD.
I WANT TO, UM, JUST ADD TO THAT.
I THINK, UM, I DEFINITELY WANT TO MAKE OUR TOWN, UM, ATTRACTIVE TO BUSINESSES OF DIFFERENT TYPES.
AT THE SAME TIME, WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING THAT A BUSINESS WANTS AND MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR THE TOWN.
SO AGAIN, I GO BACK TO BALANCE.
THERE WERE SOME GREAT COMMENTS FROM I P P.
THERE WERE COMMENTS FROM EAGLE.
I THINK SOME OF THOSE, UM, REGARDING THE SETBACKS AND THE CAPACITY LIMITS ARE, ARE WORTHWHILE.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO BALANCE BOTH.
AND IN TERMS OF THE SAFETY, I'M NOT ADVOCATING WE NOT BE SAFE.
I GUESS WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO ME IS WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF ONE OF THESE DISASTERS? AND I DON'T THINK ANYONE KNOWS 'CAUSE IT'S ALL TOO NEW, BUT, YOU KNOW, IS IT A BOTTLE OF NITROGLYCERIN THAT YOU CAN'T TOUCH OR IS GONNA BLOW UP? OR IS THIS, YOU KNOW, THE LIKELIHOOD OF MY HOUSE EXPLODING BECAUSE OF GAS LEAK? I, I DON'T KNOW.
SO WE HAVE TO TAKE BOTH INTO ACCOUNT.
UM, I GUESS THE ONE THING THAT COMES UP FOR ME THAT WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED ON IN TERMS OF BEING CONTRACTED THE BUSINESSES IS THIS IDEA OF THE DECOMMISSIONING FUND AND BOND, WHICH DID COME UP IN SOME OF THE COMMENTS.
THAT TO ME, SEEMS LIKE ONE OF THE POSSIBLE DETERRENCE TO A BUSINESS COMING IN.
UM, I MISSED ONE THING I WANTED TO SAY.
I THINK IT MAKES SENSE FOR OUR TOWN.
YOU HAVE, IN MY MIND IT'S HOME UNITS, UH, IT'S PARKING LOT UNITS, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S A SHOPPING CENTER OR AN OFFICE PARK, AND THEN YOU HAVE THE BIG, UM, ACRE SIZE UNITS, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
I, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR A LITTLE MORE ON THE DECOMMISSIONING FROM PEOPLE THAT WERE INVOLVED IN, IN PUTTING THAT OUT THERE.
WELL, THE, THE, THE DECOMMISSIONING WAS, I THINK THE GENESIS OF THAT WAS THAT YOU HAD A, A SEPARATE L L C IN REGARDS TO, UM, THE NORWOOD PROPERTY WHO, WHO, UH, WAS PUTTING UP EAGLE AS A SEPARATE L L C.
AND THE ISSUE WAS IF THEY GO BANKRUPT, THEN WHO'S LEFT TO, UH, UH, TO DECOMMISSION IT BECAUSE THE L L C IS A SEPARATE L L C FROM THE, THE PARENT COMPANY.
SO THE PARENT COMPANY WOULD BE COMPLETELY SHIELD FROM ANY RESPONSIBILITY.
THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT IS THAT, UH, IF YOU ARE ASKING SOMEONE TO PUT UP A BOND THAT WILL COVER 10 OR 15 YEARS, UH, JUST MONEY SITTING THERE EARNING NO, NO INTEREST, THAT BECOMES A FINANCIAL EARNING TO THE COMPANY.
JUST THE TYPE, THAT TYPE OF MONEY JUST SITTING THERE.
ONE OF THE PROPOSALS THAT, THAT, UH, I FORGOT WHERE I READ IT, BUT ONE OF THE PROPOSALS THAT I CAME ACROSS IS THAT THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE OWNER OF THE LAND GOES INTO A CONTRACT WITH THAT, WITH THAT, UH, UH, UH, ENERGY FACILITY, THAT IN THE CONTRACT WITH THE OWNER, THE OWNER TAKES ON THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED, THEY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OWNERS WILL BE ON THEM, YOU SEE, WITHOUT TYING UP A LARGE SUM OF MONEY OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, THAT'S A POSSIBLE WAY OF WORKING AROUND THEM.
WELL, I, I DON'T THINK ANY OWNER WOULD AGREE TO THAT.
UM, WHY DON'T WE HAVE THE PARENTS COMPANY GUARANTEE THE COST OF THE DECOMMISSION? THAT'S MICHAEL.
ACTUALLY, IF YOU REMEMBER IT, WHEN WE ACTUALLY HEARD EAGLE ENERGY, YOU BROUGHT UP THAT WHOLE THING, I THINK AT THE TIME AND, AND HAD A CONCERN ABOUT THE INSURANCE AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT.
I THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY YOU HAD DID THAT AND I, I STILL THINK THAT'S AN ISSUE.
I THINK THAT HELPS IF IT'S A LARGE PARENT COMPANY, BUT YOU COULD HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM.
YOU KNOW, WE DON'T NEED A REPLAY OF FRANK'S NURSERY.
FRANK'S NURSERY WAS A LARGE COMPANY.
OKAY? WE ENDED UP HAVING TO, THE TOWN ENDED UP HAVING TO BUY THE LAND AND THEN MITIGATE, MITIGATE ALL THAT ENVIRONMENTAL,
[00:55:01]
ALL THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.GARRETT, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, OR GARRETT, LET ME JUST ASK A QUESTION.
THEN I'LL, I I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU, GARRETT.
UM, WE DO BONDING NOW, DON'T WE, ON CERTAIN PROJECTS.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT WE DO CURRENTLY WITH THAT, PLEASE? YEAH.
UM, THERE'S, I MEAN, JUST DECOMMISSIONING PRIME EXAMPLE IS, UH, TELECOMMUNICATION FACILITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, LATTICE TOWER MONOPOLE.
UM, THERE ARE DECOMMISSIONING BONDS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT FOR WHEN THE, UH, SYSTEM BECOMES OBSOLETE.
UH, AS FAR AS OTHER USAGES OF BONDS, UM, I MEAN THERE, THERE'S A WHOLE VARIETY.
I MEAN, AARON, JUST LANDSCAPING, BONDS, LANDSCAPING ALL THE TIME.
I GET A QUESTION ABOUT THE BONDS, THOUGH.
THEY DON'T PUT UP THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF MONEY, RIGHT? THEY JUST PUT UP A PERCENTAGE IN THE MAR MONEY AND IT'S BONDED LIKE 10% OR HOW MUCH ARE THEY ACTUALLY, UH, BUT THE LANDSCAPING BONDS, THEY PUT UP 10% CASH.
SO IT'S NOWHERE YOU'RE NOT TYING UP ANYWHERE NEAR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY.
OKAY, WELL ONE, I, I THINK, UH, UH, THE QUESTION I, I THINK IT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION ABOUT THE DECOMMISSIONING ISSUE.
SO NOW COMPARABLE, UH, SORT OF ENERGY, UH, LAND USE THAT WE HAVE IN THE TOWN, I THINK IS A GAS STATION WITH LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, 20,000, 50,000 GALLONS OF STORAGE.
SO MY QUESTION, GARY TO IS THAT WHAT KIND OF, UH, DECOMMISSIONING BOND WE REQUIRE FROM GAS STATION OPERATOR, THAT WE HAVE NUMEROUS RIGHT NEXT TO THE RESIDENTIAL AREA, AND I DON'T THINK WE REQUIRE THAT KIND OF STRINGENT REQUIREMENT FOR GAS STATIONS.
SO TELL US WHAT KIND OF BONDING WE REQUIRE FOR DE DECOMMISSIONING GAS STATION.
YEAH, I'M TRYING TO THINK OF A, A GAS STATION THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, BRAND NEW WAS, WAS, WAS, UH, BEFORE ANY OF THE BOARDS IN, IN MY TIME.
SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE AN EXAMPLE.
THERE IS ONE RIGHT NOW, SAM, BUT SAM'S, BUT I THINK, I THINK WE WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING OFF THE POINT.
NO, THAT, THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
WILL YOU HEAR ME OUT PLEASE? IF WE THINK THAT BONDING IS A CRITICAL ISSUE, WHICH WE ALL DO, WE DON'T HAVE TO COME UP WITH THE SOLUTION, BUT IN OUR RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOWN BOARD, WE IDENTIFY THAT AS A SERIOUS ISSUE THAT THE TOWN NEEDS TO ADDRESS.
WE DON'T HAVE TO COME UP, BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SOLUTION IS.
AT LEAST I DON'T, BUT WE PUT THAT IN OUR RECOMMENDATION.
IT'S A SERIOUS ISSUE THAT THE TOWN NEEDS TO ADDRESS FINE FIX THIS.
RATHER THAN US TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT.
WELL, ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES IS WE, WE KNOW WHAT THE RISK IS WITH GAS STATIONS AND THE D E C IS PRETTY, PRETTY CAREFUL WHEN SOMEONE CLOSES A GAS STATION OF MAKING SURE THAT THE TANKS ARE TAKEN OUT AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE D E C STANDS ON BATTERY STORAGE FACILITIES AT THIS POINT.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I MEAN, GAS STATION I WOULD ASSUME NEEDS A CLOSURE PLAN WITH A D E C I I WOULD ASSUME THAT.
'CAUSE THEY HAVE THE UNDERGROUND TANKS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THESE ARE REQUIRING, WE ARE REQUIRING THEM IN THE LAW TO HAVE A CLOSURE PLAN.
I DON'T KNOW IF IF THE D E C IS GOING, GOING TO ENFORCE A CLOSURE PLAN OR NOT, WHICH MAY BE SOMETHING SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED.
BUT I, I, GOING BACK TO WHAT I JUST SAID, OUR ROLE IS TO PROVIDE RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING BOARD, UH, TO THE TOWN BOARD AND S AND IN, AND INDICATE THESE ARE SERIOUS ISSUES THAT WE SEE.
SO THAT SHOULD BE ONE OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
ALSO, I THINK IN GENERAL, I THINK, WALTER, I HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT IS THAT THE WHOLE LAW PROPOSED CODE OR LAW IS VERY DESCRIPTIVE.
AND I THINK THOUGH, CONSIDERING THE TECHNOLOGY, EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY, IT'LL BE A MUCH EASIER AND BETTER FOR US TO DO A, UH, SORT OF MORE A PERFORMANCE BASED CRITERIA PUT INTO THE CODE.
UH, RATHER THAN HAVING THIS, WHICH IS WHAT'S KIND OF CREATING THIS LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT FIVE FEET, I MEAN 10 FEET, WHICH IS A HUNDRED FEET, 500 FEET OR THIS, I, I, I THINK, UH, IF WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT, UH, WAYS TO DO IT.
AND I THINK, UH, UH, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO KIND OF GO BACK TO WHAT MICHAEL'S COMMENTS IS TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THE SER DOES COMMENTS ON OUR CODE IS.
AND I THINK THAT'S A VERY GOOD POINT TO REALLY LOOK AT IT AND UNDERSTAND, UH, HOW
[01:00:01]
THEY ARE COMING FROM IT SO THAT WE DON'T BECOME ARBITRARY, UH, DECIDER OF DESCRIPTIVE CODE.DID NOT USE NYSERDA IF YOU HAD NYSERDA.
LET ME FINISH, LET ME FINISH PLEASE.
LET KURT FINISH AND THEN WE'LL GO TO YOU.
I THINK I RECOMMEND WHAT MICHAEL HAS INITIALLY SAID THAT LET'S PUT UP, UH, NICER DOES COMMENTS ON, ON A SCREEN AND JUST GO THROUGH IT.
IT'S, IT'S PRETTY, I THINK IT'S NO MORE THAN 10 COMMENTS THAT THEY HAVE, UH, RIGHT GARRETT, I THINK, I DON'T THINK THEY HAVE TOO MANY COMMENTS.
I CAN JUST GO BY AND I THINK THAT WILL BE A GOOD COMPARISON FOR THE, WHAT WE SHOULD COMMEND TO THE TOWN BOARD.
NO, IT'S NOT, IT ABSOLUTELY IS NOT A GOOD COMPARISON.
THE REASON IS I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE FIRST ONE IS.
YOU DON'T, DON'T DONE ANYTHING.
CAN I FINISH NOW? KURT, THANK YOU MINUTE.
LET'S EVERYONE JUST SPEAK, GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE TO SPEAK WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED, LET THE NEXT PERSON SPEAK UNINTERRUPTED.
NOW, KURT, YOU SPOKE, I MADE SURE THAT YOU DIDN'T INTERRUPT YOU.
NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO SPEAK.
I APPRECIATE IF YOU DON'T INTERRUPT HIM.
AND IER LAW, WHICH GARRETT, I THINK IT'D BE GREAT, GREAT TO PUT PUT UP UP THERE.
BUT THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT COMMENT THAT THEY MAKE IS THEY THINK THE SETBACK SHOULD BE IDENTICAL TO WHAT YOUR CURRENT ZONING LAWS ARE.
DO YOU REALLY WANNA PUT A BARR BATTERY SEARCH FACILITY WITHIN? WELL, GEE, WITHIN, YOU KNOW, 20 FEET OF SOMEBODY'S HOUSE, DO YOU REALLY WANNA DO THAT? THAT'S WHAT THEY RECOMMEND.
THE REAL GOLD STANDARD IS 8 55.
OKAY? THAT'S A REAL, AND, AND WHAT AR UH, ARUP TOLD US THAT'S THE GOLD STANDARD, NOT NYSERDA.
NYSERDA HAS A PURPOSE AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE DOING A GREAT JOB AT WHAT THEIR PURPOSE IS TO ENCOURAGE FACILITIES TO BE BUILT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A NEED FROM THE GOVERNOR OF, OF NEW YORK, OKAY, FOR GREEN ENERGY.
BY THE WAY, THESE AREN'T REALLY GREEN ENERGY.
THEY HELP GREEN ENERGY, BUT THEY, UM, IN THEMSELVES ARE NOT GREEN ENERGY.
SO NO, I MEAN, YOU CAN PUT IT UP THERE, BUT NYSERDA IS NOT THE GOLD STANDARD.
IT WAS A TEMPLATE AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS MAKE NO SENSE FOR THE TOWN OF GREENBURG WHEN IT COMES TO SETBACKS.
AND GARRETT DO, DO WHAT KURT SAYS.
WELL, I MEAN, JUST, JUST AS A QUICK EXAMPLE, UM, LET'S SEE HERE.
I WANT TO, I'M GONNA NOW SHARE WHAT NYSERDA SAYS ABOUT DECOMMISSIONING, RIGHT? SO THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, NYSERDA RECOMMENDS A PRETTY ROBUST DECOMMISSIONING PLAN AND THE TOWN OF GREENBURG LOCAL LAW MIMICS THAT GET TO DECOMMISSIONING FUND, UH, THEY ABSOLUTELY ADVOCATE FOR THAT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S ROUGHLY A PARAGRAPH.
SO WHAT I'LL DO NOW IS I'M GONNA STOP SHARE AND, UM, WE TAKE YOU TO THE LOCAL LAW TOWN OF GREENBURG.
AND, UM, IS, IS, IS THAT, IS THAT, DO YOU SEE THE TOWN OF GREENBURG? THEY GET A LITTLE BIG BIGGER, YEAH.
YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE THOUGH, GARRETT.
GARY, YOU HAVE THERE THE ONE THAT YOU SEND US? UH, THE THINGS
I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO COMPARE WITH THEIR COMMENTS ON IT.
BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE A POINT.
DECOMMISSIONING PLAN, UH, TOWN OF GREENBURG LOCAL LAW VIRTUALLY MIMICS IT, AND THEN DECOMMISSIONING FUND, YOU KNOW, IT, IT GETS A BIT MORE INVOLVED.
SO YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S QUITE LONGER AND GETS MORE SPECIFIC.
I I, I'M NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, AS A STAFF PERSON GONNA SECOND GUESS THAT ANY OF THIS IS NOT PRUDENT.
YOU KNOW, I THINK WE HEARD FROM THE INDUSTRY THAT, UM, THE LETTER OF CREDIT, UM, YOU KNOW, UPDATING IT EVERY FIVE YEARS AS OPPOSED TO TWO YEARS IS MORE REASONABLE.
SO THERE'S SUBTLE DIFFERENCES LIKE THAT.
YOU KNOW, I, I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE REALLY NEED TO GET INTO ALL OF THOSE FINE TUNED, UH, DETAILS.
THE COMMENT I MADE WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERATE, SPEAK WITH ARUP AND THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT AS BUILDING INSPECTOR AND LEGAL, AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF OKAY, PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE TOWN BOARD SO THAT THEY COULD FIGURE OUT WHETHER UPDATING THE DECOMMISSIONING, UH, FUNDS LETTER OF CREDIT EVERY TWO OR FIVE YEARS IS PRUDENT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THE PLANNING BOARD WANTS TO, YOU KNOW, NAIL DOWN THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL.
[01:05:01]
I THINK, UH, AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO, UH, UH, UM, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS, UH, TONIGHT, BUT SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO SEE HOW WE COULD PULL THINGS TOGETHER.UH, I, I THINK THAT YOUR, UH, UH, YOUR COMMENTS ON YOUR LETTER OF MAY 14TH, WHICH WILL YOU REFER TO MANY OF THE, THE, THE NYSERDA RECOMMENDATIONS AND GIVE A GOOD LOGICAL ARGUMENT WHY WE SHOULD ACCEPT THAT OR, OR REJECTED.
SO I THINK JUST GOING THROUGH THIS DOCUMENT WILL GIVE BOARD MEMBERS A GOOD SENSE OF WHAT ERDA IS, UH, RECOMMENDING AND WHY THE, THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BISS COMMITTEE IS, IS, UH, IS DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD, UH, ALLOW US TO ANSWER A LOT OF THESE QUESTIONS.
AND ONCE THESE QUESTIONS ARE ASKED, THEN WE COULD START FOCUSING IN ON WHAT OUR ULTIMATE RECOMMENDATIONS SHOULD BE.
AND, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF COMMENTS WERE MADE, IN TERMS OF TRAINING IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, IN, IN TERMS OF THE BOND.
SO I, I THINK IT'S, WE NEED TO START FOCUSING IN AND WHAT WE COULD PUT IN THE RECOMMENDATION.
AND I THINK
SO JUST, JUST FROM MY NOTES, SOME OF THE, UM, HIGH LEVEL RE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PLANNING BOARD HAVE TO DO WITH, UH, THIS FOOTPRINT CONCEPT.
SO I'M GONNA BRING US TO THE LOCAL LAW AND SHOW YOU HOW THAT COULD, COULD BE INTRODUCED CLEARLY THE SETBACKS, SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT.
UM, SOME FIRE MUTUAL AID, MO, TIM MONA'S COMMENTS, SOME TRAINING.
UH, I HEARD, YOU KNOW, THAT THE RECOMMENDATION TO REVIEW THE LAW, UM, PERIODICALLY, PERHAPS EVERY TWO YEARS, UM, AND, AND SOME OTHER COMMENTS.
SO LET ME, LET ME JUST WALK YOU THROUGH A COUPLE OF THOSE THINGS.
AND THEN CAN I, I'M SORRY, LET ME INTERRUPT FOR A SECOND.
I, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TIME TO LOOK AT THE NYSERDA COMMENTS, LOOK AT GARRETT'S RESPONSE, LOOK AT THE LOCAL LAW, SPEND MAYBE AN HOUR OR TWO STUDYING IT.
I MEAN, I MEAN, I APPRECIATE GARRETT'S, YOU KNOW, PRESENTATION, BUT, UM, ALL OF THIS IS NEW TO ME, AND I'M NOT ABSORBING IT AS FAST AS I WOULD HAVE WHEN I WAS 27.
UM, MAYBE WE SHOULD LEAVE SOME OF THIS FOR THE NEXT MEETING.
WEDNESDAY, I'M, I'M BY NO MEANS AM I PROPOSING THAT WE SHOULD COME TO A DECISION TONIGHT, BUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS TO START TO FOCUS AND COME TO A FOCUS.
AND THEN THIS, AGAIN, WE WILL HA WE'LL BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT, WE'LL SPEND SOME MORE TIME ON WEDNESDAY, YOU KNOW, TO START FOCUSING ON THOSE THINGS.
AND THEN WITH THE IDEA THAT BASED UPON THAT INPUT, THEN GARRETT COULD PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER FOR OUR PACKAGE FOR THE JANUARY 6TH MEETING.
YOU KNOW, SO YOU, IN YOUR PACKAGE BEGINNING JANUARY, I THINK, UH, JANUARY 6TH.
ABOUT JUNE, I MEAN, JUNE 6TH, I MEAN,
SO, SO YOU WOULD HAVE, I JUST HAD A COW.
YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL TIME TO LOOK AT THAT, AND THEN HOPEFULLY AT THE JUNE 6TH MEETING, WE COULD TALK ABOUT COMING UP WITH A FINAL RECOMMENDATION.
SO I, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU, MICHAEL, THAT IT'S THAT WE NEED MORE TIME TO REALLY DIGEST ALL THE INFORMATION, BUT I THINK WE SHOULD START DOING THAT TONIGHT BY GIVING A LITTLE BIT MORE FOCUS AND, AND SO WE COULD SAY THAT WE'RE MAKING SOME PROGRESS TOWARDS THAT EVENTUAL GOAL.
WELL, WALTER, I, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL, SINCE EVERYBODY SEEMS TO BE HUNG UP, OR NOT EVERYBODY, BUT SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THE BOARD SEEMED TO BE HUNG UP ON THE NYSERDA RECOMMENDATION.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I MEAN, IF THERE ARE THINGS IN THE INDUSTRY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE GOT TOO, GARRETT, I KNOW YOU'VE, DO YOU HAVE THAT ALL IN ONE? YEAH.
ON ONE THING ON THE MAY 14TH ONE.
SO WHY DON'T YOU PUT THAT UP IN, WALK IT THROUGH, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE INDUSTRY PEOPLE ON I WANT, WANNA BE ABLE TO ADDRESS, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO ADDRESS ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
I, I, I FEEL LIKE I CAN DO IT IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME AND, UM, GOOD.
[01:10:01]
THAT THE, I THINK, UH, HUGH IS RIGHT TO THE, WHAT SORT OF A DIFFERENCE OF, UH, UNDERSTANDING OR OPINION IS, BUT THE THINGS THAT WE ALL AGREE, AND I THINK WE ALL KIND OF, UH, UH, UH, CAN AGREE WITH WHATEVER THE, UH, THE SAFETY PART IS.I THINK, UH, PRETTY MUCH, UH, YEAH, EVERYBODY IS IN AGREEMENT.
SO GARRETT, IF YOU WANTED TO KIND OF GET THE SET OF POINTS THAT ARE, WE ALL AGREE AND WE KIND OF WANT IT TO BE AS PART OF THE LAW IS THE SAFETY PART, AND THEN WE CAN SORT OF, SOME OF THE PRESCRIPTIVE PART OF THE ZONING, UH, SETBACKS AND THE SIZE OF IT, WE CAN NARROW IT DOWN BASED ON THE, BUT I
BUT I THINK GAR MADE AN EXCELLENT OUTLINE.
I THINK THAT THAT WILL ANSWER A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS.
AND THEN, UH, I ALSO, I ALSO DON'T THINK THAT WE PROVIDED, WE'VE PROVIDED ENOUGH GUIDANCE ON SAFETY YET, SO WE STILL NEED TO WORK THROUGH THE SAFETY ISSUE FURTHER.
JUST SO I, I DEFINITELY HEARD FOOTPRINT QUITE A BIT AND BEF, YOU KNOW, NYSERDA CLEARLY DID NOT MAKE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WITH REGARD TO FOOTPRINT THAT WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, PLANNING BOARD, UH, ORIGIN.
AND I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT MYSELF.
SO I JUST WANT YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS IN TERMS OF HOW THE LOCAL LAW IS STRUCTURED RIGHT NOW.
AND AGAIN, I HAVE THESE TWO RED DOTS TO AS PLACEHOLDERS, BUT TIER TWO IS DEFINED AS THE, THE STORAGE WITH A CAPACITY LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 2,400 KILOWATT HOURS IN VARIOUS ZONING DISTRICTS.
AND THEN AS WAS MENTIONED, IT'S DOUBLED IN SOME OF THE MORE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS.
UM, I ACTUALLY, SO WITH THINKING ABOUT, OKAY, WELL WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO SHIFT OR TRANSITION TO A FOOTPRINT BASED, UM, UH, BUT GARY, CAN I, CAN I STOP YOU? I'M SORRY.
WHAT IS 2,400? UM, KILOWATTS MEAN STORAGE.
I MEAN, I HAVE NO IDEA STORAGE CAPACITY, MICHAEL.
BUT HOW BIG IS THAT? HOW DOES THAT COMPARE WITH THE APPLICATION BEFORE US? OKAY.
UH, UNFORTUNATELY YOU WEREN'T HERE AT THE LAST MEETING SCALE, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU WEREN'T HERE AT THE LAST MEETING.
BUT I DID GO THROUGH THAT A 2,400 KILOWATT HOUR SYSTEM.
WE HAVE ONE IN THE TOWN OF GREENBURG.
SO IF YOU'VE VISITED, UM, SIX 60 WHITE PLAINS ROAD, WHICH IS THE BIG OFFICE BUILDING, YOU HAVE ROUGHLY A, I DON'T KNOW, 20 FOOT BY 50 FOOT, UM, UM, ENCLOSED OR AREA WITH EIGHT OR EIGHT TO 10 CABINETS.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S NOT A LARGE FOOTPRINT.
YEAH, NO, YOU WERE THERE, MICHAEL.
THAT WAS THE ONE YOU THAT WE WENT TO.
NOW, TECHNOLOGY SINCE THAT SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED HAS EVEN ADVANCED.
SO IN THE SAME FOOTPRINT, LET'S SAY 20 FOOT BY 50 FOOT, YOU CAN DO, UM, A THREE TO FOUR TIMES AS MUCH STORAGE IN THE SAME OR LESS AMOUNT OF CABINETS.
SO I ACTUALLY SEE THIS CAP AS, UM, NOT RESPONSIVE TO THE, UH, YOU KNOW, GOOD TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES THAT HAVE OCCURRED THAT MAKE THESE CABINETS MORE EFFICIENT.
SO TO ME, EVEN THIS NUMBER ALREADY, I, I THINK IS, IS A BIT OBSOLETE AND OVERLY RESTRICTIVE.
SO THE POINT BEING, IF YOU, UM, TRANSITION TO MORE OF A FOOTPRINT BASED, I'M NOT GONNA SAY I HAVE A PERFECT, YOU KNOW, SQUARE FOOTAGE MAXIMUM OR SOMETHING TO THAT EXTENT, BUT IT COULD BE A DERIVED AT, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER AND YOU DON'T HAVE AN OVERLY LARGE OR INDUSTRIAL LOOKING SYSTEM IN THE CA DISTRICT OR THE IB OR THE L O B, UM, AND I DUNNO, MAYBE IT'S A THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OR A THOUSAND TO 1400 SQUARE FEET, BUT WHATEVER THE TECHNOLOGY CAN FIT IN THAT SPACE, WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, IS NOT GONNA LOOK OVERLY INDUSTRIAL.
AND IT COULD, YOU KNOW, THROUGH A SITE PLAN APPROVAL AND A SPECIAL PERMIT PROCESS, BE CONSISTENT WITH THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO THAT'S ONE MAJOR RECOMMENDATION THAT COULD COME FROM THE PLANNING BOARD.
AND AS A STAFF PERSON, FROM WHAT I KNOW, I PERSONALLY, UM, I, I, I WOULD SUPPORT AN EVOLUTION TO THAT TYPE OF THRESHOLD AS OPPOSED TO THIS HARD 2,400 KILOWATT HOUR CAP.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD THAT.
GARRETT, I HAVE A, I HAVE A QUESTION ON TIER THREE.
IT SAYS BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE, BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, LESS THAN 80 MILLION WATT, UH, MEGAWATT HOURS, MEGA MEGAWATT.
BUT THAT WOULD INCLUDE 75 KILOWATT, SHOULDN'T IT SAY INSTEAD GREATER THAN 4,800 KILOWATT, BUT LESS THAN 80 MILLION, 80 MEGAWATT.
I GUESS IN A VERY TECHNICAL SENSE IT COULD, BUT, UM, ULTIMATELY IT, THE INDUSTRY'S NOT GONNA CONNECT A, UM, 2,400 KILOWATT SYSTEM TO A, UH, SUBSTATION
[01:15:01]
IN THE TOWN OF GREENBURG.IT'S AN ENGLISH POINT, GARRETT, IT'S AN ENGLISH POINT.
HE IS RIGHT FROM A ENGLISH POINT IS JUST MAKING SURE THAT THE CATEGORIES ARE DEFINED.
NO, THAT MAKES SENSE, MICHAEL.
SO FOLLOWING Q I THINK YOU SHOULD GAR, YOU MAY WANTED TO HAVE IT A LARGER THEN BECAUSE, UH, AGAIN, IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO BASED ON A FOOTPRINT, LET'S JUST NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY AS A, AS AS A IDENTIFIER OF THE TIER.
THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY'S AGREEING TO.
SO FOR TWO, AND FOR TWO AND THREE, KAREN.
FOR TWO AND THREE, YOU DON'T NEED TO DO IT IN ONE, AT LEAST AT THE MOMENT.
'CAUSE IT EVEN ERDA, I THINK THAT DEFINES, UH, TIER ONE AS 80, RIGHT? I THINK GARY, IS THAT CORRECT? SAY THAT AGAIN PLEASE.
SO ERDA ERDA SAYS WHAT WE'RE DEFINING AS TURMOIL, WHICH ARE HOME SYSTEMS AT THIS POINT, IS EIGHT OR EIGHT SHOULD BE 80 INSTEAD OF 75, RIGHT? YEAH, I WAS GONNA WALK US THROUGH THAT NEXT, RIGHT? YEAH.
WELL, SO ALONG WITH THE, THE, UM, FOOTPRINT THRESHOLD CONCEPT, YOU COULD ALSO APPLY THAT TO TIER THREE, AND PERHAPS IT'S AN ACRE OF BATTERIES, RIGHT? DO WE REALLY WANT TO ALLOW THREE ACRES OF BATTERIES? UH, PROBABLY NOT.
SO, UM, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THE PLANNING BOARD SUPPORTS, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD, UH, CERTAINLY GIVE YOU SUGGESTIONS ON LANGUAGE TO RECOMMEND TO THE TOWN BOARD.
SO THAT, THAT'S THE FOOTPRINT CONCEPT.
AND, UM, I DID PREPARE A MAY 14TH, SORT OF, I'LL CALL IT A SUMMARY OF ALL THE COMMENTS WE RECEIVED FROM, UH, BEST INDUSTRY PROVIDERS AND, UH, NYSERDA.
AND WE GOT SOME GOOD COMMENTS, OF COURSE, FROM GREENVILLE FIRE DISTRICT.
SO I, I ESSENTIALLY PULLED THOSE ALL TOGETHER AND FOR THE MOST PART, UM, CAME UP WITH, UH, WAYS TO THINK ABOUT APPROACHING THAT IN, IN THE TERMS OF A RECOMMENDATION.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND PULL THAT UP.
AND GARRETT, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
I'M SURE IT WAS A LOT OF WORK.
LET ME, LEMME MAKE AN OBSERVATION, PERSONAL OBSERVATION.
LOOK, YOU KNOW, I HAVE BEFORE ME A A 19 PAGE LAW ON BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, ABOUT WHICH I KNEW NOTHING THREE MONTHS AGO.
UM, IT'S, IT'S VERY, VERY HARD FOR ME TO ABSORB ALL THIS STUFF, MAINLY BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S NON-CONTROVERSIAL KIND OF BOILERPLATE STUFF EVERYBODY AGREES ON.
AND I CAN'T TELL WHAT THE ISSUES ARE, WHAT MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL OR MAY BE OPEN TO DISCUSSION.
SO WHAT I'M MOST INTERESTED IN AND HANDLE THIS HOWEVER YOU WANT, WHAT I'M MOST INTERESTED IN IS WHAT ARE THE AREAS OF DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND THE STATE, BETWEEN YOU AND ANYBODY ELSE, YOU KNOW, AND THEN I COULD FOCUS ON THAT, YOU KNOW, LISTEN TO THE ARGUMENTS AND COME UP WITH MY OWN OPINION.
BUT LOOKING THROUGH THIS 19 PAGE LAW, MIGO, MY EYES GLAZE OVER, I'M SORRY, MICHAEL, UH, ON WHAT GAR IS ABOUT TO DO, I THINK WILL ANSWER IT, THAT, THAT SPECIFIC ISSUE THAT YOU JUST RAISED.
SO WHY DON'T LET, LET HIM WALK US, LET HIM WALK US THROUGH THAT.
HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO ANSWER A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS YOU JUST VOCALIZED.
AND, AND I UNDERSTAND MICHAEL, IT CAN BE
UM, BUT WHAT I ATTEMPTED TO DO HERE IS, IS PULL TOGETHER AND I I WILL ZOOM IN, UM, A SUMMARY OF, OF THE COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED FROM NYSERDA WESTCHESTER COUNTY, WHICH ACTUALLY, UM, REALLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY COMMENTS.
I SHOULD HAVE NOTED THAT I P P, SOLAR PEAK AND EAGLE ARE ALL, UH, BEST PROVIDERS, SO THAT THERE WAS NO CONFUSION.
UM, SO I DO APOLOGIZE FOR THAT.
AND, UH, AS I MENTIONED, UH, GREENVILLE FIRE DISTRICT, UH, HAD COMMENTS AS WELL.
SO, AND TO YOUR POINT, MICHAEL, I'M NOT GOING TO, UH, SPEND EXORBITANT AMOUNT OF TIME ON ALL OF THESE, AND I DON'T INTEND TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM.
I WILL TRY AND, UM, HIGHLIGHT THE, THE, UH, SETBACK RELATED, UM, IN SOME OF THE OTHER AREAS WHERE I'VE HEARD, I, I'M PICKING UP FROM PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS THAT THERE COULD BE AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT.
BUT THE FORMAT OF THIS LETTER IS TO, UM, WHERE I HAVE READ, I PERSONALLY, WHEN I, IN PREPARING THIS, I DON'T FEEL THAT THE RECOMMENDATION MADE BY THE ENTITY MAKES SENSE.
AND, UM, IT'S NOT THAT I'M FAULTING THEM, I JUST EITHER THINK THAT, LIKE IN THE INSTANCE OF NYSERDA SUGGESTING WE NOT HAVE THREE TIERS, I JUST DON'T THINK THEY WERE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND
[01:20:01]
WHY WE HAVE THREE TIERS.UM, SO THE FORMAT OF THIS IS WHEN NYSERDA SAYS THAT I MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, THAT PLANNING BOARD, I, I PERSONALLY DON'T FEEL THAT WE SHOULD GO THAT ROUTE.
AND IF YOU FEEL OTHERWISE, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO, YOU KNOW, DISAGREE.
NOW, WHERE THERE'S GREEN SOMETIMES, IN MY OPINION, I RECOMMEND A DEFINITIVE CHANGE.
AND WHEN I FELT CONFIDENT, AND BELIEVE ME, I TOOK A VERY, UH, CONSERVATIVE APPROACH BEFORE I GO AHEAD AND TELL YOU ALL TO, YOU KNOW, RECOMMEND A CHANGE.
BUT I DO FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WHEN NI NYSERDA SAYS, UPDATE 75 KILOWATT HOURS IN OUR TIER ONE TO 80 KILOWATT HOURS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE NEW YORK STATE CODE, I THINK THAT'S A PRUDENT, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATION.
SO I FELT RATHER COMFORTABLE MAKING THIS RECOMMENDATION.
WHAT YOU'LL SEE AS YOU GO THROUGH HERE, I
AND AGAIN, WE'VE GOT A BEST COMMITTEE THAT'S GONNA BE LOOKING ABOUT THIS.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING.
BUT I MAKE A LOT OF DEFAULT COMMENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, BEFORE RECOMMENDING THIS.
I, I JUST REALLY THINK THE TOWN BOARD NEEDS MORE INFORMATION.
AND QUITE HONESTLY, I DON'T THINK IT'S TO DAVID FREE'S POINT, UH, EARLIER, I DON'T KNOW THAT THE PLANNING BOARD REALLY WANTS TO, YOU KNOW, GET DOWN TO THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL.
I MEAN, WE HAD A BEST COMMITTEE THAT, UH, I THINK I MENTIONED IN MY REMARKS OVER 11 MEETINGS MEETING ON AVERAGE OF ONE AND A HALF TO TWO HOURS.
YOU CAN JUST APPRECIATE THE KNOWLEDGE BASE THEY GAINED FROM THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, SO IT IT'S JUST TOUGHER PLANNING WORK.
BUT TO, UM, SETBACKS, LET ME GO AHEAD AND HIGHLIGHT LIKE THE PROTOTYPICAL SETBACK COMMENT, RIGHT? NYSERDA SAYS RECONSIDER FLEXIBILITY INSTEAD OF A HARD 100 FOOT PROPERTY LINE SETBACK FOR TIER TWO SYSTEMS. SO I'M THINKING TO MYSELF, OKAY, WELL WHAT WOULD I, AS STAFF, KNOWING WHAT I KNOW ABOUT BEST, HOW, HOW WOULD I APPROACH, YOU KNOW,
SO I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE BACKGROUND.
UM, MY RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE THAT THE TOWN BOARD CONSIDER, UH, FOLLOWING, REACHING OUT TO A ROOF THAT, THAT IT'S AN ADVISABLE, UH, MODIFICATION INCORPORATING SOME SORT OF WAIVER PROVISION TO BE ABLE TO REDUCE THE SETBACKS TO NO LESS THAN THE UNDERLYING ZONING DISTRICT'S PRINCIPAL BUILDING SETBACK, WHICH BY THE WAY IS SERTA'S, UH, DEFAULT RECOMMENDATION, BUT ONLY WHEN DEEMED ACCEPTABLE AS PART OF A HAZARD MITIGATION ANALYSIS.
SO YOU HAVE THAT SAFETY BASED RATIONALE FOR GRANTING A WAIVER AND ONLY, IF NOT PROXIMATE TO RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY OR RESIDENCE.
AND I WASN'T SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT THE, YOU KNOW, SHOOT A HUNDRED FEET OR WHATNOT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S A WAY TO APPROACH IT SO THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE FACTORING IN NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER SAFETY, UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND THE INDUSTRY HAD THE SAME COMMENT, RIGHT? WE DON'T, I, I DON'T THINK IT'S PRUDENT TO JUST DISMISS THEIR COMMENT, BUT THIS IS KIND OF FLEXIBLE.
IT ALLOWS US TO AGAIN, START THINK SAFETY, THINK NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER, GET MORE INFORMATION, UM, AND, AND, AND, AND, AND ULTIMATELY THE TOWN BOARD WILL RENDER A DECISION.
UM, SO THAT'S LIKE, I MEAN, THAT'S THE, AND I MAKE THIS COMMENT, UH, AGAIN, WHEN, WHEN, UH, I THINK ONE OF THE INDUSTRY PROVIDERS, UM, MADE A RECOMMENDATION, UH, TO BE MORE FLEXIBLE WITH THE A HUNDRED FOOT SETBACK.
UM, GOT MY COMMENT TO THAT ONE IS THAT HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH A HUNDRED FEET? WHY NOT 50 FEET? WHY NOT 75? SO WE HAVE TO BE COGNIZANT ABOUT PUTTING A NUMBER OUT, WHICH THE BUSINESSES LOOK AT IT AND THEY SAY, WHAT'S THE EASIEST, FASTEST WAY TO GET APPROVAL THROUGH THE MAZE OF, UH, DEPARTMENTS INTO THE TOWN OF LINDBERGH? AND I THINK THAT'S A POINT WHICH I THINK WE ALL ARE TRYING TO MAKE, THAT IF YOU DEFAULT TO THE NYSERDA, THEN YOU HAVE A VERY, UH, THE BUSINESS IS DOING, UH, IN OTHER TOWN FOLLOWS NYSERDA AND WE FOLLOW IT.
SO WE ARE NOT LIKE A STUCK UP, UH, SOMEBODY THAT WANTS TO HAVE THEIR OWN SAY AND SAY, WELL, BUT WE WILL CHANGE IT IF YOU PROVE IT OTHERWISE.
SO WHY DO WE DO THIS CI CIRCUITOUS WAY OF LI UH, WRITING LAW? THAT'S, THAT'S MY BASIC COMMENT.
I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU PUT A FLEXIBILITY, BUT WHY, WHY DO
[01:25:01]
THE TOWN OF GREENBURG IS LOCATED ON, ON A, A PLATEAU.AND, AND SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER IF IT'S A, IF IT IT, AND THE, AND THE SHOP, OR WAS THE SHOP STOP AND SHOP ON ONE TIME.
19 IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE WHEN, UH, WHEN, UH, IT, IT, IT A BUTTS A, A WALL, AND ON TOP OF THAT IS THE THROUGHWAY.
SO BACKYARD SETBACK BECAME IRRELEVANT OR NOT AS IMPORTANT, BILL PRETTY CLOSE TO THE, TO THE PRO THE PROPERTY LINE, RIGHT? SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE THOSE CONSIDERATIONS INTO EFFECT.
SO YOU WALTER, I, I, I, I, I HAVE, I'D, I'D LIKE TO FOLLOW UP ON WHAT CAR SAID.
YEAH, I MEAN, WHAT, WHAT THE RECOMMENDATION HERE IS THAT IT'S A HUNDRED FOOT SETBACK, UNLESS IT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, SHORTER BASED ON, UH, HAZARD MITIGATION MITIGATION ANALYSIS, RIGHT? BECAUSE YOU COULD FLIP IT, YOU COULD FLIP IT, YOU CAN SAY THE SETBACK SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THE UNDERLYING ZONING'S PRINCIPLE BUILDING SETBACK, UNLESS, YOU KNOW, IT APPEARS THAT THE SET SETBACK SHOULD BE MORE BASED ON POTENTIAL, YOU KNOW, PROBLEMS AND FIRE, UH, POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARDS.
YOU COULD FLIP IT POINT WELL TAKEN.
AS LONG AS WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE THOSE FLEXIBILITY, UH, DEPENDING UPON THE PARTICULAR TOPOGRAPHY OF THE PROPERTY.
I THINK EVERYBODY, NO, I, I, CAN I SAY SOMETHING? UH, MICHAEL, I THINK THAT'S AN INTERESTING, VERY GOOD SUGGESTION.
WHAT DO YOU DO DO WITH, WITH THE, UM, IF THE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OF ABUTS A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY? BECAUSE THAT ISN'T, THAT'S NOT A SAFETY ISSUE NECESSARILY.
I MEAN, THAT'S, I LOVE YOUR IDEA.
YOU TAKE EITHER GREEN, YOU TAKE, LET'S TAKE MIDWAY FOR AN EXAMPLE, ALRIGHT? OKAY.
MIDWAY BACKS UP RIGHT ONTO HOUSES.
STRAIGHT UP THE HILL, RIGHT? ON THE HOUSES, THERE'S VEGETATION ON THAT HILL.
DO YOU WANT, DO YOU WANT THAT WITHIN 20 FEET? DO YOU WANT, DO YOU WANT ONE OF THESE FACILITIES WITHIN 10 FEET OF THAT? WELL, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO KNOW, YOU KNOW, RECENT FIRE HISTORY OF THESE, YOU KNOW, STRUCTURES.
I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE GREENVILLE FIRE DISTRICT HAS TO SAY.
I'D GO TO THE SITE, YOU KNOW, I'D SEE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE TALK TO THE CHIEF.
UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU SAID BEFORE, WHEN THESE THINGS CATCH ON FIRE, YOU JUST GOTTA PUT WATER ON TO KEEP THEM COOL.
BUT I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THEM EXPLODING, YOU KNOW, SPREADING, YOU KNOW, SPREADING FLAMES AND OR BURNING.
THE REASON, THE REASON THEY DON'T IS BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT NEXT TO THE ONES THAT, FIRST OF ALL, PHOENIX, THE ONE IN ARIZONA WAS NOT NEAR ANYTHING.
THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT, AND MOST OF THE LARGE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT ARE NOT NEAR ANY STRUCTURE, THE LARGE ONES TO DATE.
CAN I INTERRUPT? GENERAL QUESTION IS, CAN I INTERRUPT? IT TURNS OUT THAT IT'S NOT SAFE TO PUT A FACILITY IN MIDWAY, WHICH IS CLOSE TO RE RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
THE APPLICATION WILL BE DENIED.
WE, WE ESTABLISHED THE POINT THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE FLEXIBILITY IN TERMS OF, OF, OF, UH, DISTANCE FROM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY DEPENDING UPON THE TOPOGRAPHY.
SO THAT'S, WE ESTABLISHED THAT, SO WE COULD, IN OUR RECOMMENDATION, WHETHER OR NOT WE, WE FLIP IT AS YOU SUGGEST OR WE DON'T, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, WE COULD HAVE TIME TO FIGURE THAT OUT.
BUT WE HAD, I LIKE TO DO IS TO IDENTIFY THE ISSUES AND THEN WE, SO THEN WHEN WE GO TO WRITE UP, WE CAN MOVE ON.
SO WE ALREADY IDENTIFIED THAT IT'S A VERY GOOD SUGGESTION.
WE DON'T HAVE TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO THAT.
IT'S A VERY GOOD SUGGESTION BY MICHAEL, I THINK.
BUT I'M SAYING WE DON'T HAVE TO WORK THAT OUT.
I FLAG IT AS AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT WE HAVE TO COME BACK TO.
LET'S, LET'S FINISH SDA, LOOK AT THE OTHER POINTS.
YEAH, WALTER, JUST ONE MORE COMMENT.
THAT'S WHAT I CALL WHAT MICHAEL SUGGESTED IS A IS A PRESCRIPTIVE SOLUTION RATHER THAN DESCRIPTIVE.
SO WHAT WE ARE DOING, SO, OKAY, WE TAG THAT I THINK ANYWHERE WE HAVE.
[01:30:01]
TAG THAT, THAT WE KNOW WE HAVE TO, THAT THAT'S A POINT THAT WE HAVE TO DEDUCT.LET'S GET THROUGH THE OTHER POINTS.
I MEAN, UM, JUST LIKE 13 AND 14 ARE BOTH, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT I FELT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.
UM, COMMENT REGARDING 16 SITE LINES.
OKAY, SO THAT WAS JUST NOT APPLICABLE.
I DON'T THINK THERE WAS UNDER UNDERSTANDING THERE ON THE BEHALF OF NYSERDA, UH, RECOMMEND NOT ADOPTING A LIMITATION ON THE NUMBER OF TIER THREE SYSTEMS. RECOMMEND NOT HAVING LINEAR DISTANCE FROM SUBSTATION FOR TIER THREE.
UH, MORE FLEXIBLE BUFFER REQUIREMENT FOR TIER THREE, RECOMMEND MORE FLEXIBLE SETBACKS FOR TIER THREE.
SO AGAIN, TIER THREE, UM, ARE DEFINED AS THOSE LARGER LARGE SCALE FACILITIES THAT WOULD BE CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE TWO, UH, SUBSTATIONS IN OR NEAR THE TOWN OF GREENBURG.
AND AGAIN, UM, LIKE THE CERTAINTY OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE POOL OF SITES ARE, THAT THEY'RE BIG ENOUGH TO, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE GOOD BUFFERS.
AND, UM, SO I, I DEFINITELY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND, UM, YOU KNOW, ALLOWING UNLIMITED NUMBER OF SITES OFF OF EACH SUBSTATION BECAUSE THEN YOU START GETTING INTO UNCERTAINTY AND YOU START GETTING A LOT OF APPLICATIONS THAT COULD CHANGE THE CHARACTER OF, YOU KNOW, A LIMITED ONE NICELY BUFFERED SITE FROM EACH.
AND ONE THING I WANT WANNA ADD TO WHAT GARRETT SAID IS, JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW, WHEN, WHEN THIS, WHEN THE LAW WAS DRAFTED, IT WASN'T DONE IN A VACUUM IN TERM EVERY TIME, JUST LIKE WHEN WE LOOK AT A NEW LAW LIKE C C F, WE ACTUALLY ANALYZED THE POTENTIAL SITES WHERE THE THING COULD GO AND TO SEE IF IT WAS REASONABLE AND WORKABLE.
ONE OF THE CONCERNS IS OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T WANNA STRETCH.
I MEAN, IF YOU HAVE TO PUT UP A NEW TRANSMISSION LINE, EITHER, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S ABOVE GROUND, IT'S, WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT.
IF WE COULD POSSIBLY AVOID IT, OBVIOUSLY.
BUT EVEN BELOW GROUND, IT'S, IT'S DISRUPTIVE.
YOU HAVE TO DIG UP A WHOLE WHOLE AREA AND, AND CAN CAUSE SOME ISSUES.
SO THAT'S WHY WE WANNA KEEP IT WITH A, YOU KNOW, WITHIN A, A CERTAIN DISTANCE IF POSSIBLE, OF THE SUBSTATIONS.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S WHY YOU REVIEW THE LAW IN TWO YEARS.
BECAUSE IF IT TURNS OUT THIS ISN'T A BIG DEAL, WE MAY, WE MAY ADD TO THAT.
AND JUST, JUST TO, TO GIVE A FLAVOR, I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A FLAVOR OF THESE THREE COMMENTS.
UM, CONSIDER LESSENING, THIS IS FROM NYSERDA, THE REQUIREMENT TO UPDATE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN ANNUALLY BASED ON THE QUALITY OF PLAN RECEIVED.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE, THE TOWN BOARD REVIEW FOLLOWING INPUT FROM AUP AND THE BUILDING INSPECTOR.
SO, UM, YOU'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, I'M, I PERSONALLY AM NOT SAYING YES OR NO, WHETHER THIS IS PRUDENT.
I'M SAYING LET'S GET MORE INFORMATION, PASS THAT ALONG TO THE TOWN BOARD AND THE TOWN BOARD WILL MAKE A DECISION, UH, REPLACE N F P A 70 WITH NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE.
UM, I MEAN, THAT'S ONE, ULTIMATELY I'D HAVE TO DEFER TO A RUON IN MY OPINION.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE DON'T WANNA LOSE THE, UH, N F P A, UH, REFERENCE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S SOME NUANCE HERE, QUITE HONEST.
UM, AND THAT THE OTHER N F P, UH, COMPONENTS OF THE CODE SHOULD STAY.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S ALL, A LOT OF THESE ARE ABOUT, UM, QUESTION WHAT HAPPENS TO EIGHT 50, WHAT HAPPENS TO 8 55 IF YOU DO WHAT THE, THAT SORT, JUST ASKING AND COMMENT NINE.
SO ON, QUITE HONESTLY, I THINK THIS IS JUST INFORMATION THAT A GROUP COULD EASILY ADVISE THE TOWN BOARD ON, BECAUSE 8 55 I THINK IS CRITICAL, RIGHT? RIGHT.
RUTH MADE THAT VERY CLEAR YEAH.
CONCERN THAT, SO NYSERDA HAS CONCERN THAT THE FIREPROOF SEPARATION OF THE MONITORING SYSTEM FROM THE BATTERIES MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE.
UM, SO THAT'S CLEARLY SOMETHING THAT, UM, THAT WAS CUSTOMIZED AS PART OF OUR LOCAL LAW.
UM, SO I'M SAYING, LOOK, LET'S CHECK WITH AUP AND, UM, AND, AND THE BUILDING INSPECTOR AND, AND, AND THAT IF THEY THINK THAT, UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A MECHANISM THAT'S INFEASIBLE AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO SHUT DOWN BES IN THE TOWN, SO LET'S, LET'S LET THEM ADVISE OUR TOWN BOARD ON THAT.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF THESE TYPES OF CATEGORIES WHICH PERMEATE THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE DOCUMENT, UM, AS FAR AS LET'S LET A RU BUILDING INSPECTOR, UH, FIRE OFFICIALS, UM, LEGAL, UM, ADVISE US.
WELL, ALSO YOU WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE, FROM A RU AND ACTUALLY SOME OF THE MANUFACTURER, THE, THE, THE COMPANY IS DOING IT, HOW ACTIONABLE IT IS TO SEPARATE IT, IT MAY NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THE MONITORING SYSTEM, ONCE IT FAILS, IT SENDS, SENDS A SIGNAL.
SO AT THAT POINT, IF IT, IF IT, IF IT BURNS UP, IT MAY NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
SO THIS IS THE FORMAT OF THE LETTER.
AND, AND, AND, AND, AND, AND I DO, SO THIS GO BACK TO 11, GO BACK TO COMMENT 11 THOUGH, OR TO, YEAH.
[01:35:01]
GOOD.I THINK THE ONLY WAY I WOULD DO THAT IS I WOULD, I WOULD EXCLUDE, UH, YOU CAN LOOK AT IT IN INDUSTRIAL AREAS, BE ABSOLUTELY.
'CAUSE IT'S NOT JUST AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE, IT'S A SITE ISSUE TOO.
AN AESTHETICS ISSUE AND A, AND POTENTIALLY A NOISE ISSUE IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA.
SO WHAT I WOULD DO, IF YOU'RE GONNA RE-LOOK AT THAT, I WOULDN'T LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF, UH, AUP TO IDENTIFY THAT BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHY, WHY IT'S IN THERE.
IN HINDSIGHT, REREADING THIS, I MEAN, LOOK, WHEN YOU HAVE THE TWO ACRE MINIMUM, YOU HAVE CERTAINTY, YOU KNOW, IT, THEY'RE THE BIGGER SITES.
SO ACTUALLY I THINK IN HINDSIGHT, I WOULD'VE SAID, UM, I WOULD'VE BACKED UP WITH THE RATIONALE WHY WE HAD THE TWO ACRE MINIMUM.
WELL, MY, MY MY SUGGESTION GARRETT, POTENTIALLY, IF YOU WANTED TO CHANGE IT AT ALL, IS EXCLUDE RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS, RIGHT? FROM, FROM THAT.
'CAUSE IN AN INDUSTRIAL AREA, IT MAY, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DO IT LESS.
BUT YEAH, CLEARLY IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA WOULDN'T DO THAT.
AND RECALL, OUR, OUR LOCAL LAW DOES, UH, MAKE THAT DISTINCTION, RIGHT? THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS GO DOWN TO ONE ACRE, SO, UM, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT.
SO I THINK IT BE SHOULD BE REFLECTED HERE ALSO, UH, DO WE HAVE A COMMENT IN TERMS OF, UH, FIRE SAFETY TRAINING? WALTER, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO A COMMENT, I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH ON THAT LAST POINT.
UH, MOVING FROM, UH, RESIDENTIAL AREAS, WE'VE ALL, WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THESE FACILITIES IN TERMS OF, UM, ALMOST BEING OUTDOOR STRUCTURES LIKE THE ONE AT EAGLE ENERGY.
HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, WHAT IF A MODEL CAME OUT THAT COULD BE HOUSED INSIDE OF BUILDINGS THAT HAS A FIRE RETARDANT SYSTEMS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA, THAT COULD BE MODELED LIKE A RESIDENTIAL HOME, AS OPPOSED TO HAVING IT BE IN A COMMERCIAL AREA.
IT ALREADY HAS ALL OF THE PARAMETERS TO PREVENT IT FROM BEING A HAZARD TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD PER SE.
BUT TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, AS TECHNOLOGY EVOLVES, UH, HOUSE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY ABANDONED COULD BE MODELED TO LOOK LIKE A HOME AND ULTIMATELY JUST BE A STORAGE FACILITY, EXCEPT THAT THERE WILL BE NO HUMAN RESIDENCE THERE.
I'M TRYING TO THINK THAT FAR AHEAD.
THE FIRST ONE, I HOPE NOT THAT THERE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE, UH, BUILDINGS RIGHT NOW FULLY FIRE PROTECTED, UH, COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL, JUST COMMERCIAL BUILDING IN THE COMMERCIAL AREAS, RIGHT? THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT, SO THE TECHNOLOGY IS THERE, RIGHT? UH, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A TWO YEAR WINDOW.
I WOULD BE, I WOULD, I PERSONALLY WOULD NOT SUPPORT SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THE CURRENT LAW BECAUSE WE DON'T NOW KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT IT.
BUT THAT'S WHY WE ARE ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATION THAT BUILT INTO THE LAW.
YOU HAVE TO REVIEW IT EVERY TWO YEARS TO SEE WHERE TECHNOLOGY IS GOING.
AND SO YOU COULD KEEP UP WITH TECHNOLOGY.
LET ME ADDRESS IT A DIFFERENT WAY THOUGH.
FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T WANNA PROLIFERATE LARGE STORAGE FACILITIES IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
I THINK THAT IS A, WOULD BE A LAND USE DISASTER.
IN FACT, THE ORIGINALLY WE WERE GONNA BAN TIER TWO, THE BEST, THE, THE ORIGINAL WAY DIRECTION, THE, THE BATTERY COMMITTEE WAS GOING WAS TO BAND TIER TWO IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
AND THEN WE SAID, WELL, GEE, THAT'S WRONG BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT INSTITUTIONS THAT COULD EASILY USE THESE THINGS LIKE SCHOOLS AND HOSPITAL AND CCCS.
THAT'S THE ONLY PLACE THEY BELONG IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
SO I WOULDN'T, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT.
THE OTHER THING I DON'T KNOW ABOUT STRUCTURES IS, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU DON'T WANNA DO IS, IT GOES BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE SAYING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN NEVADA.
ONE OF THE THINGS YOU DON'T WANNA DO IS TRAP THE GAS INSIDE A BUILDING BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT EXPLODES.
IT'S, YOU'RE RIGHT, IT'S NOT THE BATTERY THAT EXPLODES, IT'S THE GAS COMING OFF FROM IT.
IN FACT, THE WAY THOSE ARE BUILT TODAY ARE SO THE GAS ESCAPES AND GOES UP.
SO I'M NOT EVEN SURE UNLESS YOU HAVE REALLY GOOD VENTILATION, OKAY? YOU HAVE TO GET INTO BUILDING HEIGHT VENTILATION SYSTEMS. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT AT THIS POINT.
ON THE, ON THE, I I'M NOT RECOMMENDING THAT EITHER, BUT I'M SAYING YOU DO HAVE COMMERCIAL STRUCTURES THAT HAVE, UH, VENTILATION.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A QUESTION OF HAVING A, UH, A DISTANCE, UH, THE ROOF'S STANDING ON STILTS.
SO YOU HAVE THE BUILDING SIDE, AND THEN MAYBE YOU HAVE THREE FEET OR SO ABOVE THAT AND YOU HAVE THE ROOF, AND THEN SO YOU HAVE THE VENTILATION ON DIRECT VENT.
YOU COULD DO DIRECT VENTING TOO.
[01:40:01]
SO I'M SAYING THEY'RE ALL COMMERCIAL STRUCTURES THAT A BUILD HAVE A BUILDING AROUND IT, RIGHT? SO THE POINT, THE POINT I WAS MAKING IS THAT IF TECHNOLOGY WILL EVOLVE TO THE POINT WHERE THE, THE, THE, UM, FACILITY ITSELF DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AS VAST AS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.AND, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AT, UH, SPACES WHERE THESE TYPE OF FACILITIES COULD BE PLACED RIGHT NOW IS PROHIBITIVE FOR RESIDENTIAL FOR THE TIER TWO, BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING AT HAVING A LARGER LOT.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO RECOMMEND IS, AND JUST FOR CONSIDERATION SAKE, WHAT IF THAT REQUIREMENT FOR THE LARGER LOT WERE REMOVED, THAT WOULD CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, PROBABLY FACILITATE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF MODEL DOWN THE ROAD.
SO I'M NOT, NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULD REMOVE THE SIZE LIMITATION, UH, FOR THE TIER TWO.
I'M JUST ASKING OKAY,
THE BOTTOM LINE IS, I, I DON'T THINK WE WANT COMMER COMMERCIAL FACILITIES ENCOURAGE COMMERCIAL FACILITIES IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS, RIGHT? PERIOD.
I THINK THAT IS AGAINST JUST BASICALLY AGAINST LAND USE CONCEPTS AND THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO AVOID DOING IN TERMS OF CAPACITY.
WE MAY FIND IF EVERYBODY GETS IN THERE, MAYBE INSTEAD OF IT BE THE TIER ONE MAY EXPAND OKAY.
TO A SLIGHTLY LARGER THING, BUT IT'S FOR THEIR OWN USE.
AND THEN FEEDING IT BACK IF THEY HAVE EXTRA, IF THEY HAVE, AGAIN, THE PROBLEM IS THIS IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY GENERA GREEN GENERATION.
THAT MAY, ONCE WE DO THAT, THAT MAY CHANGE IT.
IN FACT, IF, IF SOMEONE PUTS A, UM, SOLAR PANEL ON THE ROOF, WE MAY GIVE AN INCENTIVE BY SAYING, OKAY, INSTEAD OF AN 85, AN 80 KILOWATT UNIT, YOU CAN HAVE 150 KILOWATT SO THAT YOU CAN FEED POWER BACKING OF THE SYSTEM TOO AND GET YOUR BILL REDUCED.
YOU CAN DO THAT TO ENCOURAGE GREEN ENERGY, BUT WE'RE NOT AT THAT POINT YET.
REMEMBER, THIS IS JUST STORAGE YOU, I WILL STILL, I WONDER, I MAKE HOLD POSITION, FINISH.
I STILL WONDER POSITION CAN I, CAN I MAKE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS? I'LL GO TO YOU AS SOON AS I FINISH.
I WILL STILL MAKE THE, TAKE THE POSITION THAT IN TWO YEARS WE, WE, WE PUT IT'S ON THE TABLE.
AND IF TECHNOLOGY HAVE NOT ADVANCED TO A POINT WHERE IT IS STILL NOT COMPATIBLE, HATABLE WITH A, A RESIDENTIAL AREA, THEN IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
BUT I AM NOT GOING TO SAY THAT SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD YOU CANNOT BUILD A A, A COMMERCIAL FAC UH, BATTERY PACK IS THE SIZE OF A 55 GALLON DRUM.
THEREFORE IT, UH, AND IT CANNOT BE PUT THERE.
SO THE THING IS, I'M NOT SAYING, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS A KID, UH, THE, THE DICK TRACY WATCH WAS SOMETHING UNBELIEVABLE.
SO I, ALL I'M SAYING WE BUILD IN THIS TWO YEAR REVIEW AND AFTER EVERY TWO YEARS WE LOOK AT THE TECHNOLOGY PERIOD.
AND THEN WE MAKE OUR DECISIONS EVERY TWO YEARS BASED UPON TECH, BASED UPON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
DO WE HAVE ANY PROVISION FOR LIKE NEW YORK CITY, WHICH ALLOWS A ROOFTOP INSTALLATION OF LARGE, UH, LARGE INSTALLATION OF, UH, UH, BATTERY, BATTERY FACILITIES, LIKE BATTERY STORAGE? UH, DO WE, UH, WITHOUT, I, I DON'T THINK, UH, IF I, IT'S NOT IN THIS CODE BATTERY.
PUT IT ON THE, LIKE SAY MULTIFAMILY, IF THEY WANTED TO PUT IT ON THEIR ROOF, DO WE ALLOW IT? I WOULDN'T.
AND I LET NOT THIS CODE, THE CURRENT CODE THAT'S YOU DOES NOT HAVE THAT PROVISION IN FOR, FOR ROOFTOP.
IT DOES NOT HAVE THE PROVISION IN TO PUT IT IN, UM, UH, A LARGE UNIT INDOORS IN A MULTI-FAMILY BUILDING.
WELL, I'M TALKING ABOUT ROOFTOP WALTER.
YOU WOULD THINK FOR A SHOPPING CENTER, FOR EXAMPLE, OKAY, LIKE MIDWAY, RIGHT, YOU GOT A BIG FLAT ROOF.
PROBLEM IS ACCORDING TO PEOPLE WE'VE TALKED TO
[01:45:01]
THE ROOF AT MIDWAY WOULDN'T SUPPORT THE WEIGHT NECESSARY FOR THE BATTERIES RIGHT.SECOND, HOW DO YOU FI FIGHT THAT? FIRE ACCESS IS ANO IS ANOTHER ISSUE.
SO IN NEW YORK CITY, WELL, WELL, CORRECT.
WE HAVE, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE DOING BATTERIES.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE DOING BATTERIES ON THE ROOF.
WHAT'S BEFORE US? THE, UH, THE COMMITTEE HAVE NOT LOOKED INTO.
I CAN'T SAY IT'S A GOOD IDEA OR NOT.
BUT THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING I DO WANNA SAY, THIS IS NOT, WE DO NOT LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY.
RIGHT? NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK.
NO, I WANNA MAKE A POINT HERE 'CAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
NEW YORK CITY HAS A VERY HIGHLY SPECIALIZED AND TRAINED FIRE DEPARTMENT WITH ALL SORTS OF EQUIPMENT THAT WE DON'T HAVE.
OKAY? SO WHAT NEW YORK CITY CAN CAPABLE IN BROOKLYN, NOT IN THE RESIDENTIAL IN OAKLAND, OF COURSE THEY DO.
NEW YORK CITY GENTLEMEN, WE'RE INTO A THEORETICAL ARGUMENT, OKAY? WHAT'S BEFORE US DOES NOT INCLUDE, UH, A BATTERY STORAGE ON ROOFS.
WE HAVE DONE NO RESEARCH ON THAT.
AND AGAIN, I SAY IF IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS WE, WHEN WE REVIEW IT AGAIN, WE HAVE MORE DATA THAN THAT MIGHT BE A CONSIDERATION.
BUT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE NO DATA ON THAT.
THAT IS NOT PART OF THE CODE THAT WAS PRESENTED TO US.
AND UN YOU KNOW, UNLESS YOU KNOW THE BOARD FEEL DIFFERENTLY THAT WE'RE IN A POSITION TO RECOMMEND ROOFTOP FACILITIES, THEN I SEE, YOU KNOW, NO POINT IN DISCUSSING THAT ANYMORE BECAUSE THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO UNLESS THE BOARD FEELS DIFFERENTLY.
YOU WANT TO VOTE OTHERWISE, BUT, SO LET'S, LET'S MOVE ON TO SOMETHING THAT'S ON THE TABLE THAT WE CAN MAKE SOME REASONABLE DECISIONS ON.
AND I SAID FOR ROOFTOP, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT, CORRECT.
BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S, THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR US TO CONSIDER IT.
SO, OKAY, SO RIGHT NOW TESLA IS OFFERING FOR SOLAR ROOFS ON YOUR HOME.
YOU CAN GET A 13.5 KILOWATT BATTERY BACKUP FOR YOUR HOUSE, YOUR OWN BATTERY, YEAH.
SO WHERE DID, WHERE IS THAT FALLING? ARE THEY GONNA NEED ANYTHING? 'CAUSE THAT'S GOING TO, YOU KNOW, IN ANOTHER YEAR, THAT'S GONNA BE A BIGGER BATTERY AND THAT'S GONNA BE A BIGGER BATTERY.
IT WOULD BE ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONAL BATTERY BUILDING.
OH, I WAS GONNA SAY IT WOULD BE A, IT'S AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS THROUGH THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT REGULATED, BUT NOT A SPECIAL PERMIT.
AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA NEED ANY SPECIAL FIRE PREVENTION OR ANYTHING? NO.
THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT, YOU HAVE TO READ ALL THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT RULES, UM, ON THAT IN TERMS OF THE PROPER SAFETY, UH, CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND EVERYTHING ON THE DISTANCE, YOU KNOW, ALL THE, YOU SURE WE ALREADY HAVE THEM HERE IN GREENBURG? YEAH, WE DO.
YES, IT'S REGULATED BY THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT.
NOW, IS THERE ANY MORE POINTS THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO RAISE, IF NOT GARRETT, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD START TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING TO MAYBE EVEN SHOW US SOMETHING ON WEDNESDAY, BUT WE WOULD RECOGNIZE THAT THAT WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE AT THAT TIME, BUT AT LEAST SHOW THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE CAPTURING SOME OF THE COMMENTS.
UH, IS, IS, DOES THAT SEEM REASONABLE OR, OR WE, UH, YOU NEED MORE TIME? WELL, I THINK I COULD PUT TOGETHER A FEW BULLETS, UM, THAT SORT OF OUTLINE, UM, AND ENCAPSULATE WHAT WE'VE HEARD THUS FAR.
AND I DON'T, I THINK THAT THAT'S REASONABLE BY WEDNESDAY.
AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, FOR A BRIEF DISCUSSION TO SAY, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
AND WHAT I WOULD DO IS, UM, OVER THE NEXT, UM, WEEK OR TWO, UM, TAKE A LOOK AT THE COMMENTS, UH, FROM THE MAY 14TH MEMO AND, UM, ANYTHING I DON'T PUT IN THE OUTLINE, YOU KNOW, JUST SUPPLEMENT AND, UM, WE CAN CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, ADD TO, TO YOUR RECOMMENDATION.
[01:50:03]
I THINK THE BIGGEST HOLE AT THIS POINT IS HOW WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE TR TRAINED AND EQUIPPED TO FIRE, FIRE SAFETY.I THINK THAT, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF AGREEMENT, UH, OVER THE, DOING THE FOOTPRINT TO GIVE 'EM THE FLEXIBILITY.
I THINK MICHAEL SUGGESTED IT'S A TERRIFIC ONE IN TERMS OF TURNING THE, THE LAW AROUND.
SO IT LOOKS SO, SO THE FLEXIBILITY IS CLEARLY HIGHLIGHTED THAT WAY VERSUS THE WAY WE'VE GOT IT.
I THINK THAT MAKES IT BETTER FOR, FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, ARE THE APPLICANTS TO COME IN BECAUSE THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS THEN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
WHICH I THINK IS A GOOD, GOOD THING IN THAT, IN THAT CASE.
SO I THINK WE'RE THERE IN TERMS OF THAT.
AS I SAID, THE HARDEST THING IS GOING TO BE, WE'VE GOT ALL THE, WE'VE GOT DISPARATE OPINIONS FROM, FROM FIRE DISTRICTS.
WE'VE HAD THIS PROBLEM ON NUMEROUS, NUMEROUS LAWS.
BUT IN THIS CASE, I'M WORRIED MORE THAN NORMAL BECAUSE THE SAFETY OF THOSE OF OUR FIREFIGHTERS THEMSELVES COULD, COULD BE, COULD BE, UH, AT RISK HERE IF WE DON'T DO THIS RIGHT.
AND, UM, HOW WE DO THAT IS GONNA BE VERY DIFFICULT.
GARRETT, ONE THING, HAVE YOU TALKED BESIDES, WHILE, UH, MR. GRODEN HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL, HAVE YOU TALKED TO THE OTHER FIRE, FIRE COMMISSIONERS AND GOTTEN SOME SUGGESTIONS FROM THEM OF HOW WE COULD ENSURE THAT PEOPLE ARE PROPERLY TRAINED IN A CLIP? I MEAN, ONE THING I KNOW IS ABOUT HAVING, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY DONATE, UH, EQUIPMENT, BUT WE CAN'T DO THAT FOR EVERY PROJECT, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
WE COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT POTENTIALLY.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, HAVE YOU TALKED TO, TO, UH, ALL THE FIRE COMMISSIONERS INVOLVED, THE FIRE CHIEFS INVOLVED, UH, TO VARYING DEGREES? UM, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY ALL OF THE FIRE DISTRICTS INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE THE LOCAL LAW UPON REFERRAL BY THE TOWN BOARD.
SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S A GOOD TIME TO CHECK BACK.
I CAN MAKE SOME PHONE CALLS AND, YOU KNOW, HEY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE LAW? UM, IS THERE ANY CONCERNS? AND MAYBE I CAN HIGHLIGHT.
SO I MEAN, I, I DO THINK THAT THE, THE LAWS, UM,
I MEAN, I THINK NYER, NYSERDA PUT US ON A GOOD PATH WITH, UM, A LOT OF THE SAFETY PROVISIONS AND, UM, CLEARLY WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF ARO, UH, THE, THE SAFETY ASPECTS BECAME MORE ROBUST.
I MEAN, I SEE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, GREENVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS COMMENTED ON.
I ABSOLUTELY SEE, UH, THE LOCAL LAW INCORPORATING, UH, SEVERAL OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET STRONGER.
SO, UH, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING IN WRITING FROM THE OTHER FIRE DISTRICTS, BUT, UH, I, I WILL GO OUT AND, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST SOLICIT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S AN UNDERSTANDING AND, AND, AND BE PROACTIVE IN THAT REGARD.
THE SPECIFIC, BUT, BUT LET ME FOCUS IS A VERY SPECIFIC QUESTION HERE.
HOW ARE WE GONNA GET 'EM TRAINED? HOW ARE WE GONNA GET 'EM EQUIPPED? THAT IS THE QUE THAT TO ME IS A PRIMARY CONCERN.
NOT WHETHER OR NOT, NOT THEY B THEY AGREE WITH 8 55 OR NOT.
IT, IT'S HOW, WHAT IS THE MECHANISM TO ENSURE THOSE PEOPLE ARE TR PROPERLY TRAINED AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THESE THINGS? TO ME, THAT'S A QUESTION I WOULD ASK THEM VERY SPECIFICALLY AND TRY TO GET SOME FEEDBACK TO THAT THEM, SO WE COULD MAKE A, A LOGICAL RECOMMENDATION ON THAT SPECIFIC ISSUE TO THE TOWN BOARD.
SO WHEN I MAKE THE CALLS, I WILL HIGHLIGHT THAT.
AND I THINK TO MONA'S POINT BEFORE, THERE IS A PROVISION IN THE LOCAL LAW THAT SAYS THAT, UM, APPLICATIONS SHALL BE REFERRED TO THE APPLICABLE FIRE DISTRICT.
I THINK IT SHOULD ALSO INDICATE, AND, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL MUTUAL AID, MUTUAL AID DISTRICTS, RIGHT? THAT THEY'RE ON NOTICE THAT, UM, OF WHERE ALL THE SITES ARE.
SO, UM, YEAH, I, I, I THINK THAT, THAT WE'RE ON A GOOD PATH WITH REGARDS TO SAFETY, BUT WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO IMPROVE IT, BY ALL MEANS, I'M GLAD TO BE A PART OF THAT PROCESS.
NOW, GARY, IS THERE AN, UH, UH, AN ASSOCIATION OR ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRE, UH, CHIEFS IN THE, IN THE TOWN? DID THEY MEET OR HAVE MEETINGS TO COORDINATE OR ANYTHING? ARE YOU AWARE OF? I, I'M NOT AWARE.
BUT, BUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD BE NICE IF THEY HAD A SUCH AN ORGANIZATION.
SO WHEN YOU HAVE THESE ISSUES THAT AFFECTS THE WHOLE TOWN, THEN YOU COULD GO THERE AND THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY COULD, YOU COULD GET FEEDBACK.
BUT SEEING HOW WE DON'T HAVE THAT, SO YOU HAVE TO DO ONE-ON-ONE WITH EACH OF THE FIRE DISTRICTS.
MICHAEL WAS A, YOU WERE THE, WITH THE GREENVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? SO LONG TIME AGO.
[01:55:01]
THE, THE TURNAROUND AND ALL OF THIS STUFF.AND EVERY FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS A VERY DIFFERENT CRITERIA AS, AND WE GET INTO A KIND OF A CONFUSION, THE DIFFERENCE HERE, THE DIFFERENCE HERE, COR VERSUS WHETHER OR NOT THEY NEED A LARGER CO CUL-DE-SAC OR NOT.
IS IS THE FACT THIS IS SERIOUS, THE FACT THEY'VE GOTTA BE PREPARED TO DO THIS? YEAH.
I MEAN, THAT, THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE.
SO, YOU KNOW, JUST ASKING THEM FOR FEEDBACK.
YEAH, I KNOW WE'VE GOT THIS IN OUR DISTRICT.
OKAY, BUT ARE YOU PREPARE, ARE YOU PREPARED TO DEAL WITH IT? HAVE YOU HAD THE TRAINING TO DO IT? DO YOU HAVE THE EQUIPMENT TO DO IT? THAT'S, AND AND WE CAN'T WAIT.
IF, UM, ARE THERE ANY OTHER POINTS THAT MEMBERS NEED TO MAKE OR GARRETT, ANY MORE DIRECTIONS YOU NEED FROM US? NO, I, I THINK THIS WAS HELPFUL.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A
I WOULD JUST MAKE THE RECOMMENDATION, UM, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT GARRETT, UH, PRESENTED IS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT IT AGAIN.
I THINK HE REALLY DID A GOOD JOB OF SEEING WHERE THE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, THE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION FROM VARIOUS GROUPS.
AND I THINK THAT'S A GOOD MODEL, UH, GOING FORWARD FOR YOUR NEXT MEETING, IT'S JUST TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
YEAH, THAT'S THE MAY 14TH MEMO, UH, FROM GARY.
THAT, THAT WAS IN YOUR PACKAGE.
SO IF YOU DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO SEE IT, UH, UH, YEAH, PLEASE, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, UH, BECAUSE HE DID AN EXCELLENT JOB, UH, DISTILLING A LOT OF THE INFORMATION AND, AND POINTING OUT THE RELATIONSHIP, UH, TO THE PROPOSED LAW THAT, UH, THE PROPOSED THIS LAW.
THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY IN THAT REGARD IS I WOULDN'T FEEL OBLIGATED AS A PLANNING BOARD TO SAY, YOU KNOW, YAY OR NO YAY OR NAY ON EVERY LAST, UH, NO, NO, NO COMMENT.
BUT IF THERE ARE SOME THAT STICK OUT THAT ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE BOARD, I WOULD HIGHLIGHT THEM.
AND THEN YOU MAY BE ABLE TO JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, A MULTITUDE OF OTHER COMMENTS WERE RECEIVED.
IN GENERAL, WE FEEL THAT MORE INFORMATION FROM THE BUILDING INSPECTOR, UH, A GROUP LEGAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS, IS NECESSARY FOR THE TOWN BOARD TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE WILL GET TO THAT INFORMED DECISION.
YEAH, AND, AND I, AND I THINK THE OTHER POINT IS THAT WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS A RECOMMENDATION.
WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO SOLVE EACH POINT, BUT WE CAN HIGHLIGHT.
WE SEE, AND THE CLASSIC THING IS TRAINING.
WE SEE THE ISSUE OF TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT IS A VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE, AND THAT MUST BE RESOLVED IN ORDER TO MAKE THE, THIS LAW WORK.
SO COMMENTS LIKE THAT ARE VALUABLE, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT THE MERE FACT THAT WE POINT OUT A PROBLEM AND CLEARLY STATE TO THE TOWN BOARD, IT MUST BE ADDRESSED.
THAT'S GOOD INFORMATION AND THAT'S GOOD RECOMMENDATION.
WITH THAT SAID, I ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE SPECIAL MEETING.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR TAKING THE TIME AND COMING TO SEE.