Plan Commission - Regular Meeting

We're live, boys. We're live. We need like a church to Yeah. help people find you're on the seats. Well, I think we're getting closer. That's going first. Good evening everyone. Thank you for all being here. Can you

hear us? Okay. Back in the back. Okay. How about now? Okay. Any better? Is that better? Okay. Thank you. Okay. There is some extra seats up here if anyone would like to come up front and have have a seat because I know some of you are standing in the back. So, okay. With that, I'd like to uh call the CSRO Jackson Township Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. And with that, Mr. Zawatsky, would you do roll call, please? Yes, sir. Mr. President, be happy to. Dan Strong,

present. Wendy Gillespie, present. Harrison Misani, present. Dennis Shump, present. Dennis Johnson, present. Eric Hayden, uh, excuse me, that should read uh, Jacob Everett, present. So, Mr. Ever is a, uh, new replacement to the planning commission, uh, replacing Mr. Hayden from the town council. Continuing on, Mark Diller, present. Mark Thomas, present. Ford Hedner, present. Our legal counsel, Aaron Culp, present. I am Frank Sawazki, plan director, and I am present. And good evening, Mrs. Strong, recording from home.

Thank you, Mr. Zawatski. We do have nine members present. So, all of our members are present this evening, so we can conduct business. And with that, we do have some uh housekeeping and some business to do before we hear the petitions this evening at our uh first meeting of the year. We do need to elect officers. So, with that, I would look for a motion to open nominations for president. Mr. President, Dennis Trump, I move we open the nominations for president. Thank you, Mr. Shrimp. Looking for a second.

Mr. President, Ford Heer, I second that motion. Thank you, Mr. Heavner. Okay, now nominations are open for president. Mr. President, I would nominate Dan Strong to be president for the coming year. Mr. Chairman, Mark Thomas. I'll second that. Okay. Other nominations. You don't need to be shy. Okay, seeing no other nominations, I would look for a motion to close the nominations. So move Dennis Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Would you like to second that?

Thank you, Mr. Gillespie. So, we have a motion and a second to close nominations for president. All in favor signify to say I. I. Any opposed? Okay, we only had one nomination and that was for Dan Strong. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Thank you for your vote of confidence and allowing me to continue as a president and I appreciate that. But uh as I say, I'm more than willing to uh fill another seat. So consider that for the future at least. So with that, moving on to vice president. I will look for a motion to open vice president nominations. So moved. Harrison Misani. Thank you, Mr. Msani. Second, Dennis Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Nominations are now open for vice president. Looking for nominations.

Mr. Chairman, I'll nominate Harrison Masani. Mr. Chairman, I nominate Harrison Msani for vice president. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dennis Trump. I'll second that. Thank you, Mr. Shrup. Other nominations? Seeing none, I would look for a motion to close nominations for vice president. So moved. Dennis Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Looking for a second. Second, Dennis Trump. Thank you, Mr. Shrup. Nominations for vice president are now closed. We had one nomination and that was Harrison Misani. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Misani. Uh, moving on to secretary. Motion to open nominations for secretary. So moved. Harrison Msani. Thank you, Mr. Msani. Looking for a second. Second, Mark Dylan. Thank you, Mr. Diller. Nominations are now open for secretary. Anyone want to be secretary? It's good practice.

Uh, Mr. Chairman Harris Msani. I would like to nominate Mark Thomas. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Misani. Looking for a second. I'll second that. Dennis Trump. Thank you, Mr. Shrunk. Okay. Any other nominations? Seeing none, I'd look for a motion to close nominations for secretary. So move. Dennis Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Looking for a second. Second, Jacob Everett. Thank you, Mr. Everett. We have motion to close our nominations for secretary. We had one nomination and that was Mr. Mark Thomas. All in favor signify to say I. I. Any opposed?

Okay. Thank you all. Thank you both for willing to step into the position of officers. Thank you. With that, we'll move on to business. So, we're looking for approval of the minutes from December 10th of 2025. It's hard to believe another year went by, but uh does everyone have an opportunity to look at the minutes? Any additions or corrections? Mr. Chairman, Dennis Shrump, I move that we accept the minutes of the uh December 10th, 2025 meeting. Thank you, Mr. Shrimp. And Mr. Chairman Ford Heer, I second that.

Thank you, Mr. Heavner. We have a motion and second to approve our minutes of December 10th of 2025. All in favor signify to say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. So, we'll move move on to public comment. And this would be an opportunity for anyone of the public that would like to speak to the board this evening in the regards to anything not on the agenda. So, if there's anyone would like to do that, if you would step forward. Okay, seeing none, we'll move on with business. Mr. Zawatsky, any any old business this evening?

I show no old business, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Zawatsky. So, we have new business this evening. It's docket number GT Carts. Sorry, that is docket number PC0126-01-C1 to docket is DGT carts. Property address is 7770 East 236th Street. It's here in Cisero, Indiana. This is an aesthetic review overlay district concerning article 5 for the property located at the address. Is the petitioner here this evening? Could I get you to step forward to the podium, sir? And if you would state your name and address for the records first, please.

Yes. My name is Jerry Smith. The address is 7770 East 236 Street here in Cisro.

Okay. Thank you, sir. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're proposing this evening? Yeah. So, as you guys have witnessed, if you drive down 236, we did have an existing privacy fence that was blown down in the recent windstorm that came through. And so, in light of that, we thought it'd be a perfect time that we would kind of want to put in some decorative block in the front section where that existing fence is now, or was rather. Um, and so our our sister location that we have has done that in the past and it's been there about four years and it's a really nice decorative block about 18 in tall and about about 3 ft long. And so what it builds is a corral if you can see right there on the picture. It kind of builds a corral so it can showcase the existing inventory that we have. We have hundreds of carts between both locations. And so um, and it's very professional looking and and so it keeps the the carts secure inside. Um, it does allow, you know, we've all been the, uh, through the car lots after the hours, so the car salesman doesn't come out and, you know, bother us. So, it allows clients to walk through there in the evenings, look at the inventory, and then maybe give us a call the following day and say, "Hey, I like this red, you know, whatever they're looking at." Um, we would then put an existing privacy fence back up behind that corral. So, you would not be able to see back inside the the gravel lot there as as per the red line going across the back of the lot there. Um if you look on the uh east west side here um the red line going east and west would represent yes those dots there would be kind of this the small change and if you need I have some ex uh extra copies of that for the board if you guys would like to see that as well that kind of red line so I can maybe pass these out if you just minor tweak to the plan that got emailed by by Gelena over and really what we would like to do there is because our showroom room is right off to the right side there and that's all

glass windows. And for security, safety, um, all those reasons, if a customer is out in the existing lot looking at inventory, I want to be able to see them from this from the showroom location. And so that's kind of the plan. You can see the old one there represents a solid black line going east and west. That is an existing privacy fence right now that's still there. So the front would be the decorative block. And now on the new plan, which is the one that he showed prior to that, is going to be a little bit more retaining wall block there, the decorative block as well, so I can see through there for security. And then we would like to put that privacy fence back up in the back side of that. And that's pretty much the only change we really would like to do. Okay. Thank you. You're very welcome.

So, uh, board member comments or questions at this time? Approximately how many carts would you have in that area that would be between the blocks and the the new fence?

We've kind of walked it out. So, if you look at that plan, the the it's it's roughly 60 ft deep from where the existing privacy fence that has blown down now to where we would like to take the new privacy fence back. And then roughly about I don't know, say 100 ft long in length, maybe a little over that. And if you figure a golf cart's roughly around, let's say 9 ft long as a four-seater and then 12t long as a 12 or as a six-seater. So kind of planning very strategic rows and I don't know maybe 40 to 50 maybe we'll say maybe a little more a little less depends on how the inventory flow comes in and out and of course you know having all the ones in the existing showroom as well. It just showcases that we're, you know, very professional institution and have the inventory to, you know, showcase the customers when we're not there during the normal business hours.

Will this one have the yellow blocks as on here? That is So that's where their parking lot is. We have those parking spots now in the front and that's not not going to be any change. So the yellow ones won't be there. No ma'am. Yeah. That's the Monaceel location. So their customers kind of can park there where our customers park facing 236. Now will you have any kind of lighting for the

that is a c that is a conversation that us and the brothers have been talking about. There is an existing light out there now. That's not great, but we've talked about that putting another uh because there I think when the marina was there, I feel like and this was prior to me coming that there was a pole light there at one point in time and we're trying to figure out where that exact location may have been in the ground, but I can take that question back to the to the brothers for sure. So, in regards to your fence that you're going to have there, can you is it going to be the white vinyl fence that you currently had previously?

Yes, I think that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to put up that kind of that neutral style existing fence that's there now, that vinyl privacy fence. And that's kind of what we were talking about, replacing it same the same like with the in the back. So, in regards to your stones, I'm sure they're there for security as well. And that's one of the reasons you didn't short do short sections of fence.

Yes. Because this this this if you you got to think about it from a a visual and b a security standpoint. If you leave the block wide, well, somebody can come in with a roll back after you leave and just hook and go. You know what I mean? So you got to keep them w, you know, far enough apart so you can let customers walk in there safely in the night to look around at carts and just kind of, you know, look around at them, but then not allow a car to get in there and or or a roll back, you know what I mean, and safely get a cart out of there, too.

So I think the last question I would have, you always did a nice job. Your fence always looked very nice there previously. So in regards to the stone and maybe you can speak to how they do it in Monosel versus here or what your plan would be. But as the stones start to wear or anything, do you do maintenance on those so they can handle it nice?

Pressure wash. Um obviously some Thompson's water sealer those those blocks hack. We have to actually have those made. So that's not just something we're going to go grab and buy. We actually have to have a company make those with that. They're they're called the decorative block for a reason. They kind of have that nice face on them. And when they put those out there, we all really like the way they looked and hope, you know, everybody else did too. So, we'll keep them up and make sure the mold don't get on them and the, you know, we'll pressure wash them and seal them and everything, too. So, thank you. You're welcome. Other questions, comments by board members.

This does not require public hearing since it's for aesthetic review only. So, Seeing no other comments or questions, I would look for a motion. Mr. Chairman Dennis Trump, I move that uh we approve docket number PC-0126-01-C1, the uh allowing the um decorative block and then replacement of the vinyl fence as outlined.

Thank you, Mr. Shrimp. Looking for a second. Dennis Johnson, I'll second that. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. So, we have a motion and a second on this docket number. We'll do a roll call vote. Mrs. Galispy approved. Mr. Misani approved. Mr. Shrimp approved. Mr. Johnson approved. Mr. Everett approved. Mr. Diller approved. Mr. Thomas approved. Mr. Heapner approved. And Dan Strong, I approve. So you have approval. If you'll continue to work with Mr. Zawatsky. Yes, sir. We would appreciate it and uh appreciate you having a nice business here in the community. You've done a nice job. Thank you.

Thank you. And we do appreciate you guys allowing these aesthetic reviews because it's important to keep everything looking nice for the community, too. And I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, sir. Next order of business was docka number PC-0126-03NC and this uh petitioner Mr. Zawatski has asked for this to be withdrawn this evening. Yes sir. The uh this has been withdrawn at the petitioner's request.

Okay. Since this is a withdrawal the board has to allow a withdrawal. So if the board's in favor of that, I would look for a motion to allow this petition to be withdrawn. So moved. Harrison. Thank you, Mr. Msani. Second, Dennis Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. So we have a motion and a second to withdraw this petition. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay, Mr. Zodsky, the petition has been withdrawn. Thank you, sir.

So he will if in this particular case, they'll need to refile in the future then. Thank you. Okay, moving on to document number PC-012602-C3. Petitioner is Nickel Plate Reliability Project LLC. Property address is 0 State Road 19 here in Cisro. And this is a reszone application has been submitted concerning article 8 of the Cisro Jackson Township zoning ordinance is an order to reszone a partial currently zone C3 which is business park like industrial to a PDC3 and in this particular case on the agenda you see there's a note that the plane commission's role in the matter of this reszone request is to send a favorable a non-favorable or no recommendation recommendation to the town council for consideration and final determination. So, at this time, is someone here this evening representing a petitioner? If so, would you state your name and address for the records when you get to the podium there, please? Thank you. Brandon Gman. My address is 4860 Piles Road in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. You

here, Frank. Is the volume all the way up on there? Just out of curiosity. Sorry. Test test. How's this?

Thank you. Okay, I think we're good. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you. Great. I do have a slide presentation. I see that that has been put up.

Great. Mr. President, members of the commission, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Brandon Gman. I am the senior manager of development with IPA Power. I'm here to speak about our nickel plate reliability project, a b a a proposed battery energy storage system uh on state road 19. Along with myself, we have many members of our team along with a few subject matter experts. Uh Forest Forester, senior vice president with IPA power, Chief Brian Frink, a consultant of ours with Fire and Risk Alliance, Dr. Chris Olsen, an environmental health specialist, Andrew Cardi with IPA, Justice Sawyer, a professional engineer with IPA, our council, Matt Newman and Rachel Connor, as well as Rich Kirkland and Nick Kirkland from Kirkland Appraisals, certified uh real estate appraisers here in the state of Indiana. IPA Power is a trusted industry leader in battery energy storage. This is our bread and butter. This is really what we excel at. We're one of the best and in fact the largest independent power producer focused on standalone battery energy storage here in North America. Our headquarters is in Austin, Texas. We're active in many regions across the country. We have over 30 projects that are in operation. Specifically here in Indiana, we have three projects that are already permitted. Two will begin construction this quarter in the beginning of this year. We are a long-term owner and operator. We own these assets and operate them for the lifetime of the project. Uh they're not transferred anywhere else. Why are we here? There is a uh energy reliability uh I would say crossroads that not just the state of Indiana, not just the Midwest, but the United States has reached. the folks that operate over top of utilities. They operate the transmission grid uh here in the Midwest

and specifically in Indiana. That is the mid-continent independent system operator. They have one of their headquarter offices in Caramel. Uh their internal analysis shows that we are looking at a a real demand issue when it comes to electricity. It's no secret that we use more electricity today than we did even 5 10 years ago as evidenced by our many devices we have here. And overall their assessment is they have concerns about meeting power demand so that we can continue to have electricity and reliable electricity at that. Thankfully we really do take it for granted. uh we never really think uh at all about flicking on the light switch and that's a good thing here in the United States in the same way that we rarely would have to think about where our food comes from. We just know the pork chop is at Kroger. We want to be a part of the solution to continue reliable energy across the United States. Specifically here in Hamilton County, there's obviously been a lot of load growth and that is from growth in population, growth in businesses, growth in manufacturing, and that's another good thing. Indiana has done a very good job, Hamilton County has done a very good job of doing that. It's a great place to live. It attracts people to live here. It's certainly been a hot topic across the state. You can see from these many news articles uh specifically Governor Brun has put together an energy demand task force uh focusing on this issue in particular. Our project as I mentioned is a standalone battery energy storage system. This is one of the most economical ways to solve this issue to solve grid uh firm capacity and reliability. It is located at State Road 19, the cross street with East uh 221st Street. We are applying for a reszone application. It's currently zoned C3 business park and light industrial. We

are requesting the reszoning to a uh C3PD. Uh as I mentioned, standalone battery energy storage system. Just to be very clear, there are no other facilities involved with this project. No solar panels, no wind turbines. strictly talking battery energy storage that hooks into existing energy infrastructure. With regards to compliance, there are many independent and national safety standards that we must comply with either both prior to construction and prior to operation. Uh specifically National Fire Protection Association code 855. This governs specifically energy storage systems as well as underwriter labs 954A. This is non-propagation liveaction testing for the battery cells themselves. These are all required and governed by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The IDHS requires two permits uh in for the operation of any battery energy storage system here in the state. One prior to construction and then another prior to operation. Parcel size is about 28 acres with the battery facility taking about 16 of those acres. It's a 200 megawatt 4hour system that will deliver 800 megawatt hours of energy into the grid. Uh this is about uh 65,000 homes worth of power. So this is a very energy dense uh very uh compact site as well as just a very efficient use of that land for such a small footprint. The closest residence is 630 ft. Uh that residence is also zoned light industrial. We anticipate construction in late 27 with operations commencing in late 2028. And I wanted to be clear, I saw a lot of questions about water use. Uh it's a certainly a hot topic around the state when it comes to infrastructure. There is no need and there's no requirement.

There is no use of water for our operations. Water is not piped in to cool the system or anything like that. not hooking up to a well, not uh pulling from utilities, not uh you know messing around with the reservoir or anything like that whatsoever. So there's no water usage for our operations of the project. When you look at a project timeline for an infrastructure project like this, uh it's quite detailed and quite long. Uh so we've been working on this for quite some time. It has required a lot of due diligence here and will require further due diligence along with compliance and obtaining permits from various regulatory bodies. Now, how does energy storage actually work? It's about as simple as it sounds when you say battery energy storage system. We are charging the batteries from the grid through existing energy infrastructure and then we are dispatching it later when it is needed most. So this is the least cost way to put firm capacity back onto the grid. When I say firm capacity that means power that can be dispatched instantly. I have an illustration here uh that shows that when demand customer demand for electricity is low, batteries will charge off of the grid. And then when that energy is needed most peak demand, customers often have uh you know television, washer machine, dishwasher, everything on all at once. At that peak demand, the energy is dispatched. At that peak demand, electricity prices are at their highest. So utilities utilize systems like ours in order to shield themselves and shield rateayers from the most expensive times of peaking power. This saves all of us money. There's a couple site photos just to get you familiar with what we're looking at. Uh at the top is an almost finished battery energy storage system project. You can see obviously that it hasn't been finished with any landscaping and

such, but just want to give you an idea of what the containers themselves look like. Uh they're approximately 8 foot wide, 20 foot long, and then 9 ft high. You can also see a walkthrough of one of our newly commissioned sites with first responders down there. Zooming out on the area itself. Uh this is our parcel uh of which is up uh in in the docket here. Uh we've marked State Route 19. You can see as you're coming out of town, it's about two miles south of town. It's about a mile east of Morse Reservoir. As I mentioned previously, this is zoned light industrial and business park as is a significant corridor coming out of town as you travel south on State Road 19. Uh all of the closest residences that are around this parcel as well are also zoned light industrial. When we take a look at State Road 19, there's significant traffic there. This is a volume of approximately 8,000 vehicles per day that uh pass by this site. Uh so certainly it it is not a quiet area by nature, but it is a an important area because it is a gateway to the town as you travel north on State Road 19. There are many encumbrances on the property that we have worked with uh other infrastructure companies as well as the county as well as other local regulatory bodies uh to find a good fit for this project. Uh many other forms of development uh you know whether it be a business park itself or other forms of light industrial development they would look at this parcel and probably find themselves a lemon. uh there's there's not a lot of room for other developers to to develop whatever they may like. We're kind of taking that lemon, we're turning that into lemonade here. Uh this is one of the only uses that I've seen, one of the only light industrial uses in

this zoning that can make great use of this. And obviously down at the bottom there on the south side in red, you see the existing electricity infrastructure. Those are the very tall high excuse me high voltage lines that are already there. In addition to that due diligence, we've gone through a number of third-party environmental analyses and surveys and tests. Uh these have all been provided. These are uh pretty much standard for us and it's just a a strict uh environmental assessment of every possible nature on the site itself. This is sight specific as well. This is not just the general area. When you take a look at our site design, uh what you may notice is a cross-hatch pattern. We've highlighted it in green here. Uh this is our vegetative buffer. Uh we heard concerns that this would be a piece a piece of infrastructure that folks would be able to see and they'd consider it unsightly. Well, what we've done is we've designed a very thick and a very uh mature vegetative buffer that will surround the site on all sides. Specifically paying mine to the viewshed along State Route 19. Uh this is anywhere, this vegetative buffer is at a minimum 40 ft in depth all around. It reaches depths of up to 100 ft. So I'm not talking frontage along the road. I'm talking about depth from the road of that vegetative buffer. Uh, of note, the containers themselves are about 230 feet from the road. Uh, I saw a poorly done AI image of containers set about 5 ft off the road. That's uh that's not what we're looking at here. Uh, these are over 200 foot away. So, what we did was we wanted to create a visual rendering of what exactly this project would look like. uh what we did is take the Google Street View maps or

Google map street view and then apply at scale uh these specific uh pieces of the project as well as our vegetative buffer. So here we are along state road 19. Uh we are at the southern piece of the parcel property. You can see the existing high voltage lines there. You can see existing uh distribution lines. Uh you can see corn in the field. Uh what you cannot see is our facility uh behind that mature wooded area. Again, I said a minimum of 40 feet on all sides reaching up to 100 ft of woods uh between the road and the facility. Uh this is it's important to note this is uh how it will look at installation. So we're not talking about planting saplings or anything like that. We are planting and installing a minimum of 10-ft height evergreen trees. Obviously, with a deciduous tree, you'd have leaves fall and that would affect the viewshed. So, I think evergreen is the most appropriate here. Uh, and this is again at installation. So, this is what we'll be looking at at the start of operation. Let's continue north along State Road 19. Uh at if you were to look to the left on the page that's to the west uh you'll see kind of the start of that deep vegetative buffer along with an entrance to the facility. Still can't see the infrastructure itself. As we continue north, you'll see I think I think this really gives a great depth to just how far away the facility is from the road. Again, this is at scale. It's over 200 foot off of State Road 19. And again, the infrastructure is shielded by this vegetative buffer. You also notice a sign there. It says welcome to Cicero. Uh that's something that IPA power obviously with uh permission and design input from the town would love to donate to the town. We've heard that uh from many folks here. This is a gateway to the town as you travel north into town and we think

it'd be very nice to uh really commemorate that here with a sign. This is the northernmost uh rendering that we have. This is now viewing south. Uh and you can see that on the other side it says see you soon Cicero. Again this sign would be uh erected as well as paid for by IPA power. This is donated to the town. And of course our vegetative buffer there is screening the entire facility. Just as important to screen the facility during the day is also at night. I had a conversation with the gentleman that resides uh the one property south there, Mr. Morris. He was concerned about light pollution. Uh and what I uh you know explained to him and what I'm showing you now is our response to that. The technical term is called dark sky friendly lighting. If you think of a cone that covers the light, shielding it from going up, you can see in the illustration the most unacceptable way of lighting a facility. There's no cone. Light is directed everywhere. light goes up and contributes to light pollution. Whereas we have downward-facing lights that minimize that. And of note, we also have the ability to utilize motion sensor and infrared uh lighting and security features so that we can actually have these on a timer or on motion sensors so that they don't need to be on during the entirety of the night. The site is also designed to be very quiet. We don't want anyone to see it. We don't want anyone to hear it. We don't want anyone to think about it. Uh the three closest homes are approximately 630 ft, 700 ft, and 1300 ft from the closest uh equipment of the facility. Again, all those homes are also in the zoned light industrial district there. Uh we've specified 50 dB as a limit. That's just a way to quantify sound. But what does what does 50 dB sound like? Uh, it's quieter than a conversation and it's in the range of an air conditioner or a quiet, excuse

me, a quiet office. Touched on this at the beginning. Water use. The facility does not require any sort of water for its day-to-day operations. Water is not used in the containers to cool them. It's not pumped in from a reser a reservoir or a well or a utility. When it comes to storm water runoff, that is directed to a gated and lined pond that has a gate valve so all of that water can be retained. Our groundwater protection and storm water management plan has already been reviewed by the Hamilton County Surveyor's Office. Our third party engineers have worked with the MS4 engineer over there in order to create a realworld accurate plan here. Um, so that is built into our our uh development plan. Again, as I mentioned, there is an outlet valve there. We have the ability to retain all of the water if there's any concern that uh folks have with the facility there. Furthermore, this must be uh the drainage itself must be approved in a further review by Hamilton County Drainage Board. So, uh there is a further assurance there. We've talked a lot about the site itself. I'd like to speak a little bit about the area surrounding it. Uh we retained Kirkland Appraisals who are licensed and certified in the state of Indiana to do an impact analysis on property values. They found that because our site is strategically cited as well as very far away from other residences in that light industrial district that there will be no impact on property values. We also have them here to speak on their report and their expert testimony. uh they'll be happy to answer any questions on this item as well. Ultimately, there can be no reliability, there can be no benefits to the community and to the grid itself without the facility being safe. Safety without

compromise is the number one priority at Hypop Power. We do this by utilizing proven technology. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are the newest, the greatest, the safest, and the most utilized in compliance with NFPA 855 today. This is in contrast to say uh if folks have done research, you know that many may have seen the Moss Landing fire incident in California that used a legacy nickel manganese cobalt battery chemistry which is more volatile. It was also a completely under roof facility as opposed to our outdoor containerized facility. We exceed these standards NFPA 855 UL954A. And again, they are backed up and we must obtain permits proving that from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The failsafe redundancies and the substantial setbacks of the project in relation to other homes and properties uh really reinforce our exceeding of the standards. With regards to monitoring the system, both the electricity throughput as well as the physical site security are monitored 247. Our asset management team is at our headquarters in Austin, Texas. They have every bit of information of every individual cell in a particular battery container. Then obviously for the site itself. So we're talking cell temperature, state of charge, health of the battery itself. All of that can be monitored 24/7 remotely and then dispatched to our on-site operations team who will reside in the area and be working on the facility itself. These redundant detection sensors also trigger automatic alerts and shut offs. And finally, with regards to local partnership, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security does require our collaboration with the local fire

department to put together a customized sightspecific emergency response plan. Had the opportunity to speak with the town of Cicero fire department chief and just speak a little bit about our project, answer some questions he may have had about this. thought it was a productive discussion and we'll continue that as we move forward. So again, it's a customized sightsp specific emergency response plan. We also offer zerocost training for firefighters in the classroom and then in the field as well with the facility prior to it ever being turned on. And we also offer annual refreshers and drills. Again, this is all at no cost to the township. We have with us tonight and available for uh comments, questions, anything you may have specifically on fire and safety, Chief Brian Frink, who's a retired battalion chief from the New York City Fire Department. He served there for 38 years, uh, commanded many hundreds of officers and department members, and now utilizes his expertise to train firefighters in both the classroom and in the field about electricity, battery, energy storage, and a whole host of other technologies. He's with us tonight from Fire and Risk Alliance, and he'll be happy to answer questions here as well. In conclusion, uh we are requesting a favorable recommendation regarding this petition for reszone to plan development district for consideration and ultimately final determination by the town council. This project answers a very clear need for reliability and increasing demand on our energy grid and this is a very low impact way to address this. It is a very compact site at 16 acres and provides a great use of the land. Ultimately, this investment is very consistent with local zoning rules and planning as well. And C3 is in fact one of the few zoning codes that is allowed to even be put into a PUD. So,

this light industrial use uh is very uh compliant with article 8 of the Cicero Jackson Township zoning code book. Thank you again for the time. My name is Brandon Gman. Happy to answer any questions that you may have along with our team who is ready as well. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. With that, uh, questions, comments, uh, from any of the board members at this time, further clarification on anything?

Uh, Dan, I was going to wait to see what the public had first to ask my questions to see if it's included in those. Okay, perfect. Just wanted to give the board the opportunity in case we had any questions. at this particular time. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. So, we'll get close to open the public hearing portion of the meeting. So, I have some additional comments before then. So, as you all know, the public hearing portion of the meeting provides all of you the opportunity for as interested parties and members of the community to offer comments or thoughts or information to the board. And then there are some basic rules that we will follow though. Once your name is called, please step forward to the podium, state your name and address for the records. And if you did not fill out one of these because this always comes up, you still will be given an opportunity to speak to the board. So at the end, you know, if anyone has these, you can get those to us, but then we'll also after these are all done, we'll open it up for anyone that did not have that opportunity or did not get these filled out. So I don't want you think you won't have an opportunity just because you didn't fill out the form. So due to the size of the audience being here this evening, it looks like we have a full house. So with that being said, the comments will be limited to two minutes of speaking time to allow everyone to have the opportunity to address the commission this evening. Each person will be given that opportunity one time and you cannot pass your two minutes on to someone else. So you have four minutes or pass it on to three other people where you have 6 minutes or 8 minutes. So you get two minutes opportunity to address the board. Mr. Zelotsky sitting down here on the end has a timer. So he will be our countdown timer if you will. You'll be able to look down at the timer while you're up there if you want to sort of keep an eye on where you're at in your presentation if you want to move forward to some additional bullet points or

whatever. But uh once the timer goes off, please try to do your best to wrap up those comments at that point so we can move on with hearing other people this evening. All of your comments are to be addressed to the board, not to each other or to the petitioner. Those comments are to be addressed to the board. And I'll say this, but it's probably not going to be happening. But if you uh comments have already been shared with the board, your questions or whatever, please try not to address those. Give everyone else an opportunity to speak. You can simply say that you agreed with so and so or I agreed with previous comments if you'd prefer. And that'll try to streamline things. But I'm going to guess that'll probably not happen as much. But I still would like to see if if that's at all possible. So another rule would be no one can speak to the board unless you're recognized or that let you come to the podium and if an individual speaks out or turn interrupts the meeting we will uh I'll give you a warning if it continues I'll ask you to leave the meeting and uh hopefully we won't have to have anybody removed and that would not be our intent but that would be the last resort but just want to set the you know that we do want to give everyone the opportunity to speak and then also for the board to hear all the comments this evening and the board would appreciate if you don't clap and cheer, but I know that's probably going to happen, but would you keep it to a minimum? It would be greatly appreciated. I know that's been addressed at other meetings and uh everybody's been very respectful of that and would appreciate that again tonight. So depending upon the length of the meeting this evening, the board if we get into that we're running past nine o'clock, we may take a short rem recess

for 10 minutes to give everybody just a quick break. And with that being said, if it appears it's going to be a lengthy meeting, we start getting towards that 11:00 time frame or whatever, which we may or may not, but if we do, we'll start monitoring that time and see if we want to continue the meeting or we may table that the meeting at that particular time and have it at our next meeting. If the public hearing is not closed at that point, the public hearing would stay open. So, you'd have an opportunity at the February meeting to speak. If the public hearing is closed, then of course that would be closed. Sorry, I got to check my last note here. So upon the conclusion of the public hearing, the petitioner, which just spoke a few minutes ago, will have the opportunity to come up and address any of the questions or comments or anything that they heard from the public this evening and then also be able to answer comments and questions for the board. And with that being said, the last piece of business, as you heard, our role this evening will be to either send a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable recommendation, or a nonrecommendation recommendation to the Cisro Town Council. So, at this time, I'll look for a motion to open the public hearing.

So move, Jacob Everett. Thank you, Mr. Ever. Looking for a second. Second, Dennis Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We have a motion and second to open the public hearing. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Thank you. Public hearing is now open. So, I think the first one, and I will apologize in advance because I'm probably going to get some names wrong. So, bear with me. And you're certainly welcome to correct me when I call them out. So, this would be Brandon Aim. Is it a common? A common. Thank you, sir. If you'd step forward for me, state your name and address for the records, and thank you for being first.

I'm Brandon Aamu. My address is 709 and a half South Pearl Street here in Cisro. Our community is in high demand and rapidly growing. So, let's allow Cisro to stay known as the only lakeside community in central Indiana instead of the only home to a lithium battery storage facility. Please protect our residents and our future by voting no on this project. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Okay, next we would have John Guner. Is it? Uh, my name is John Guner. 107 Southeast Street Arcadia. And I'm not sure how you do this, but I just have some questions that I don't know if the board has been uh given answers. Is this a hazardous weights uh generator facility? Is this a treatment storage and disposal facility? Um has the leech from the the property been uh measured? How's it going to be measured? Is there going to be any uh atmospheric sampling done around the facility? Uh it was stated that there will not be any water impact on the community. How's the fire suppression being done? Uh, is this the same company that uh applied for this same facility at uh overdorf I think around 221st Street? Has that been addressed? Um, and I think I think that about covers my concerns. Has there been any Well, one other thing. Has there been any T-clip sampling done? Who was the environmental assessment done by? What uh was the previous uses of prop of the property and have there been any environmental defects uh found as a result of that assessment? Um I'm a 40-year employee with IDM and atmospheric sampling and uh Rickra corrective action permitting and uh I'd like to know what kind of permitting was required of this. There's mention made of homeland security. Uh I don't know now if he operates under the

opices of homeland security and that his statement to the effect that all permitting or interaction with homeland security covered any required permits. So that is about it. Thank you sir.

Thank you. Larry Gray. My name's Larry Gray. I live at 66 Hickory Ridge Circle, Cicero. Uh, of course, I thought this was a lithium plant. Apparently, it's a lithium storage facility. Um my the the speaker indicated everything that sounds perfect because it's not a perfect world. Uh I know there's such thing as thermal runaway where batteries get too hot or stay hot caused by defect, get out of control, cause explosions or fire. They're chemical leaks and cobalt, nickel, lithium are all hazardous materials. those are all present. Um, we don't need these materials leeching in our soil or our reservoir. I find it strange that they would want to maybe put a plant or even a storage facility close to a reservoir. Um, back in u I think it was u maybe 2021 in Illinois 100 tons, which is not a lot when you're talking about batteries. burning lithium forced 4,000 people to leave their homes for three days because of toxic fumes. Uh they may do everything they can possibly do, but it's built by man. It's going to have faults. And if this were to happen between

Cicero and Nollesville, um it would affect our community, our towns, both towns desiraability and reputation for years to come. Plus the damage it could do if it leeches into the reservoir. If it leeches into our grounds, into our agricultural, it's going to severely damage our towns and our agricultural. Um, am I done? Is that a warning or it's okay to me? It goes past my bedtime anyway. But so, is that I'm done? All right. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. John Gunter. Yeah, that was me. I filled it out twice. Okay. Thank you, Lisa Bowers. I have more questions.

My name is Lisa Bowers. I live at 5765 Pine No Boulevard in Noblesville, which is about 3 miles from this proposed site. I'm also a small business owner in this area. I'm not here because I'm against clean energy. I'm here because this proposal is being excuse me pushed through with far too little information in for to carry such a high risk for our community and our local businesses. You are being asked to decide on a 200 watt industrial battery facility with very little real documentation in the original submitted plan. They were just a map for before and after and a statement that they would follow the rules. If I tried to run my business that way, I wouldn't be at business long. This is not a typical in commercial use. This is thousands of pounds of batteries that could burn for days if something goes wrong. Yet there's no public plan for emergency response. No explanation of how long a shutdown or evaluation could or evict eviction could last. No discussion of how the local fire department has been trained to handle this interest. Until tonight, there had been no mention of an environmental pack study or any other impact studies. From a business standpoint, that matters. The employees, the customers, the investors, the insurers, they all look at the risk. Even the proceed the pres the precision of danger affects whether people will come to the area, whether an employee feels safe to come to work nearby and those small businesses can't afford for that risk. Approving this resoning without full transparencies tells the business owners that our commercial areas can be turned into high-risk utility zones without a

proper review. This makes this community a hard place to invest in. I ask the com the commission to slow down, require real safety. Thank you. Thank you. You can go ahead and finish your last statement there and I don't want you to stop right in the middle of a sentence. So, thank you. was the last the last of the page. I'm asking the commission to slow down, require real information on the safety and the emergency planning and not make a decision without the necessary information. Thank you for listening to the the perspection of someone who is running a business and investing in this community. Thank you.

Next would be Mike Alexander. I'm Mike Alexander. I live at 24592 Point Lane in Arcadia. Uh I'm a local real estate agent. Uh when I listen to this kind of a proposal and hear that there's no impact to the property values, that's I guess maybe that's a matter of opinion. If if I were to show people a property around here and they realized that particular property was around, I'm sure that be a negative impact to somebody making a decision to move here. Uh so I understand there's apparently been uh assessments done on property values, environmental studies, all that type of thing. But again, this is a special community. Uh we need to maintain our integrity and keep that friendly environment that we've all grown to love. So, one of the questions I had was uh not sure how long this technology will be in place, but what happens when this system is decommissioned? Will the property be uh still considered to be usable? Will it be toxic? Just what? I know you pour a lot of concrete. Uh, as a result of that, storm water is an issue. How are we going to deal with that correctly? Uh, another concern I have is there's a Marathon pipeline that's close to this property. Has Marathon been consulted with and is that a risk? Seems like a risk to me. So, it's also my understanding that proposals like this have been made to both Westfield and Cooko and both of those communities

have turned it down as well as Hamilton County. So, I would ask the board to consider turning it down. Thank you.

Thank you, Michael Morris, I think it is. Uh, Michael Morris, uh, 8790 East 216th Street, so just south of the proposed facility. Um, I as someone that's worked in the environmental uh facil agency for 12 years, um, I'm glad they did a phase one to cover themselves, but I'm worried about the longterm uh, usage of the facility. Um, it lithium is a forever chemical. Um, I'm glad they're putting it back off the road and the aesthetics are important, but it's also getting closer to the cisro well. it's getting closer to my well. Uh what kind of time frame do we have on uh the wellshed for both facil you know my home and the the CRO well and you know the the length of this it takes 2 years for uh systems to upgrade is the lithium going to be disposed of locally or you know someplace else. Um the the other thing that kind of uh irks me in and how it's being proposed is why right here. Um obviously it would be more advantageous to put it in Noblesville. Um they already have a brownfield they could easily put it into without us taking in, you know, uh farm land to do so. Uh they they say there's no decrease in property value. It's farmland. It's not homes. Um, there shouldn't be a decrease in value. It's just ground. There's nothing there. So, this supposed decrease in value, there isn't any. It It's just trying to make themselves look better in our

personal opinion. Um, to piggyback off Mr. Gunther as well, you know, um, what kind of longterm studies are there in these facilities? um down the road. I'm I'm sure the firefighter they brought in knows quite a bit about that, but New York doesn't have to deal with groundwater when something's put out. We do. Thank you. Thank you,

Joe Wilson. Name is Joe Wilson. and I live at 8560 East 216th Street, just southwest the proposed site. I come to you this evening to you on behalf of my family and many of my neighbors, but also as a local professional firefighter and officer for the last 22 years. This project is not only a real health and safety threat, it also adds a legitimate burden to our local fire departments. Ibeth or King Fisher or Nickelplate or whatever their name will be tomorrow who is owned by Blackstone for now in July of 2015 brought experts with them to stand before the Hamilton County BCA including a deputy chief similar to now from FDNY who amazingly told them and I quote, "The particulates from a battery storage and energy fire are no different than a standard residential firefighter residential fire. As a firefighter, I'm shocked by this absurd and irresponsible statement. I've never once been on a houseire that required the evacuation or isolation of all the nearby residences for days or weeks because the smoke was so toxic or had to destroy my turnout gear afterwards due to the heavy metal contamination. Allow me to speak as a firefighter who lives where you live. The gases relieved from lithium fires include but are not limited to hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, phospholoride, and flammable hydrocarbons like methane, ethylene, and butadine. Hydrogen fluoride line can cause severe burns to eyes, ears, and lungs, and can lead to fatal systemic effects by depleting calcium and magnesium. There are documented cases of US firefighters who are permanently off the job because of short-term exposure to lithium related fires that are suddenly part of our job. Battery industry storage systems are considered an emerging threat because we're basically learning as we go. Any testing mentioned previously is done with new equipment and limited in scope. Many plausible scenarios are likely not fully tested as yet, including simple aging and a combination of local environmental factors or, god forbid, terrorism, such as a drive-by shooting. Here in Indiana, weather can include heavy winds, tornadoes, heavy rain, hail, high heat, and humidity, freezing temps, snow, and ice. Many of the battery storage fires we've seen in recent years were caused

by something as simple as heavy rain. Are we confident that whatever combination of exact battery materials being proposed for this round of projects and the proposed spacing and configurations will withstand all of those mentioned weather and terrorism concerns? I'm sure the experts here will speak confidently and optimistically, but years from now when those issues arise, the province makers will be far from Indiana and we'll get to deal with reality. Please vote no to this dangerous request. Thank you. Moving on. Alicia Kioski. My name's Alicia Kiioski. I live at 8203 East 249th Street in Arcadia. Last summer, the county rejected the same proposal that was listed under a different name. At that time, their petition was 437 pages long, while the one tonight is less than 30 pages. That means there's hundreds of pages of critical information intentionally missing. There are so many questions that need to be answered. Why this parcel when it's not close to other substation facilities? They stated on record last year that it only made sense to put them adjoining existing substations. What are the safety procedures for the site? What is the notification process in the event of an issue? It's an unmanned facility. Historically, we know they rely on internet to notify management in Texas who notify local officials there's a problem. We locals know the internet around here is reliable unreliable on a good day. That's a huge safety concern. Speaking of safety, are the Jackson Township firefighters properly trained and outfitted to handle a hazmat response call of this nature? Can they handle the call on their own or do they need help? Will a hazmat truck could be required to respond? And if so, how long does it take to get there? Is the site since the site is significantly closer to Cicero and Noblesville Station 74, would they be most likely to be first on scene in a mutual aid arrangement? And if so, will they be consulted given the nature and the proximity of this project? Or will and will they require training? Are there any other sites within Jackson Township that have

required additional hazmat training for emergency responders for their safety or the communities? What's the spill prevention and response plan? How is the community itself notified of an issue? In the event of an issue, what's the impact radius? And I mean the true impact radius given we have country winds, not statistics based on inner city facilities. Their porch furniture won't fly off away on a good day. The geography and weather conditions aren't the same. What happens if a tornado comes through and moves containers? Will they open on impact? and what are the risks that that would pose since it's offsite. Are there any other businesses in the area that have been permitted to install an 8-ft tall chain link anti-cline fence? I'm assuming that means razor wire or spikes at the top because that's what's included in their site plan. And talk about an eyesore as you head into downtown Cicero. And most importantly, how does this facility actually benefit Jackson Township residents and the community as a whole? I've yet to find a single positive attribute. It doesn't create energy. It stores energy that's already created by the grid and then sells it back to the consumers in other states at a premium during peak pak hours. It doesn't support, align, or promote the CISRO or Hamilton County comprehensive plan. It doesn't provide any new jobs or services to the community. Our community is in high demand and rapidly growing. Let's allow Cicero to stay known as the only Lakeside community in central Indiana instead of the only home to a lithium battery storage facility. Please protect our residents and our future by voting no to this project. Thank you. Moving on. Uh Kim Alexander.

Kim Alexander. Um 24592 Point Lane, Arcadia. I'm here to address the proposed industrial battery storage facility and its inconsistency with the town of Cicero and Jackson Township comprehensive plan adopted in 2025. That plan represents more than a year of public engagement and clearly expresses the community's vision. Preserving small town character, protecting agricultural land, safeguarding natural resources, and promoting the development that enhances quality of life. An industrial scale battery storage facility does not align with that vision. It is an it is an infrastructureheavy industrial use that is incompatible with the residential, agricultural and waterfront oriented land uses planned for Cicero and Jackson Township. The comprehensive plan also prioritizes protecting farmland and the Morris Reservoir wershed. The proposed location is in the Ingramman Lockwood that flows to White River. This location is less than three miles from our community park and it's less than a mile from Morris Lake. battery battery storage facilities introduce environmental and safety risks that conflict with these goals and with the residents expressed concerns about quality of life. Finally, this proposal does not align with the plan's economic development strategy, which emphasizes local businesses, aggra business, tourism, and long-term community value, not industrial infrastructure providing no local jobs, no local benefits, and consuming agricultural land that the plan asserts we desire to protect. The question tonight isn't whether battery storage facilities belong somewhere in Indiana. The question is whether this use is consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan for Cicero and Jackson Township. Our adopted plan doesn't include opportunities for outofstate industrial businesses to profit while our community bears the risk of environmental hazards, negative impacts to the residential home values, an eyesore to the community, and a

potential environmental hazard to our lakeside community. This industrial battery storage plant is inconsistent with the community's documented comprehensive plan. I urge you to uphold that plan and deny the approval. Thank you. So Kim Urban I believe it is. Hello, my name is Kim Irvin and I live at 2081 Cumberland Road. I live just one mile from the proposed site. The long-term land use safety infrastructure and emergency respon impacts of this project would directly affect myself and my family. The town of Cisero and Jackson Township adopted a comprehensive plan in May of 2025. It clearly prioritizes environmental protection, community health, and the preservation of the Morris Reservoir area. According to this comp plan, this parcel is designated as mixed use. Industrial facilities such as battery energy systems are not listed in your comprehensive plan. I will be referencing to the comprehensive plan analysis that APAD did for you guys and your thing. It's on that thing. Um the four statements of why they want this land changed zoning. Number one, plan development zoning is intended to allow flexibility in the development of land when consistent with a comprehensive plan. It is not intended to be used to bypass fundamental use limitations when a proposal does not fit within existing districts. Number two, the fact the facility only enhances electric reliability where it is needed nationally. It is not guaranteed to be local. Number three, according to the Indiana utility scale battery energy storage system and Brandon um Graham stated that this could plan can take

four to six years to start. Even the typical lifespan of a grid connecting battery model is 7 to 10 years. Then it starts the decompress decommission phase. Looking at long-term, this will have huge burden on our municipality utilities and services and even the state when the decommission process starts. It will bring construction jobs. Yes, number four. But will they be local? And how does this taxing help community members? And how does it lower utility costs? Finally, the plan also shows a natural gas line running directly through the middle of this parcel. According to publicly available inter information, natural gas is buried at 4 feet depth, but requires an external ignition source at extremely high temperatures over 1,000° F. Lithium battery fires, however, can reach temperatures exceeding 1,800° F and release flammable gas. This will create an environmental nightmare for us. And will the site become like a firestone site in Noblesville once when it is decommissioned? I ask you to vote now. Thank you. Uh Craig Bowen Craig Bowen 1780 Nantucket Drive. Cisero zoning ordinances exist to protect public health and safety, including protection from fire and industrial hazards while also preserving the character of our residential and agricultural areas. These principles are especially important when considering uses that introduce significant risk. In the unlikely event that something were to go wrong at a lithium battery storage facility, the consequences could be catastrophic. Through my involvement in past events here in Cicero, I have personally witnessed the extraordinary efforts taken by our fire, police, and street departments as well as our town council to protect our community. While

I consider myself someone willing to take calculated risks, I recognize that some policies may feel overly cautious at times. I would expect a project of this nature to raise serious concerns for our fire department and other first responders given the unique challenges and hazards associated with lithium ion battery fires. Based on the research, the what-ifs associated with lithium battery storage present a level of risk that is difficult to mitigate. Lithium ion battery fires are extremely diff difficult if not impossible to fully extinguish once they occur. Particularly when large quantities are stored in a single location. Even as someone who accepts risks, this is not a risk I would be comfortable taking, especially when it affects surrounding residents and first responders. This brings me to an important question. What benefit does the town of Cicero gain from this project? While there may be some financial benefit, it appears limited. The site will not be accessible or usable by residents, it is unlikely to create meaningful long-term employment, and it risks becoming an industrial eyesore at the entrance to our beautiful lakeside town. Unfortunately, we already have an example of this in our community. Just east of the library sits an industrial site that has remained unusable ground for decades. What was once approved with intentions of progress has instead become a long-term reminder of how difficult and costly it can be to reverse c certain land use decisions once they are made. Given the documented risks and the limited community benefit, I respectfully ask the commission to reject this proposal as as it does not align with Cicero's long-term comprehensive plan and whether it truly protects the safety, character, and the future of our community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Stephen Elliot.

Good evening. I'm Steven Elliot and I live at 5765 Pine Boulevard in Noblesville. And while not in this area, I'm closer to this facility than I am to downtown Noblesville. Now, earlier today, I submitted written comments for the record which addressed that Indiana code requires resoning decisions to meet in consideration of the adopted comprehensive plan. This proposal is inconsistent with that plan's mixed use designation for this area. It also explains that their press relies on planned development zoning to accommodate use that does not fit within C3 standards that does and that their unresolved land use compatibility and public safety concerns and a lack of information that's been made available for this meeting. After I submitted that I realized I did not directly address what the petitioners are submitting for their justification. So I'll do so now. First consistency with zoning intent. While parcel is zone C3, the permitted uses in that district do not include a batteries energy storage facility, which is why PDC C3 is being requested. The plan developing development zoning intended to provide flexibility when a project advances the comprehensive plan not to make incompatible uses fit that. This plan designates this area for mixeduse development and 200 megawatt utility scale best does not align with that future vision for the public utility benefit. Yes, greater reliability may be a regional benefit but zoning decisions are about whether this is the best use for the appropriate sorry best appropriate use for that specific location. General public benefit for the region does not override adopted land use policy that's been established. Third, low impact on infrastructure. While facility may be unmanned and generate little traffic, you would introduce an estimated 10 to 14 million pounds of hazardous material on the land that's currently agricultural. This scale changes the emergency response profile for the site in this area. Yet,

no sight specific hazards or emergency capacity analysis has been provided to any of the people here. The final economic impact, tax revenue alone does not justify zoning change that conflicts with the comprehensive plan and creates a new public safety obligations. Furthermore, no additional jobs will be created past construction. For these reasons, I respectfully ask the commission to issue a non-favorable recommendation. Thank you. Thank you, Lesie Holding. Hi, my name is Lesley Holding. I live at 789 Washington Avenue. I want to thank you for your time and thank you for what you do to our community. I think Cisro looks better than it ever has. Uh, with that said, I look at a place like this that's being built right outside of our town and next to homes as a disaster waiting to happen. That's what I see when I look at it because I do. I think of the future. it could happen or it couldn't happen. But if it does happen, the strain on our re resources I think will be great. I think um would we have to update our resources because of a facility like this? I think it would put our firefighters at risk for lots of things and our first responders. I just I hope you don't know. I hope that you have our best interest in mind, our safety, and our future safety when you consider taking a vote on this in our town. Thank you very much.

Thank you,

Bill Scoffield. Bill Scoffield live at 24001 Cal Carson Road. Uh first comment I want to make is though we have a Cicero address. We're not we're an unincorporated Jackson Township and I just want to say up front I think others that actually live in the community should have more of a say than I. So So why am I up here? I happen to have specialized knowledge in this area. So there was mention of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. I originally moved to Indiana to advocate uh for the market rules of that entity generally on behalf of the buyers of a world meaning I tended to argue for for fair rules that would keep the cost of electricity low so I have some knowledge there further from that my company is the largest market operator of independent non-utility market operator of generation and storage assets in the country in fact we help companies like APA power make money with these sort of resources. We have many clients. We op we do the market operations for dozens of these sorts of facilities. So I have some unique knowledge here. I deliberately didn't confirm whether I know whether we do any business with April because I wanted to be able to come up here and say I don't know. Um and the reason I don't know is because we have so many clients I don't have all their names in my mind. I'm not going to make any comment on whether this is good for Cicero or not specifically. I will just speak to the safety. Older technologies have caught fire. That is true of the dozens and dozens of these pro projects that we provide market operations to. None of them have had a have caught fire. None of them have had any environmental uh problem. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen but generally the technology has matured. These projects have become increasingly

safe and they really do benefit the electric grid. They do contribute to lower cost to provide electricity. Much cheaper to build batteries than new power plants to meet all the needs of electric usage at the margins when all the wave actions happening. So from my perspective, my family, I'm not concerned about it from a safety perspective. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Connie Nyuker, you did very good on the Well, thank you.

Good evening. Connie Nininger. I live at 3129 North 400 East in Monaceel, Indiana in White County. Um, and so I'm here to share about my experiences with local officials across the state. Uh, I share my facts, share facts, share with the experiences to help them make informed decisions. White County is a resort community with two lakes, uh, and a family amusement park. We have, uh, seven wind projects, five solar projects, and one of those does have a 60 megawatt battery storage system included also. So, while bests are new to Indiana, um, energy storage is not. We have gas stations that have underground storage that often have the same BTU value as a battery storage system. There are also other types of storage systems that we have that produce energy such as grain elevators, fertilizer storage containers, bulk storage of petroleum products, liqufied petroleum, propane and ammonia. So that is something to take into consideration as how you regulate those as to how this should be regulated. Also, safety is often a concern as has mentioned for most communities when considering battery battery storage systems. Batteries themselves are not flammable. They do not have organic material in these new technologies. If there is a malfunction, and batteries might get hot if there's a malfunction, there's fire suppression systems that are there to mitigate that. But most important, that is why they are built on concrete pads because it's not the battery system that is of concern. You want to leave it closed up. You don't want a fire um fireman going up there opening the door and throwing water. Water and electricity do not match. And but you want to protect the outlying areas but by having the concrete pad that does help protect anything that might occur, you know, with this new technology.

And so that's very important to remember. Many people do not realize that Indiana is very fortunate to have the battery innovation center in Newberry, sorry, that focuses on rapid development, testing, commercialization of safe, reliable and lightweight energy storage systems, which is a great resource for us all right here. Thank you.

Thank you, Andre Maul. Yeah, good evening and thank you. I'm Andre Maui living at uh 22410 Gford Avenue. And all of the comments that I anticipated sharing this evening have been covered. So instead, I wanted to reflect on a little bit of the context of things that I've heard. I think it's really important for all of you decision makers to consider the role that the petitioners here have. Um, with all due respect to them, they have a job to do. They have many roles. They are, uh, I'm sure scientists, engineers, financial analysts, when they're here in front of you, they're a sales team. And again, with all due respect, that's their job. They do that job well, and then they go home. I would do the same thing in their position. But that means you need to be very, very critical listeners and and think in a in a very uh strong second way about uh everything that they're telling you. For example, we've heard so much about safety, but I'm pretty sure that every infrastructure disaster in the last century, at least all the ones I've studied, but I'm not an expert, there have been layers of regulations and safety protocols in place, but something still went wrong. As we heard somebody say earlier, if it's man-made, something will go wrong at some point. Same thing with the property values. It's great that they've got u experts for hire. We don't have the resources to come up with experts for hire. I put more stock in actually a local agent knowing what that could do. The property values. I just ask you to consider again they're they're selling what they want to sell, what they should sell. That's their job. You've got the comp plan and considering what's best for the community here and whether it's right and whether it fits and and that's the perspective that we all hope that you have. So, thank you.

Thank you. So that was the last uh request that I had to speak to the board. So is there anyone that didn't get that opportunity would like to speak to the board? If so, okay, I see someone stepping up this way.

Good evening, guys. My name is Emma Morris. Um 21810 State Road 19. We are the house directly south of where they're wanting to put this power storage plant. Um, my dad is David Morris, the adjoining property owner. Uh, my parents are out of town. They emailed a letter expressing their concerns and desires for a no vote. We don't want the potential hazard that come with the battery storage. We don't want the eyesore. We still have five young siblings. My parents have five young children. um growing up on our family for farm that has been in our family for five generations now, including a cognitively handicapped child. We fear for their safety because young people are curious. I am still young. I am still very curious. These facilities are better suited for remote areas. And although the signs that they proposed in the trees that we also know can take six to 12 years to grow fully up are beautiful, at the end of the day, you can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Joy Alco. I'm a real estate agent. I live at 24560 Crooked Creek in Cicero. And I just want to point out that real estate is local and these folks used a real estate appraiser from North Carolina.

Yes, sir.

Yeah. My name is Frank Powers. I live at 3222 Cisero Road. No, I like to say just hearing what they're talking about, you seem like the best thing since sliced bread. And I want to know when you're changing zoning, I don't think any of these neighbors are for it. And I would ask everybody on this board, if you live 600t away from this suspect thing going in here, would you want to live by it? And that's really what I think it comes down to. people. You're asking people to live by there and they have to change the zoning to put it. I don't think there's anybody here that would say, "Yeah, I want that by my house. Thank you."

Yes, sir. Yes. Good evening. My name is Kevin Dylan. I reside with my family at 21585 State Road 19 sister approximately half a mile from the property zoning in question. I'd like to present uh this material to the board please. Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the proposed zoning change to build and operate APA best on the property directly west of State Road 19 and 221st Street. We are opposed to the building of APA best primarily due to the environmental safety risk of locating set industrial facility on top of and at the northern end of the Ingramman drain. As discussed earlier this evening, one of the primary drainage systems serving Jackson Township and other townships southeast of Morris Reservoir all the way to the right White River. The Nickel Plate Reliability Project is aware of this as illustrated by their slides earlier tonight, uh, which included a simple waterway in the northeast property corner. Please refer to page eight in the attached, um, Hamilton County Surveyor Office Report, which I provided, which illustrates the recent reconstruction of Ingererman drain by the Hamilton County Drainage Board and how flows how it flows south. This drainage system catches field service runoff, residential and commercial storm water, allows for adequate field tile drainage, and is connected to wetland habitat. Land owners within reach of Angerman drain, myself included, pay an annual usage fee. Please attach pages, excuse me, please see attached pages 4 through 7 for the list of those land owners impacted around 100 people. Senate, some of them are here tonight. Other reasons this APA best facility should not occur on the property in question include, but are not limited to, the unethical behavior of changing project names to push through construction, light pollution, negatively impacting traffic safety at State Road 19, 216th, and 221st Streets, decreasing residential and farmland values and proximity, potential fire hazard being built on top of numerous gas lines, um, the ones mentioned, but also the ones to the southeast. east and the continued loss of a land of which more is not being produced. The EPA best facility should be in an industrial area designed to contain and mitigate the associated

production risks. Thank you for your time this evening and for considering community feedback.

Thank you, SIR. Planning on coming up here. My name is Robin Cook. I'm live at 8989 East 256th Street. I'm questioning this company's um connection to our community and their their knowledge and and loyalty to our community. I know they pointed out that they spoke to um Cicero Fire Department. The It's interesting because the property lies in the jurisdiction of Jackson Township Fire Department and they have never met with my fire chief. So I I have concerns about their connection and loyalty to our community. I know that if something would happen, the Calvaries come and neither one of our fire departments have hazmat, but it's interesting that they haven't met with us.

Thank you. My name is Cooper Morris. As my sister already stated, we live at 21810 State Road 19 directly next to this facility. Everyone's presented you with some really good points tonight, but they're all factual. None of them have a personal aspect. So, I'd like to give you a personal aspect. My father is the fifth generation, me being the sixth. He has decided that he is not willing to take the risk of a although assumingly safe facility to raise his family next to. So should the facility go through, he has decided he will be leaving Cisro. I think that's something that the board needs to take into consideration. Cisero is great because of the people that are in the community. If you remove the people from the community, what do you have left? So I would respectfully ask that you guys vote no against this. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening. Good evening.

Dr. Charles Elco, 24560 Crooked Creek Road, Cicero, Indiana. 4 and a half years ago, I was privileged to move to Cicero from Noblesville. Specifically because Cicero is a residential family community. It is not an industrial site, industrial driven community. Lithium by its very nature is the most volatile substance known to man on this planet and there is always inherent concerns for safety. Every engineer knows that. So I urge you when you think about this project, the people behind me are the people I'm worried about or think about or committed to, not the almighty dollar or its impact on energy. So I urge you to think about the people of Cicero and what this means to them as they raise their families here like I've chosen to. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. You waited a long time, didn't you?

My name is Christine Bianke. I'm at 519 Shorlain, Cicero. Um I've been trained in um weapons of mass destruction. So if you look at this, you have not only electricity, you have water, you have lithium batteries, and you have a gas line that is a site that should not be in our small town community. And I ask the board to say no uh to this proposed um zone change. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Good evening.

Good evening, sir.

Manny Oiaga. I live at 20898 Overdorf Road. I probably shouldn't even be here. I had surgery yesterday, but I'm just going to throw some things out there. Mr. Salesman talked about new technology and how he sells it or whatever. Not. Well, in the West Coast, they have self-driving vehicles that supposedly won't crash, but we keep hearing that they keep crashing. They have cell phones that won't supposedly explode, but yet we hear stories that cell phones explode. Uh well, we have a county inspector. Uh this is something local like how do we how do we judge what they're bringing in? How how much electricity are they really gathering? Like there's just a lot to be asked for. In Hamilton County, we have county inspectors that go around inspecting just about everything. Who's going to inspect these guys? Some national guy? Who knows? They talk they they there's a lack of concern about water. Oh, we don't need water. That's right. They probably don't need water. Uh, as far as I'm aware, the plan is to evacuate and let it burn. Where? What direction? Who Who are they going to evacuate? What direction is it going to go? It's all based on wind. These things are it's not a it's not a if, but it's a when. These units are containers. They weigh approximately 16,000 lbs and the much bigger ones can weigh up to 100,000 lb. Tesla car weighs 3,000 lb. Now, in their own words, they said this is a compact compact facility. If one catches, they're all going to catch. How many of these containers are going to catch? It's just a uh recipe for disaster. I kindly ask you guys to vote no.

Thank you.

I'll be super brief. I promise. You got two minutes. So, I don't need two minutes. My name is John Gilmore. I live at 9145 East 221st Street, right down the road from this thing. We just went through this in the Hamilton County Courthouse not too long ago about the one over on Overdorf Road. So, I've heard all these arguments. Is this What's the difference? It's just a different location, different faces, different corporate name. I don't know. I don't think it belongs around here. They need to be in an industrial neighborhood where, God forbid, something happened, it wouldn't have the impact it would have to farm ground and residential ground. I hope you'll vote no. Thanks for your time. Okay.

THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. I'M BEN WRITESMAN. Uh my address is 9910 West 900 South. I actually come from Pendleton, Indiana. Uh for background, I'm 31 years uh in the battery industry. Started with lead acid. Uh some of the very first batteries that were deployed in the state of Indiana. Um both an electrical engineer and a master electrician by trade. I've deployed u nearly a terowatt hour of battery systems all over the globe including many of the devices that are in your pockets in your hands tonight. Um what I'd encourage you is is that batteries impact all around us. They're an important pillar of innovation, a critical technology. However, it's important for any community having deployed these everything from Russia to South America to Africa to the very first one that was done in Indianapolis, Indiana. If anyone's familiar with the Advancion Energy Storage that was put in in 2016 and still operates today, I was a part of that planning and that advancement for the first energy storage in Indiana. However, it was important at that time and I encourage you that you must have an energy plan. Um, for the community, it's important to be informed to have a fully comprehensive plan, the benefits of the community and where do you need to go from an energy perspective. Again, you would know me if you meet with me. I'm very pro battery. However, I'm not a battery belongs everywhere. Um, I've recently was brought to mind about the AIA power project. I'll be honest, I've re researched a bit, very familiar with the company's background, but have not looked into it extensively. Um, I would say based on the information I've seen so far, I don't think it's fully informed. I also don't think the community is fully informed, and I believe that that uh could be a reckless decision for the community. I'm not uh here to say that the uh project is at risk or the battery is at risk. Uh again

having um I will also comment one of the other uh folks mentioned the battery innovation center. Uh I was responsible for running the battery innovation center in southern Indiana uh and now run what's called the AMVIC the advanced machine vehicle innovation center in Indiana which focuses on advanced battery and energy developments from everything from humanoids to EV tall to large grid storage. So would love to if I can be of any help uh and expertise and background. I'll finish by saying um that myself and my team have were responsible for nearly all of the domestic investigations of battery fires that you have heard of. Everything from the Samsung Note fire if for anyone who had an Amazon hoverboard fire. That was us who did the investigation and the explanation including uh Moss Island and the Morris Illinois fire that was referenced which is still the largest and most diverse battery fire in the United States. That was our investigation that helped with the follow-on. So again, back to proper planning, good information. Encourage you to consider that.

Thank you. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Hello. My name is Karen Hires. I live at 10230 Cardinal Court, Noblesville. Um, I actually the last time that they tried this in Noblesville, um, I was at the community meeting that they actually held at that point to meet with the community members, which I don't believe they even did this time. And I actually talked to Brandon specifically. Um, they were stating at that point that water was actually ran inside of the containers to help cool these batteries, which tonight they're saying that there is no water. Um, we were also told at that point that water from a like firefighters, if there was a fire, water cannot be put cannot be used to put these out. It has to use a special product to use that. They've given no information on that at all. And pretty much what they've done tonight is just take information what they thought they could make a little bit better from what they found out in Noblesville and trying to make it a little bit prettier for you guys. Nobody in this community wants it. It is not safe for our community and we ask that you guys vote non-favorable. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh Betty Joe Wills uh what's my address? 24011 Twilight Hills Drive, Cicero. Um, I too am over on the other side, uh, over by 31, but I do have family that lives on State Road 19. And, um, I I truly want to say to you guys, I long for the day that I can come before you and actually talk in favor of something, but tonight's not the night. Um, this is not what we need. And so, that wasn't I mean, I'm not being I'm not trying to be funny. It's just not what we need. and we've been before you and been before you for some of these things that are coming into Jackson Township specifically and it's tiring. I feel like we're almost the dump spot for where Noblesville doesn't want it, Caramel doesn't want it. Oh, let's go put it in Jackson Township. So I would ask you guys, even though you're part of the Cicero, you know, some of you are appointed, some of you are in Jackson Township people, please consider, you know, what's coming before you. And you need to look for the whole of Jackson Township. Just like Robin spoke, nobody even spoke to the Jackson Township Fire Chief when the property lies in Jackson Township. So, um, I'm not going to go over any of the details because I don't know a lot about what they're trying to sell to us, but a lot of people have spoke. They've been great comments. I'm really excited to see all the new faces that have come to some of the meetings. I'm not going to rehash it, but I will point out the two people who spoke in favor of it. Uh, one was White County Monaceel and one was Pendleton. Nobody in really the area affecting State Road 19 talked in favor of it. Um just like we've not talked in favor of some of the you know the recycling whatever it was

um I'm asking you tonight to give it an unfavorable recommendation to the board and um if they show up again um with a different name for a third time where Noblesville rejected it and hopefully we reject it and if they want to move it out towards 31 I'm asking everybody in the group to come and support the other part of Jackson Township. Thank you. THANK YOU. OKAY. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE that wanted to speak?

Okay. Seeing no one stepping forward, then I would look for a motion to close the public hearing. Mr. Strong, I have several letters. Oh, excuse me. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Thank you. even added up my notes and missed it. Thank you, Mr. Zachki. Would you read those in, please?

Yes, sir. I'd be happy to. Dear members of the plan commission, on behalf of the land and liberty coalition, I am writing in support of the landowners request to reszone their property from commercial 3 to a plan unit development PD district. This request is ultimately about treating land owners fairly and allowing them a reasonable opportunity to use their property through Cicero's local planning process. The landowner has chosen to work directly with town officials, follow established procedures, and accept sight specific standards that reflect the character of the surrounding area. That cooperative approach deserves thoughtful consideration. A planned unit development framework gives the town of Cicero the ability to shape exactly how this property may be used. Rather than applying broad restrictions, a PD allows conditions tailored to this specific site, including setbacks, landscaping, and operational requirements that address nearby land uses. This approach respects neighbors while preserving local decision-making. We are concerned when discussions about a landowner's request are influenced by inaccurate or misleading depictions of what is actually being proposed. decisions are best made using the official materials before the commission and the standards that would be adopted as part of the PD rather than speculative or exaggerated portrayals. Indiana communities have long balanced growth and rural character by allowing local officials to evaluate proposals on their merits. Supporting this resoning request affirms that Cisero values common sense planning, cooperation, and respect for private land owners. Thank you for your time and for your service to the community. We appreciate your consideration of this request. Sincerely, Daniel Straka. This is from Kim Urban. Greetings. Per the legal notice, I am submitting comments opposing the reszone

application. I am submitting these comments regarding the proposed reasonzoning and plan development request for the nickel plate reliability project. I live just under one mile from the proposed site. I currently do not live within the immediate zoning district. I am part of Noblesville community and sit directly east of this proposed project that would bear the long-term land use, safety, infrastructure, and emergency response impacts of this decision. The plan commission's responsibility in a resoning case is to decide whether the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan compatible with the intent of the zoning ordinance and appropriate for the district in which it is proposed. In my view, this proposal does not meet those standards. Specifically, I would like to understand how this proposal aligns with the town of Cicero and Jackson Township comprehensive plan adopted in May of 2025. This board along with the town council approved clear objective statements within that plan to promote a healthy environment for residents of all ages and abilities and to secure and protect the natural environment of the Morris reservoir. According to the comprehensive plan zoning map, this parcel is designated as mixed use. The plan identifies appropriate land uses in mixeduse areas as retail, office, institutional or research space and residential or multif family development. Industrial use is not listed among these intended uses. I recognize that this board has the authority to approve or deny reszoning requests. With that responsibility in mind, I respectfully ask the following. How does this project benefit the taxpayers of Jackson Township? How does it align with the mixeduse zoning designation? How does it limit industrial sprawl which taxpayers have clearly expressed concern about? And how does it support the walkability, environmental protection, and economic vibrancy and vision for Cicero?

Furthermore, there is no discussion on the gas line that the plan map shows running through the middle of that parcel or the substation that will be included or that any other civil engineering analysis has been conducted to show that this is a suitable site. These gas lines are buried at least 4 ft deep. But per Marathon website that owns these lines, it states that a ignition source would need to occur for any disruption at this level. that is an external heat source or spark of si sufficient temperature must be introduced to the flammable mixture. The ignition temperature for a natural gas line is very high around 1100° F to,200° F. In contrast, when you look up what a lithium battery fire triggered by thermal runaway can reach temperatures often from 392° or even hotter at 1832 degrees Fahrenheit, releasing intense heat, flammable gases, and toxic smoke. While these extreme fire temperatures are the danger, instability can begin around 140° with critical thermal runaway starting above 212 degrees, leading to a rapid, uncontrollable heating and ignition. This would become an environmental quandry. For these reasons, I believe the proposed reasonzoning is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan, incompatible with the intent of the mixeduse future land use designation, and an inappropriate use of plan development zoning, as well as a safety hazard for our entire community. I respectfully ask the plan commission to issue a non-favorable recommendation on the nickelplate reliability project reszoning request. Thank you for your time and consideration, Kim Irvin. This one is from Shirley Allen. I vote no on the battery factory coming in Cisro. This one is from Carol Stump.

Uh I vote no to this proposed factory. Carol Stump. This one is from Janie Lamb. Please no. Nickel plate battery storage. Thank you, Betty Lamb. This one is from Joel uh Reapeld. Uh dear members of the Cisro Jackson Township Planning Commission, I'm a Hamilton County resident, a wealth adviser, and an electric vehicle owner from both a professional and practical perspective. I support the nickel plate reliability project because modern battery energy storage systems are a safe, low impact investment that delivers clear value to our community. As an adviser, I look for investments that balance risk, return, and fit. Best does exactly that. These facilities are compact, quiet, generate little to no traffic, require no ongoing util utilities, and can be landscaped to blend into their surroundings, making them an excellent neighbor. The project strengthens our local electric grid during peak demand, improving reliability for homes, farms, and businesses without adding new smoke stacks or emissions. As someone who relies on public charging, I see firsthand how essential dependable power is for families and small businesses. The economics are also compelling. Best projects typically generate new property tax revenue over their operating life and create good local construction jobs, benefits that arrive quickly and grow over time. Safety is a priority and this developer's approach aligns with current national standards. Modern best facilities are designed and reviewed under established codes and responsible developers coordinate emergency response planning and training with local fire officials well before operations begin. Finally, timing matters. Approving a low

impact revenue positive safety focused use now helps secure a stable and unobtrusive future for the site. Delaying approval risks a more disruptive development later with greater traffic noise and fewer public benefits. Best is the smarter path forward. For these reasons, I respectfully urge you to approve the nickelplate reliability project. It is fiscally sound, community-minded, and future ready. Sincerely, Joel Wright. This is from um Lori Gizler. I am against the resoning request by APA power for any plant battery or otherwise on Cicero farmland. Th this company was turned down for their facility on Overdorf by Hamilton County in July. Have you consulted with Hamilton County as to why they turned it down? This is unconscionable that they would change their name and then try again just a few miles away after being turned down by the county in which Jackson Township resides. Any risk of poisoning our great farming soil and high water table must be refused. I am reminded of the plot of land still not cleaned up on West Brenton. Have we forgotten from five or six years ago when housing subdivision was proposed north of that land that the farmer stated this land is wet, water will spread any poisons released and there will be accidents. Please do not allow this to occur. Lori Gizler. This one is from uh Ryan Summers, Nickel Plate Reliability Project. To the esteemed members of the Cisero Jackson Township Planning Commission. As a Hamilton County resident with roots in nearby Grant County and a conservative professional in the tech industry, CDW, I strongly support the Nickel Plate Reliability Project. My experience helps me understand that we have a critical need for a stable and secure energy supply. I know that this project will improve our energy resilience, which will ensure that the lights stay on for our homes and businesses in a state that is seeing significant growth. From my

perspective, this is a common sense investment in infrastructure and one that will make our local grid more stable. I acknowledge that some of our local citizens have concerns regarding fire risk giving incidents such as Morse Landing or Moss Landing. While I understand their sentiments, decision makers should not draw false equivalencies to projects that do not utilize the same technology as today. From my understanding, the Moss Landing battery facility was built before modern safety standards and used outdated indoor battery energy storage with older technology, which compared to outdoor battery storage with newer chemistry, has a much higher fire risk. connecting the Moss landing incident to the proposed nickel plate project is unjustified and could leave us behind in the necessary infrastructure our area and state needs in the long run. The developers commitment to safety is highly reassuring, especially as this industry evolves. They will establish a comprehensive fire safety plan which will be developed alongside our local fire officials and are committed to ongoing safety training. The significant setback of the project in an area that already has a busy road and train tracks further demonstrates their dedication to being a safe and responsible neighbor. This diligent safety first approach is exactly what we need to ask for from these important energy infrastructure projects. In conclusion, in my opinion, the nickel plate reliability project is a beneficial and pragmatic step for Hamilton County. It addresses vital energy needs with a clear and strong commitment to community safety and well-being. I urge the planning commission to approve this essential project and keep the state moving forward in a positive direction. Thank you, Michael Ryan Summers. This one is from Jan Rogers. I vote no. This one is from Sue Platt. Please vote

no. This one is from Judy Anniah Wade. No. This one I don't know who this is from yet. Written public comment opposing resoning nickel plate reliability project. Best I am submitting these comments regarding the pro proposed resoning and plan development request for the nickelplate reliability project. I live just over three miles from the proposed site. While I'm not within the immediate zoning district, I am part of the broader community that would bear the long-term land use, safety, infrastructure, and emergency response impacts of this decision. This comment is not about whether battery storage has a role in the regional power grid. It is about whether this specific use at this specific location fits the town's adopted plans and zoning framework. The plan commission's responsibility in a reszoning case is to decide whether the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan compatible with the intent of the zoning ordinance and appropriate for the district in which it is proposed. In my view, this proposal does not meet those standards. Indiana code 36-7-4-504A requires that resoning considers the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance states that zoning decisions are intended to guide growth in accordance with the plan. The 2025 Cisero Jackson Township comprehensive plan is therefore not background material. It is the policy framework that should guide this decision. According to the comprehensive plan's future land use map, the subject property and surrounding area are designated mixed use. The plan describes mixed use areas as places intended to support a combination of compatible commercial and serviceoriented uh uses developed at a scale and intensity that supports community activity, flexibility, and long-term compatibility. It states that the appropriate land use for the mixeduse category is residential units, retail

space, office space, institutional or research space, and residential multif family development. It is also important to know that the current use of the property is agricultural. Agricultural land represents a low inensity, low-risk use that is generally compatible with surrounding rural and transitional areas. While the comprehensive plan anticipates that some agricultural land may transition over time, the transition is intended to be incremental and compatible moving toward uses that align with the mixeduse designation such as commercial service or employment uses that interact with the community. Mixed use areas are meant to encourage interaction, economic activity, and development patterns that fit comfortably with surrounding uses. A 200 megawatt utility scale battery energy storage system does not function as a mixeduse or commercial activity. It does not serve customers on site, does not create meaningful ongoing employment, and does not contribute to an active commercial environment. Instead, it operates as regional utility infrastructure with an industrial risk profile. Those characteristics are fundamentally inconsistent with what the comprehensive plan envisions for mixeduse areas. The proposed resoning is not simply a refinement of existing commercial zoning. It represents a substant substantive shift from the established C3 business park light industrial district standards to a PDC3 plan development created specifically to accommodate this project. The C3 district is intended to provide general commercial uses that are compatible with surrounding development and that operate with clearly defined uniform standards operated by the town. Those standards reflect deliberate policy choices about what types of uses belong in commercial districts and how their impacts are managed. By contrast, plan development zoning is intended to allow flexibility in the development of land when

consistent with the comprehensive plan and intent of the zoning ordinance and subdivision control of ordinance. It is not intended to be used to bypass fundamental use limitations when a proposal does not fit within existing districts. In this case, PDC3 designation appears to function primarily as a mechanism to allow a utility scale battery energy storage facility, a use that does not otherwise fit within C3 rather than to achieve a development outcome that is demonstrably equal to or better than what conventional C3 zoning would allow. This distinction matters because it changes the role of zoning from guiding land use to accommodating a single incompatible project. Approving this resoning would signal that utility scale energy infrastructure is appropriate in mixeduse and C3 commercial districts. That precedent will not be limited to this parcel. It will shape future applications and gradually change of purpose and expectations of commercial zoning throughout the town. For a project of this scope, there also seems to be a lack of information available is both deeply concerning and very disappointing, leading to many unresolved concerns. In the agenda for the plan commission meeting on January 14th, the exhibit B preliminary development plan says materials to be inserted prior to filing. I thought it had been left out and contacted the plan commission office who told me that the preliminary development plan consisted only of a before and after map of the parcel and immediate adjacent areas. There's also a supplemental narrative that does little more than say the petitioner will follow all applicable rules. To date, the the record does not include a sight specific hazard analysis, environmental impact analysis, emergency response capacity assessment, or anything about the increased burden on local fire and emergency services to equip and train for large-scale battery incident response. Utility scale B battery facilities operate continuously and carry well

doumented fire and hazardous material risks that are very different from those associated with normal commercial uses. This proposal would introduce 10 to 14 million pounds of hazardous materials onto land that is currently agricultural, dramatically changing the scale and nature of potential emergency response needs. Stating the facility is complies with fire code NFPA 855 does not mean the community is prepared. Per a similar best proposal from APA, each container weighs 94,800 lb. It is estimated that 50 to 70% of this is hazardous material. The plan map shows 210 battery containers which comes to 10 to 14 million pounds of hazardous material. Furthermore, there is no discussion on the gas line that the plan map shows running through the middle of the parcel or the substation that will be included or that any other civil engineering analysis has been conducted to show that this is a suitable site. For these reasons, I believe the proposed reasonzoning is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan, incompatible with the intent of the mixeduse future use designation and an inappropriate use of plan development zoning. I respectfully ask the plan commission to issue a non-favorable recommendation in the nickel plate reliability project reasonzoning request. Thank you for your time and consideration, Stephen Elliot. This one is from Jan Rogers. I vote no. This one is from Nancy May. Please vote no. This one is from Elizabeth Fouch. Board members, unfortunately, I am not able to attend this meeting, but I feel that I stand with a majority of residents in opposition to this request. It is not a small undertaking in building this proposed facility. Increases in traffic and infrastructure strain, but it is also an eyesore and a safety concern for me. Thank you, Elizabeth Fouch. This one is from Katherine Lee Ward. Hello. I'm writing to oppose the best

station that is being proposed along State Road 19 leading into Cicero. There are many reasons that I feel this is not a good move for the future of our town. First, I am concerned about the livestock that is located across the street from this proposed site and within the close vicinity of the area. There are also many farms and farmland in the area that would be greatly affected by this project, especially if a fire started or there was a chemical leak. Several of my friends live in that vicinity of this and their houses would be affected if anything were to happen like a fire or chemical leak. There are people that have contributed to this area and or moved here for a quiet for the quiet that the country has to offer and a small town feel of Cicero. I know how they feel as I move close to this area for the same reason. My house is within a half mile of this proposed site and I am concerned for my family if something bad were to happen. Also, I am concerned about all of our property values. I moved to Cicero because I love the small town feel and the farmland that is surrounding our neighborhood. I am not naive to think that there will not be development in the area, but I feel aesthetically that this development would take away from a small town feel, and honestly, it's ugly. Who wants to move to a town that has an ugly battery storage area in it? I can guarantee no one does. I would say that the most concerning part of this would be the gas pipeline that runs right through the middle of this project. Also, there is a power substation that is across the street on 216th Street. If there was a fire and either of these things was damaged, it would severely our town and their resources affecting businesses and residents alike. Also, I can only imagine the long-term effects of this. Thank you so much for reading my concerns. I'm a lifelong resident of this county and seriously want the best for it. This project definitely does not fit with that vision for me and I can guarantee my friends and neighbors feel the same. Sincerely, Katie Murray. This one is from Peter Miwis. Uh, dear planning commission members, Clean Grid Association is writing to express

support for the proposed nickel plate reliability project, a 200 megawatt standalone battery energy storage system proposed by APA Power in the Cisero Jackson Township area. Projects like this strengthen grid reliability, support affordable electricity, generate local tax revenue, and contribute to low long-term economic growth while helping communities meet growing energy demand with a resilient and dependable power system. The nickel plate reliability project is designed to safely store excess electricity when demand is low and deliver it back to the grid during periods of high demand, enhancing overall system reliability and energy resilience. The proposed facility would be located hundreds of feet from the nearest residence and utilize state-of-the-art technology consistent with industry best practices. We stand ready to support your efforts to ensure that comprehensive land use plans, zoning ordinances, and permitting processes provide a clear and predictable pathway for innovative infrastructure projects such as the nickelplate reliability project to be developed responsibly in Cisro Jackson Township. We welcome the opportunity to provide additional information or assistance as needed and thank you for your leadership in considering infrastructure investments that deliver community benefits and local revenue while bolstering the state's energy system and protecting the health, safety, and welfare local residents. Sincerely, Peter Weimis, regional policy director. This one is from Joshua Bane. Dear plan commission members, as the Midwest director for the center for energy education, I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the important discussions surrounding energy planning and development in Cicero Jackson Township. While the Center for Energy Education does not advocate for or against individual energy projects, our mission is to provide objective education and resources to local

leaders, communities, and the public on the evolving landscape of energy technology, policy, and infrastructure. Battery energy storage systems, often referred to as BEST, are increasingly playing a pivotal role in helping communities manage energy demand, ensure reliability, and support local power generation. As Indiana continues to grow with expanding manufacturing technological innovation and increased residential energy use, reliable energy storage becomes essential. The mid-continent independent system operators forecasts of near-term capacity challenges and potential grid instability further underscore this need. Standalone battery storage facilities represent a scalable and cost-effective way to stabilize the grid, reduce peak demand stress, and enhance resilience. These systems have been safely deployed across the country in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike and are built to rigorous safety and engineering standards such as NFPA55. They also bring substantial private investment with minimum land disruption to their host communities. We commend Cicero Jackson Township leaders for engaging thoughtfully in these conversations about battery storage and futureproofing local energy infrastructure. The effort to pl balance public safety, land use, and energy reliability demonstrates a forward-thinking approach that can serve as a model for other areas in Indiana and beyond. Thank you for your time and dedication to a well-informed and communityoriented planning process. Sincerely, Joshua Bane. This one is from Jeff Brown. Good afternoon, Mr. Zawadski. I am writing to voice my opinion on the below listed project that is being discussed on Wednesday January 14th at the plan commission meeting. I'm going to be out of town so I will not be able to participate in person. Use this letter as my official submission. I know that this same type best project was

presented to the Hamilton County Plan Commission for a White River Township location. This project was ultimately rejected and not approved. Now, it seems that the same company is looking to implement a best project south of Cicero for all the same reasons that Hamilton County rejected the White River Township project. I would request that the Cicero Jackson Township Planning Commission also reject this project. These battery systems have the potential to be hazardous to our environment should something go wrong. These type projects also tend to attract largecale AI data centers which will also be detrimental to our rural way of life. No citizen of Cisero Jackson Township should should have to worry about environmental hazards, property value de devaluation and nightmare living conditions conditions with the construction of this type of project. Again, I ask for a rejection of this project by this board. Thank you and best regards, Jeff Brown. This one is from Sherry Bllye, Mr. Zawadsky, Mr. Strong, Mr. Shrump, Mr. Msani, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Hayden, Mr. Diller, Mr. Hebner, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Gillespie, all I would like to express my concerns over the proposed nickel plate battery storage facility proposed by APA on State Road 19 just south of 221st Street, Cicero, Indiana. This type of facility does not fit in the with the character of the surrounding rural residential community. If this is approved and constructed, it will be an ongoing safety concern. In the event of a fire, there will be toxic chemicals released into the air until it burns itself out, which may take several weeks. Also water example, Moss Landing, California. It will negatively affect the surrounding property values indefinitely. Constant noise and light pollution 24 hours a day. We see no benefit of this facility being in the Pleasant Cicero area. The only entity to prevent to benefit will be the profits made by APA and parent company Blackstone Energy. We are asking you to please consider the many residents that

depend on you to decide what's best for the area and its citizens and vote against the approval of this facility as was done with a similar similar proposal in Cookamo, Indiana in November of 2024 and APA's Kingfisher project on Overdo Road, Noblesville, Indiana in July 2025. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Allison B. Milm and Sherry L. Bllye. This is from Kathy Van Alolstein. I am writing to express my sincere and emphatic opposition to nickel plate reliability projects proposal affecting Route 19 in Cicero Hamilton County. I am concerned for the board's potential consideration for this as I was with a similar proposal for over O overdorf road. Will this result in the actual placing of toxic, flammable, hazardous, displeasing lithium battery storage on Route 19? If so, please consider my extreme opposition. The fire hazard is terribly concerning to me as well along with potential air contamination should a fire occur. I thank you for your consideration to not approve this request. Respectfully submitted Kathy Randall Vanolstein. Uh this is from Tom and Tina Monroe. Subject public comment formal opposition to state road 19 battery storage reszoning. Tom Monroe. Dear plan commission and Tom, town council members, please accept this letter as my formal written opposition to the proposed reasonzoning of the 219,000 square foot lithium battery energy storage facility on State Road 19. I am a resident of 700 Iron Bridge Road and a local business owner at 299 North Peru Street. I am requesting that this letter be entered into the official public record for the hearing on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. Subject public comment form opposition to state road 19 battery storage reszoning Tom and Monroe. Uh

one inconsistency with the 2025 comprehensive plan. The proposed reasonzoning is a material departure from the town of Cicero Jackson Township 2025 comprehensive plan. This plan prioritizes uh service commercial development, tourism, and agricultural preservation for the State Road 19 corridor. A utility scale industrial facility contradicts our community's goals for maintaining its small town character. Two unresolved public safety risks as seen in the unanimous detail of the APA Power Kingfisher Reserve project by the Hamilton County BA in July 2025. Lithium battery facilities present unique risks like thermal runaway and toxic gas release. Approval should be denied until a sight specific hazard mitigation plan is vetted and approved by the Cicero fire department. Three, supply chain concerns. AP power frequently utilizes e storage systems for its 2025 rollouts. Transparency regarding the country of manufacturer for these critical components is essential for local safety and long-term operational reliability. Four, limited community benefit. This project offers minimal permanent local employment while shifting the burden of specialized emergency response to our local services. For these reasons, I respectfully request the comm the commission deny this resoning. Sincerely, Tom Monroe, 700 Iron Bridge Road. I look forward to the meeting on Wednesday. Regarding docket number PC-0126-02-C3, I have several objections to the proposed best facility on State Road 19. But first, I feel that I must address the way this proposal came to be. As you know, a similar proposal was rejected in White River Township just a few months ago. Then the company proposing this

project changed their name to something sounding innocent and familiar in Hamilton County. This seems to be a very sneaky endrun move to move this to a small town. There is no documentation that this name change occurred before the Hamilton County meeting. It would seem that there was a plan B. In fact, if someone had not discovered this name change, this petition seemed to raise no concern. It is unclear from the information presented when the relation what the relationship is between the two the new named entity and the named owners. It is also unclear why the named owners Indiana residents have a Texas address. As this company prepared for the meeting in Hamilton County, they held a public meeting which was very well attended. It quickly became apparent that they were not forthcoming with specifics or about future plans. In fact, in the documents presented to the county, there were quite a few misrepresentations and mistakes. All the inaccuracies and consistencies inconsistencies along the way uh this unfolded made it very difficult for me and many others to trust all that is being represented. Projects such as this destroy farmland which seems to be rapidly disappearing in Hamilton County and should be protected. In this case, it would seem to be for unwanted and unnecessary purposes. This installation would result in soil and water contamination and habitat destruction, allowing projects such as this erodess the rural character of this county and this area which residents have long fought to maintain and retain. Permitting installations such as this establishes a dangerous and unwelcome precedent for future developments. The proposed facility does not align with the surrounding land uses. It is unclear what, if any, economic benefit there will be to Cicero and the surrounding community. The proposed project is inconsistent with Cicero zoning ordinances to promote the health, safety, comfort, convenience, and morals

of general and general welfare. I suspect that no one on this board would want to have this facility next to their home. Thank you for your consideration, Leslie Cox, East 246th Street. I've attached a list of questions that really should be asked. What is the relationship between those named as the nickel plate entity and the actual owners? Mr. Zawski, is that a a separate? It's the same. So, can we We're getting into some pretty long ones. And in fairness, we probably want to try to summarize some of those. So, in in fairness to the the public. So, I know some of those are running long. So, Okay. So, thank you.

I have three left. Okay. Thank you, sir.

This one's from Brad Baker. Esteemed members of the Cisero Jackson Township board, I would like to go on record as being opposed to the proposed best facility on State Road 19. I would point out the myriad reasons I am sure we are all well aware of for not allowing this to move forward at this location. Fire danger and environmental and groundwater damage potential from fire are obvious reasons. This facility is very close to our residential and public spaces as well as our well fields. Also, this project would likely prevent anyone from further developing the surrounding area for either commercial or residential use. These facilities are much better suited to more rural unpopulated areas. I urge you to not allow this project to move forward. Thank you, Brad and Sue Baker. This is one is from George Kakasul. Good morning, Frank. Hope everything's going well. I'm sure it's been busy for a few days. Just want to drop a quick note say I don't think the best facility is the type of commercial development our community needs along that corridor. Thanks, George Kakasulf. This is from David and Amy Morris. Um 21810 State Road 19 to Cicero Jackson Township Plan Commission. We are the adjoining property owners on the south and southwest property line of 0 state road 19 Cicero. We urge you to vote no on the proposed reszoning of this property. We feel allowing a reszone to the PDC3 will allow the property owner to have more control over the type of planned development that takes place on that property. The Nickel Plate Reliability LLC/Ron and Dawn Coverdale is proposing a battery energy storage system on this property. This same group was denied zoning in White River Township, Noblesville, just two miles east of this location under the name of Kingfisher. We and community members believe they have renamed and are trying to slip into

a smaller township city, thinking that Jackson Township, Cicero, won't be as concerned about the community as other townships cities have already been. These systems are dangerous. This location is one of two gateways to Cicero. They emit hazardous gases, have massive cooling fans that run at a loud decibel 24 hours a day. The facility is surrounded by tall chainlink safety fence in an attempt to protect the community from the eminent danger of the storage units themselves, which are highly combustible. They are brightly lit 24 hours per day. The noise and light pollution alone will affect Cicero as a whole community, not just the surrounding properties. We urge you to remember the curiosity of the public when the abandoned rail cars were parked at this same location. The cars were vandalized with broken windows, disassembled interiors, gunshots through the metal exteriors. A single gunshot to one of the battery storage containers would explode the unit, leaving it burning for days. Jackson Township is not equipped to battle one of these fires. The water runoff into the newly cleared open ditch runs directly to White River, offering a source of contamination that could travel for miles. The risk of these battery storage facilities is real enough for the EPA to have fed federallymandated standards for these systems in attempt to control the hazards. Among many EPA requirements, the local fire protection and surrounding fire protection departments are required to undergo specialized education and training on how to combat these potential fires. Local agencies must also provide PPE and evacuation evacuation routes for nearby residents in the event of an explosion. The evacu the evacuation plan may include residents within Cicero city limits in addition to the immediate residents. Residents are often forced to remain away from their homes for weeks in the event of an of an explosion. These battery storage systems would demise Cicero's appeal as a lakeside community.

Cities homing these facilities are listed on the EPA's national registry registry for air pollution standards. Communities are subject to year round burn cautions due to the combustibility of these storage units. Fourth of July fireworks could be disastrous depending on the size of the plume of poisonous gases lingering above the facility. With all the threats these systems propose to the community, they often don't supply a financial gain to the community. They may operate eight years at a loss, leaving no revenue tax for the community. They also abandon facilities if the gain is not available, leaving the community with, in this case, over 200 massive lithium batteries on site and rendering the property owner's land useless. There are so many reasons to say no to this reszone petition. We are praying with the community that this plan commission will deny this petition. Thank you, David and Amy Morris. That's my letters, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Zawatsky. Take a deep breath. And uh if you'd like a water, there's one in the refrigerator there. So So you're all right. Thank you. Are we ready for a motion to close public comment? Yes, sir. So moved. Jacob Everett. Thank you, Mr. Ever. And second, Mr. Johnson. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed?

Okay. So, as we previously stated, at this time, the petitioner will be given an opportunity to come back up and address any of the concerns or comments they heard during public comment if they'd like. And then also this will give the uh board an opportunity to ask questions as well. So would someone like to come back up and address anything that you heard at this time or Mr. President members of the board if it so pleases you uh you had mentioned previously a possible 5m minute recess at about 9:00. It is now almost 9:30. If it does pleases you, I would certainly be happy to do that just to digest a number of the comments and concerns that we just heard.

Okay. Would the board like to take a 10-minute recess and give them an opportunity to uh get their thoughts together? That'd be fine. Okay. I would look for a motion to take a 10-minute recess. And you need to announce the time we'll reconvene. Pardon me. You need to announce the time we will reconvene. Okay. We will reconvene at 9:40. 9:35. 9:35. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm looking at the clock behind you. So 9:35, I guess it would be then. So moved. Second, Dennis Johnson. Okay. All in favor signify to say I. I. I.

Okay. Thank you. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. back to Texas. I'd be glad to show you if you're not open here. on Highway. So yeah, you want to reach out to

There you go. started 12 years. Next generation. I'm going to do some Charles and then there's a big mausoleum. So I'm really interested in some of that in the war but we're also doing a race carvable. So, it's going to be a lot of stuff.

Yeah. Well, I sort of place I was I was a person that I spent almost every weekend. I also think we should ask it. We've got all that stuff on the list.

Okay. We can't even hopefully the crowds are my my daughter husband going they were there. They've been there. So that's

only great tips. I had a woman with accident doesn't mean his opinion and everything but relevant my opinion How was Florida?

Monday, Tuesday, we literally had sitting in the meeting inside. The second day was a little bit better. We were moving around, but it wasn't like I was so confused. Well, what happened? I really especially this year.

So I said his wife.

Oh, just pictures. Oh, no. I don't I don't know if I still have them or not. The pictures I had of Joe Sweden. Oh, so we got them on the big screen. We did. Oh, did you?

Oh, yeah. They were Joe was just shaking his head that he couldn't believe I'm sorry I missed that one. It was pretty entertaining.

But uh I I had some fun. Today I'm playing pickle ball and and I I get in, you know, I'm having I'm having fun. Okay. Well, we're getting our ass kicked. It's something like 9 to2 and we're battling trying to get serve back so we can score some points. And the guy hits it into the net and yes, you know, I I kind of celebrate. We get the ball back. And that was their second surf. And the lady on that team just blew up. How rude it was of me to insult somebody making a bad hit on the wall.

Oh my gosh. It felt like you were taunting somebody. I don't know. Yeah, he's fighting football. I I don't think the battle is over.

No, I was like, there are refreshments. You're right. If

I could get everyone to take your seats, please. Oh, yeah. I remember when those things were new. They had like keyboard on the screen. I saw people trying to do that. I'm like, If everyone would take your seats, please. Thank you.

Okay. I would look for a motion to open our meeting back up. So move. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Looking for a second and seconded. Uh, Mr. Chairman Ford Heer. Thank you, Mr. Heavner. I have a motion and second to continue our meeting. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. So, if you would step forward, sir, and if you don't mind, give us your name and address again for the records, please. Brandon Gman, 4860 Piles Road. There you go. Test. Test. Thank you.

Brandon Gman, 4860 Piles Road, Chapel Hill, Tennessee. Uh, Mr. President, members of the commission, thank you for the opportunity uh to expand on our presentation and directly address uh many of the public comments. Thank you to the public uh for participating and thank you for raising important points. I wanted to start uh by referencing the zoning ordinance of Cicero and Jackson uh town of Cicero and Jackson Township. Uh there was a question and maybe a few comments about uh the intent of utilizing a PD district. Uh I want to read here on page 106 of the zoning ordinance. This is article 8 uh titled PD district intent and permitted uses. Under district intent, plan development regulations are intended to encourage innovations in land development techniques so that the growing demands of the community may be met with greater flexibility, variety and type, design and layouts of sites and buildings. Uh this project fits uh very specifically within that intent. With regard to permitted uses inside of planned districts, all uses are subject to the discretion and approval of the plan commission. No uses are granted by right. In general, the uses that will be allowed in the plan development are uses designated as permitted uses or special exemptions exceptions in the zoning district prior to being changed to a plan development district. So put simply here uh we're talking about permitted uses and special exception uses in the zoning district. In this case that is C3 business park and light industrial. I'll further quote from the zoning ordinance. This is page 19 in article 2. This is the definition of C3 business park light manufacturing/youutility. This district is generally intended for small business park, light manufacturing

facilities, light manufacturing parks, and utility usage. It was referenced here that these uses uh are permitted uses and special exceptions that would be uh acceptable for to go down this PD route. Uh under special exception uses on page 56 of the zoning ordinance, uh there's a section titled communication/youutility. This includes cellular or communication radio or television towers, pipeline pumping stations, public wells, and utility substations. This project fits very specifically within all of the district intents as well as the letter of the law. I want to further comment on a number of uh items that were raised with regards to the comprehensive plan. Uh this comprehensive plan was adopted in May 2025. the town of Cicero and Jackson Township. In the table of contents, it's kind of split out um into a couple specific sections. There are also very specific sections here for Jackson Township and then town of Cicero. Uh under Jackson Township, there is a section on page 60 that is titled public services and utilities. Uh quoting from that section, public service and utilities overview. This is specifically again for Jackson Township in the comprehensive plan. Providing reliable public services and utilities is one of the most essential functions of local government. A good infrastructure for water, wastewater, electricity, natural gas, and broadband access is critical to supporting residents and visitors health, safety, and well-being. As Jackson Township grows, ensuring that public services can keep pace with development is important to maintaining a high quality of life. This section goes on further to say on

page 61 that there are relevant comprehensive goals. Uh one of those is to invest strategically in reliable utility services under objective statements. Uh, a couple of the items here are to coordinate with state, county, and private utility providers to address utility expansion needs and avoid service gaps. That's that electricity demand that I spoke about earlier. Under three on objective statements, determine the use, location, and capacity of existing and future public utilities to efficiently serve existing and planned service areas. Finally, under an objective statement number four, promote green energy and other alternative technologies. Again, this project fits very specifically within the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance here. Uh furthermore, I'd like to go on with reference to uh White River Township and our project that was presented there to the Hamilton County Board of Zoning Appeals. Uh this is the same company, IPA Power, and these are two different projects. That was the King Fisher Reserve best project that was on a different parcel and presented in front of the Hamilton County Board of Zoning Appeals. Here we are speaking with a different board. This is the plan commission as you know in Cicero or town of Cicero, Jackson Township. This agreement that we have for the site control is with a different land owner. this is in a different uh jurisdiction altogether and it would be quite confusing to keep the same name and reference a different geographic location. That brings up uh way too many question marks. Uh therefore, this is a different project. Uh it's very clear as we have named it as such. And I wanted to comment on the Hamilton County Board of Zoning Appeal findings. For those unfamiliar, there were five points that must be unanimously concurred upon by the four members that were present for

the board of zoning appeals meeting back in July. So those five points all must be unanimously concurred upon if to in order to pass that project. As we know, it was denied. Uh of note, uh we're handing out the findings of fact. Uh this is the the findings from the Board of Zoning Appeals. So, how they voted on each of those uh five statements. Uh the two at the top I think are uh are pertinent here. Uh the first being that the board of zoning appeals unanimously found there would be no adverse effect to the health, welfare, safety uh of adjoining or adjacent properties. And the second point also unanimously found they agreed that there would be no effect on property values there. The crux of that denial in White River Township in Hamilton County Board of Zoning Appeals was a legal definition of hardship. That was point number four. And then there were mixed reviews on point number five with regards to their comprehensive plan which did not have any explicit language about electricity like Cicero Jackson Township does here in their comprehensive plan. I hope that those findings of fact are helpful uh in determining how this project um came about out of that denial of that previous project. Uh I would also like to address uh there were a couple of comments with regards uh sort of around the idea of well what happens to this project after its useful life. Uh in the business we call that decommissioning. Uh so we would decommission this project. The useful life is approximately 30 years. We sign long-term offtake agreements with utilities and that would be local utilities like in the area. For example, there's AES, there's Duke, there's a number of different electricity co-ops. Those are the folks that we would be signing a long-term lease for the

technology in our facility. And then it is the local utility that then utilizes our technology to charge and dispatch whenever they see fit up to their transmission planners. There is no energy arbitrage where IPA power is buying low and selling high. Uh this is all managed by the utility themselves. Uh with regards to decommissioning, uh it is written in the proposed plan district ordinance uh that is prepared here that a decommissioning plan must be prepared by a third-party engineering firm. So, not only are they going to uh describe and um lay out the plan for how the project is physically removed, they're also going to prescribe dollar amounts of what they estimate decommissioning will cost. The decommissioning plan then further goes on to provide for a decommissioning bond that is put up by IPA power that is not paid for by the township nor is it paid for by anyone else. That decommissioning bond is then growing over time. There are a few um uh milestones in which the bond is recalculated to ensure that it's keeping up with inflation. The dollar amount estimate is still accurate. So that decommissioning plan and then the financial shity provided by us IPA power will then pay for that. So again as I mentioned long-term uh investment here these are long-term offtake utility agreements with local utilities like AES Duke or various co-ops. Uh let's see. Uh with regards to emergency response, I wanted to bring up our uh fire and risk alliance consultant, Chief Brian Frink, and happy to answer some specific questions that y'all may have.

Good evening. Brian Fank, 234 with Parkway Farmingdale, New York. There was a lot of uh comments and questions that the public uh asked and spoke about. They're the same questions I had when I first started getting involved in battery energy storage and training firefighters on how to respond to these facilities. So, I understand their concerns. They were my concerns when I was out here doing it as well. So, there's a lot of information on the internet and a lot of that information is good. Some of it is not so good and a lot of misinformation is on the internet as well. So, I try to base all of my comments and when I teach firefighters from data that has been collected from previous events. That's how we train firefighters, not just on batteries, but with everything we learn from previous fires. So, the comments I'm going to uh make to you are going to be based on data. So, someone asked whether there was fire suppression built into these cabinets. When they first started building these things, yeah, they were putting fire suppression into the cabinets. They found that it was counterproductive to do so. It may stop active flaming, but it doesn't stop thermal runaway and it prolongs the event. So, most manufacturers and developers are not using fire suppression anymore. It's ineffective. Firefighters are trained to if a battery goes on fire to allow that battery, whether it be an electric vehicle or one of these containers, to allow that container to burn, not to try to extinguish it. There's a lot of talk about contamination of the water and the soil. Don't put water on it. You're not going to have water runoff as a result of that. They're trained to just protect exposures around that burning container. Duration. Everybody talks, well, how long will these things burn? And that's really dependent on how many batteries were involved and what equipment they're using. So the long duration events that people are talking about, those were

indoor facilities where there's thousands of racks of batteries all inside of one structure. Moss Landing is a prime example of that where there were thousands of battery modules that were on fire in that facility. That many is going to cause a long duration event. If you have one of these containers on fire, it is not going to burn for weeks like everybody else is saying. Is it a long duration event? Depends on how you define that. You get a Home Depot on fire. That's a long duration event. You get one of these battery containers on fire, we're talking about active flaming anywhere from 4 hours to 8 or 9 hours. After that, it's smoldering because the casings of the battery are plastic. That's where most of your smoke is being generated. Much of the chemicals or the electrolyte that's in the batteries once they go on fire, those are being consumed in that fire. There's also been talk about lithium getting into the soil and there's a big misconception that there's metal lithium inside these cells. It is not metal lithium. It's lithium salts, lithium carbonate. That's in seawater that's given to people with mood swings. Lithium carbonate. It's not metal lithium that's in these batteries. There was also talk about contamination from nickel, manganese, and cobalt. Brandon had made mention that the technology that was first being used in these systems were the NMC batteries, nickel, manganese, cobalt, the heavy metals. The LFP batteries are not that. It's lithium iron phosphate. So, a different chemistry. By far, the majority of the fires that have occurred around the country and around the world have been the NMC batteries. There's also uh a question about fire department training.

Fire departments are required to be trained before they commission these sites and they're required to provide training on a yearly basis to keep them apprised of how to respond to these facilities. It's not the typical fire. You know, you get a young firefighter, they want to go up and they want to put this out. Somebody mentioned about opening doors. They're trained. You don't get near these things. You keep your distance 100 ft away from them and you allow them to do their go through the process of burning that one container. They protect the exposures around it. That's how they're trained and the training is pretty comprehensive. They get classroom training. Then they go out to the site and they get to see the equipment and get a a good idea of what they're dealing with. There was also a question about the pipeline that runs through there, the natural gas pipeline. So that's 4 ft below ground. These battery containers, the way the site is set up, are nowhere near where those pipelines would be. There is no chance of any kind of fire at this facility affecting that pipeline. Not not happening. There was also uh mention of propagation to the entire facility. That's a common question. Is it going to spread to all the containers at one of these facilities? And again, you have to go back to previous events. The codes are also changing. They talked about UL 954A. That's a testing procedure where they test batteries for fire. I sit on that committee and we're trying to make it a more robust uh testing procedure where they're going to dictate they're going to have to set an entire container on fire and see if it propagates to adjoining containers. And if it does, they're going to have to increase the distances. So you don't get propagation between containers. The fires that we've seen in the past, you have one or two containers typically that are on fire. It does not spread to the entire facility. Not one of these

fires that have occurred at an outdoor facility has caused injuries to firefighters or any deaths to anybody, public or firefighters. Indoor facilities are a very different animal and I would not recommend approving an indoor facility at this time because I don't think that's a good idea. Outdoor facilities very different. There was also another question about coolant in the containers. Are they using water to cool the batteries inside the containers? It's not water they're using. It's glycol alcohol and it's pumped around the system. It's an internal tank that they pump that around the batteries to cool them. Not all batteries use liquid cooling. Some of it is an air conditioning type system, but if they're using liquid cooling, it is not water that's being used. So, those are the one other point that was brought up, terrorism. Are these things targets for terrorism? If a bullet round goes through one of these containers, it's going to blow up. It's not going to blow up. If a bullet, say it's a rifle, and it imp it hits a battery cell, could it start a thermal runaway event in that one container? Yes. But for a terrorist to to pick out this as their target, it's a low target. It how many shots would they have to fire to get the entire facility on on fire? It it's that is not a concern terrorism with these things. Those are the the the points that I heard the public bring up. If you have other questions regarding fire safety, happy to answer them. Well, you talked about bullet. What about like a rocket launch or dinner or something?

I mean, we could say that about everything, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't have, you know, if yours, if somebody's attacking one of these things with a rocket launcher, I mean, what's going on at that point? Well, but that's happening at the airports where they're causing people to park outside of areas where planes could be touched by that.

Yeah. And the impact of that I So they don't want a plane taken down by by a rocket. Yeah, agreed. I would There's so much other infrastructure that would have a much greater impact if they were to attack a substation. that would have a more impact on the grid than a battery facility. What about weather? Sorry. You know, what about a weather what about a weather event? You know, you you got lightning or you got a tornado. So, I'm sure you've got studies on all those.

Yeah. And and so they do they do do studies on lightning protection and I can let the developer speak to the lightning protection that's involved in that tornado is a tornado. I mean if it spins through there these things are pretty well secured. I it would take an awful lot to get one you know ripped off its its base. I I'm not going to tell you it could never happen but yeah that could happen. And you mentioned propagation, you know, so there is no study on the propagation if it hits what's going on, you know.

Yeah. The others. Yeah. Yeah. And so none of these fires that have occurred have ever left the site. And by far the outdoor facilities, you know, the Moss Landing, that's not an outdoor facility. That was an indoor facility. Very different. The outdoor facilities, no fires have ever left the site. At most you have a couple sometimes they back their containers up. Yeah, you could get a couple of them that could catch on fire and the fire department is trained just to cool the other ones to keep that from affecting other containers. So you are using water or you different

now. Yeah. You know there's a lot of products out there that claim they can stop thermal runaway. I have not seen one of those yet. There isn't one out there and I don't care what they what they say. Right. So it is just water and it's a small amount of water that they're just cooling an exterior of an adjoining container not attacking the fire. So you got you got four to nine hours for for for one is you're just going to let it burn. So in that 4 to9 hours you're that's a that's an awful lot of awful lot of water to cool the cool the next door containers or you know what's what what are the chances it's going to propagate and uh start overheating the next door neighbor.

Yeah. I think somebody mentioned I didn't count them all, but there's like 100 batteries there. Sure. 100 containers. Yeah. Yeah. So I I mean most times unless the wind is pushing it towards another container, that's not going to be an issue. Most of the time the fire department is not going to take any action. It's only if they have a wind that's pushing it into other containers. Now, with the new codes that are coming about, they're going to have to have their equipment tested distance-wise by having an entire container on fire to see how it affects the ones around it. I think what you're going to start seeing is further separation of the containers.

But how long is that going to be before we before we know that number you completely change your plan on that? depending on that study that may change their plan. Yeah. Well, this is going to be the in 2026 that's going to be the new regulation. So, this year that's what will be voted on and and put into practice. And one other one other question is that you know you you had talked about so when these are burned. Yes. So the releasing

gas composition. Yeah, you are you're saying any of the dangerous in there is is actually being burned off. A good part of we letting out chemicals.

Anytime there's a fire, you're letting chemicals. I don't care what's on fire. You have toxic chemicals coming off of them. A large part of that smoke composition that comes off of these is because of the casings of the batteries, the plastic composition. So, it's going to be very much like a plastic fire that you'll get in a house fire in a a vehicle fire. Very much the same. Um, talk was there was mention of hydrogen fluoride, which is correct, but it also comes out of burning refrigerants, which I didn't know until I got involved in this. We've been exposed to that as firefighters for many years, not even knowing we're being exposed to that. The thing with hydrogen fluoride, when it's an enclosed space, it can impact you. when it's in an open area, it dissipates rapidly and it changes its form. It's it's an unstable gas. Um I I guess a good analogy would be you're running your car inside of a closed garage, a gas powered car inside of a enclosed garage. That can become a health risk or cause death. You bring the car outside, it dissipates rapidly that and you can stand next to the car. Batteries are much the same when they're indoors. And I I I caution all the firefighters in the room who's ever here. When you have battery fires indoor, you have to be very careful with those. That's where firefighters get hurt and killed. Um I just had a couple questions. I know I think you just talked about the gas. I'm not good with my gases, so excuse me. But someone talked about a gas. I believe it was that gentleman back there.

Mhm. Um, and I think you just talked about it. Um, hydrogen fluoride.

Yeah. So, uh, it just dissipates because I read through the notes from the BZA. I think one of the responses was the gases just go up. Um, but I think it depends on temperature and buoyancy. None of them fall back to the ground and cause evacuations surrounding the facility during a emergency situation. So when these events started to happen and the fire service wasn't really sure how to handle them, they were evacuating large swaths of area and many of those events were the indoor storage where there were many more batteries on fire. So they took extreme precautions not knowing how far to evacuate. When you have the outdoor ones where there's a limited amount of batteries burning and it's just a container that's involved, the exposure risk is minimal. By the time you leave the footprint of that facility, typically you don't need to evacuate. NFP855 just came out with some new guidance on that. So, they tell you to stay firefighters to stay 75 ft to 100 ft away from the containers. They claim an an evacuation area of 200 feet within the burning container. Okay. I have another question. I don't know if it's for you or um you, but on the uh site plan and in some of the documents, it specifically states a minimum of 500 ft to a battery, I believe. Is that for a specific reason for safety or is that just for dimensional purposes?

That's for dimensional purposes. Uh that is you're finding that in the draft ordinance of the PD document. Um, obviously there are no homes within that 500 ft radius. Uh, that's simply just a guideline and governing uh figure in there. So, as I mentioned uh previously, the closest homes that are also zoned light industrial, but these are just the closest homes writ large. These are the three closest homes, they happen to also be zoned light industrial, 630 ft, 700 ft, 1300 ft.

Yeah. And so, it was driving my next question. When I look at your site plan, the uh northwest the in the north corner um I just scaled it. Um, so it's pretty rough across the railroad, but I was getting like 60ish feet probably across the railroad. And that's why I asked if it's a a reason behind the 500 because if that land behind um to the west and or to the north were to be developed for their intended use, would that have any sort of impact on that land? So the 500 foot uh figure that you see there is for occupied dwellings. That's not for property lines,

but that would stop that from becoming occupied property. Uh that's a a future zoning interest. I think that would have to be uh discussed at that zoning hearing on that item. Yeah. Sorry. Would that would that be on the comp plan for like mixed use? That was just that I think I had read it was occupied dwelling and I think that would definitely impede um the neighboring properties if my scaling was correct at about 160 and or less feet to the property line.

Yeah. And of course the plan commission can revise that figure. The town council can revise that figure. That was meant to be a guideline showing that there are no homes within that area and factually there are no homes within 630t. So again, that 500 foot figure that that can be revised by the plan commission. Now that takes that property from being further develop and I'm I'm happy to have our our consultant Chris Olsson answer that.

Yeah. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Dr. Chris Olsen. I have a PhD in environmental health sciences. I've been working in as an environmental health consultant for the last 25 years of my career. I am a consultant IPA for today for the project. to review the project, gone through it. I was actually just in just outside of Dodge City, west of Witchah last night on a similar meeting to this. So, what I do for a living is look at valuing projects. In terms of specifically on the uh setback distances, we typically see like, you know, Indiana is one of those states where you don't have statewide guidance for these types of facilities. Other states do. So, you have states like Michigan, New York, some of the others do actually have statewide guidance. Typically, what you'll see is 100 ft from property lines. And then from there you can see either 100 to from from the from the from the fence line to the property line of adjacent property owners. And just give me a sec. I'll try to get get to the Y. And then typically from a nonparticipating house or whatever have you somewhere between 150 maybe as far as 300 is that going to then sterilize the property of the north. The reality is and and Chief Finn can tell you. I mean we we have these battery storage facilities all over. Right. Sometimes they're right downtown New York. They're going to be right downtown Indianapolis. They're going to be right downtown wherever. When I say downtown, like we have there are facilities where we have a daycare 10 10 ft across the road from from a facility similar to this. We have residential neighborhoods. We have apartment buildings. It happens. So those are required because they're needed in cities for the same kind of reasons they need the battery storage of the energy here. When we get into rural areas, we know we can set them back further, right? And so, you know, as you heard, closest house is about six just over 600 ft. That's pretty typical for a rural area where you'd be somewhere in that kind of five or six hundred feet typically. But it does not mean that the if the landowner so chose and you folks are on the plan commission. I mean, you know, we don't usually have people run around building houses every day. I know in your community there's there's more building going on, but then the landowner could choose to do so do so safely. So, it does not restrict the whole point of having those setbacks is so that we're not restricting people

from using their adjacent land. You brought up though that the state of Indiana doesn't have rules right now. regarding setbacks. What is the range of other states? What are other states doing? Right. So, what I would say there is that typically it's 100 foot to non-participating property lines for every state.

The typical is 100. You can I'm just trying to think one is about 150. So, we we can provide those numbers, but the like the reality is is that that's the distance back. And then you when you get into when you get into cities like again New York City, other cities like that, the distance is across the road. So, you know, but the typical state for kind of more rural setting is about 100 foot to to not participate properly. There's no state that I'm aware of right now that does something excessive in order to, you know, exclusionary zone these types of projects out. There's no state that goes over 150 not not to the best of my knowledge right now. 300 to to a nonparticipating home.

Yes. 300 ft to the home. And so that's where I say you typically get about 100 foot to the property line and about 300 foot at most to the non-participating homes and those are for existing homes because as you folks know we we you got to build stuff with what you've got in front of you today. Now if there was somebody had a a a sign up there um they wanted me to touch on a couple other things at the pleasure of you Mr. President for the board like just a couple of the other public comments. Um one is these containers are not hazardous material. Okay, right in front of you you folks all have your your laptops out. We all have our phones here. These actually all contain lithium ion NMC batteries. Okay. And so to give you an example, like sometimes people, what is thermal runaway? You know, when you leave your phone in your car and it's a hot day and then you go to try to charge it and plug it in, it says screw you. You can't charge your phone right now. It's too hot. That is the phone shutting itself down, not allowing you to charge the battery anymore because it's pre-therrmal runaway. Okay. We And that's that's the safety system built in the phone. The exact even more sophisticated into these containers is what's called a battery management system that thermally regulates the batteries. If they get anywhere close to it, they start to shut it down. So, they're not hazardous materials in there. Essentially, what you have is a whole bunch of batteries that look like, you know, about the size of your cell phone stuck into stuck into basically VCR stuck. I'm old enough for some of you you're not, but the VCRs we used to have as kid. Those are those are modules. They stick them in racks and then they stick them in these steel containers. what uh Chief Vic was talking about the the standards have improved since NFPA 2020 2023 they updated the code and standard of year the latest code and standard that's in effect right now is 2026 and it does specify that you now have to purposely catch these batteries these containers all on fire and then you have to make sure that they're not going to propagate from one to the next and all that gets done in testing facilities by UL and others so we do a lot of significant testing I want to emphasize these fires are extremely rare last year in the

United States with the over 10,000 containers. We had four across the US. There's two in California, there was one in Utah, and there was one in New York just before Christmas. These are again were all facilities that were built prior to 2023 code and standard. It's not to say that you would never get a fire potentially here, but it is extremely rare. To give you an example of like the safety because something is extremely rare, do we do it? Do we still put put it here? Do we recite it? Again, I was on a plane today coming from Witchah trying to get here and my god, Chicago shut down again like it always does. So that's why you saw me running in late. But every time you board a plane, right, if they say, "Oh, if you want to put your bag underneath and we'll let you board early and everything else, but if you have any lithium-ion batteries in your suitcase, please take them out and bring them on the flight." The reason for that is again all of us with these there were 89 incidents last year in the US on airplanes of thermal runaway or pre-therrmal runway cell phones and laptops. So the reason we don't put them down below is because we wouldn't know and you could potentially then catch that if it went into thermal right away you get the baggage cart and the plane falls out of the sky. Not a good thing. You bring them up, the attendants, the flight attendants have the training that if you know and they you hear it like a five times a day because we kept boarding and getting off. Flight attendants said, "If your laptop's heating up, if your cell phone's heating up, please tell us right away." They had the training. Similar to what Chief Think's talking about in the highly unlikely event the firefighters are going to have the training. We live with these types of things all the time. Okay, that's quickly on that. Um, in terms of the air quality and the and the gas has gone up in these handful of fires that we've had since 2023 across the US, there was extensive air monitoring done around those facilities. You do have the gases that are going to be released. And what you heard Chief Bank say is that the firefighters actually are staged. The the standard protocol in the training to get whether it's his group or the other groups training right across the country is no more than that you can be 100t away from the affected container, the container that's on fire. And those are the

firefighters standing there without the SCBA on. They're not they're not masked up. They're literally standing there for the four to six maybe eight hours sighted that far back. The fence line testing that's been done extensively on these fires. There was no exceedence of health-based guidelines at the fence line. So we know we can have the firefighters back 100 ft. We know that every the general public can be fine at the fence line. Now with any fire, we don't recommend people coming up to the fence line, right? The fire departments can keep it back. But as chief picked out, there's no need for an evacuation zone. Now, that's always going to be up to the incident commander who has the training at the time. They're going to be doing real-time gas monitoring. They're going to have to supply any equipment the fire department needs in the case. We've heard a lot about leeching, groundwater, soil issues. Same thing. So, again, we're not applying water onto these. First of all, it's going to be LFP batteries, different chemistry. We're not applying water onto the affected container. I'll tell you in 2023 in New York they had four fires and they dumped a ton of water on each one of those containers and they did last for a couple days. They did extensive soil testing, extensive groundwater testing and a sens extensive surface water testing at those facilities and found no impacts to soil, groundwater or like I come from a long line of farmers. I certainly understand and respect the need to protect groundwater. It's not going to happen. In addition, if you had the site plan up, this site's been overdesigned where it's got a leech um containment or sorry, a lined containment pond that has the ability to to control that water and can be tested before it was released if there was anything to happen. Under normal operations, there's nothing leeching out of these containers. There's nothing going in the soil, nothing going into the groundwater. Very quickly, I'll finish. So, um we heard a little bit about sound as well. Another special of mine. You certainly have to make sure that you keep the sound levels low. When you have 200 and some odd containers, you have people 600 feet, 800 feet, 1,000 ft away. You got to keep the sound levels into something reasonable. Again, Indiana does not have a state level sound level, whether it's for the turbines or for the solar or the like.

The what you've got here is the 50 dB that was discussed tonight. If I stop talking, we're going to be in the mid40s here in the room just with nobody speaking. That sound level 50. And again, if we look to other states, very common across the Midwest for whether it's a battery storage project or wind project or the like. Um, so I think you guys have somebody else and then certainly do questions now or, you know, let the let them finish up here. Mr. President, before we move on from fire related issues, could we hear from Chief Frasier?

Sure. If Chief Fraser is willing to before you leave, I have a quick clarification though. So you were talking about uh the battery energy storage systems being in Indianapolis and some of those different areas close to daycare cares. Yeah. So for clarification are those 200 megawatt systems?

They are. They can be anything from so in fact you've got in like right beside in residential neighborhoods and have been for a while you might have like a little 4 megawatt a 6 megawatt facility where you've got six or eight containers. Then you've got other facilities where you will literally have on the cusp of sort of commercial industrial residential land use where you will have similar size 200 megawatt containers where you'll have houses across the street. The one in Staten Island with the daycare across the street I believe is only about six or eight megawatts. It's six or eight containers. But again, knowing that we're not going to be catching every one of these containers on fire, it's going to be limited to one container. So whether you have six or eight containers, you have 200 containers, the risk to the people across the street would be the same. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah. Okay. Chief Fraser, do you have some comments you'd like to share with the board? Um I can answer questions or I can uh comment. You want my I just love to hear your any perspectives you have. Doesn't have to be real lengthy. Just obviously we've been talking a lot about fire tonight. So we'd love to hear your perspective. My name's Chris Frasier. I'm fire chief. I started last Monday. This is my second week. Um, that being said, so, uh, just a little history. Um, jumping in the fire.

Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so, a little history about me. I'm 26 years on the Cook Fire Department. I just retired and come down here to serve your community. Very thankful for it. I really look forward to getting to know most of you and talking to you. Um, this isn't my first go around with this type of technology. Um I was the fire chief in Koko when we started the Star Plus battery facility which is the EV battery factory which is Stalantis Chrysler and Samsung. So two years of my life was dealing with that and then I was involved with the last project that we talked about um where there was brought up that there was a site in Cooko. Um several things about this uh we look at this from a response objective. What can we do to mitigate battery fires? Um we would definitely be coming up with a comprehensive response plan evaluating the risk of the firefighters, hazard risk of air soil, things of that nature, the IDM aspect of it. Um the original presentation that I was given starting this with dealing with the EV battery factory in Cooko, we were dealing with different technology. We were dealing with in an 80ft building stacked on racks as high as you can see, as wide as you can see. Um, this was an instore in inside facility that was manufacturing, testing, and storing the batteries until they were used. Lots of hazard risk. They were the older style lithium-ion batteries that are heavy metal dependent. So, we have been through a lot of training on that. Um, the perspective I have on batteries in general are this. It's very true that if they are outside, they're safer. Anything that is inside is a much more of a danger to our firefighters. A scooter, a ebike, a Tesla, anything like that that's burning in your home is exponentially more dangerous to our firefighters. No question about it. We have a battery fire inside a car, inside a house, or inside a scooter or whatever that may be. I've personally been on two different fires. One was an ebike, one was a uh scooter, and it was just

charging uh cheap products, things of that nature. They have no safety footprint to them at all. There's no monitoring. There's nothing like that. Um I will say that in the other situations I've been in, the presentation to me was very small. Um the battery factory that came into Cooko, the Star Plus product uh battery factory, it was basically here it is now figure out how to deal with it. After the fact, we've had a lot of training. So for the last four years, we've spent just working on this technology. How do you mitigate this? What do we do if it catches on fire? What is the risk to our people? Um, anytime we deal with hazmat, we tell deal with a couple things. First of all is anytime there's a fire, it is producing smoke. We try to approach everything that we consider a hazardous event from downwind. We don't want to come in and have the wind blow on us. So, we determine when we leave the station which way is wind blow and look the flag. We're going to determine how we approach this place. That the other thing is time distance shielding. Anything that is hazardous material, it's it's how long does it take you? How far away from the product are you? You know, what is your distance to the product? How quickly can you get to the product? And how quickly can you get away from the product? And then shielding, what is keeping us away from the danger. That's how we approach everything that has to do with fires. Um and we understand that the from the six years ago when I started this pro process with our cook projects it was what can we put on to stop the fire that's completely changed now the the whether it's a a battery fire or a a small scooter or a EV battery a golf cart whatever it may be that's burning our whole objective is to let it burn the faster it burns the faster it dissipates the faster it goes away the one thing that we do like to see is is there a mechanism to isolate the product. So if one of these would catch on fire, what do we do? Like is it going to burn into the next one and into the

next one? So from for whatever effort because I've out outdoor facilities are different animals. So the last couple last week I've been looking into this. You know, we're looking for about a 9 ft barrier between units that would be on fire of these type. And the second thing is we need it to burn up. So these safety systems are the request is that when these things burn, they burn straight up like a chimney. We don't want them to burn the sides. We don't want to put water on it. We don't want to take any of the material and wet it down. We don't want to take HF and turn it into hydrofluoric acid. HF will get up in the air and it will dissipate into other chemicals. But it is still a risk. You know, we have to understand what we're dealing with. Um the training is what's important about this. Are we trained to handle situations like this? Um we were very we were very well trained to handle our facilities in Toko once this happened. Took a lot of time. It took a lot of effort. Took a lot of energy. Um and with the technology changing the way it is. It is a constant upgrade of knowledge. You have to stay on top of you have to keep asking questions, talking to the experts, talking to different people on it. Um, I will say that I have the perception I have of the group is that they at least are reaching out and asking questions or asking me if I have questions. How do we what do we need for this facility to work safely? Is there anything that we see that's at and and I don't have the answer to that. That's where we are in this process of what are the things about this facility that we would like to see added, changed, um anything to the footprint of the facility, anything like that that would, you know, increase or decrease the safety of the site. So, um that's kind of where we are right now. Um the experience I have tells me that we have the ability to mitigate something like this that happens. The this is a multi- agency event. If something did happen, we're not. It may be in Jackson Township, but us and

station 74

will be the first response. We would be the two coming in. Uh the the current hazmat response for this area comes from Noblesville and Carmel. We don't have a hazmat unit. We have multiple people that are trained to the hazmat tech level who can basically start the process. Hazmat events are a long time turn. So if you consider this when you talk about this being an event, housefire is a hazmat event. Anything that's burning is a hazmat event. it's releasing a hazardous material. So that's just the general scope of what you're getting into. So from a response standpoint, we can safely mitigate these and that's the only thing that I have to speak to is do we have the ability to safely mitigate battery fire? Yes, we do. Um it's just understanding what you're dealing with, how to deal with it, and making sure we have the equipment to deal with it. You know, like I said, we're not putting water on this. This is a cool down anything around it. Um, we do have the ability to stop debris from moving. If there's a strong wind that day, we could, you know, create with the water curtain and catch material on the the uh opposite side from the wind and be able to do things like that. But, um, my general impression is I'm not afraid of them because I have such a history with these things and I know the technology is safer than it was. So, that's not as much of a concern to me. But you know these um the engineering has changed so much in these products that that's the question is that we have to know what to ask them. We have to know make sure that what we're getting from them is what we want for this community if it's going to be a safe product.

Thank you chief. Any questions? Yes sir. What if it's rain? It's uh anything could be that way. I mean like let's say we we've dealt with Tesla fires in the middle of the road. It's all all the rain does is basically slow down the reaction. I mean, that's the biggest concern. It's a Yeah, that's what that's what I'm saying. Like if like if you had a Tesla on fire in the middle of town, that product of anything that's burning could possibly do that, right? Is this considered hazardous material?

Um, everything we consider as hazardous material. It's very technical. It's like what is it releasing? What is the product? So, we kind of look at it from different levels. is it and the way we look at hazardous material is how do we have to address to respond? How do we have to address to respond to the incident and we have four levels of response that we do. This would be something that we would be away from it and we would just watch it. When the batteries are shipped, how would they So they're under class 9 mill. So that let me just clarify

what the what the chief was saying though I agree 100% he's consider what I'm getting is containers themselves that are sitting there are not considered hazardous material it's on fire absolutely it's hazardous material anything yeah so I just wanted to clarify I wasn't saying that fire 100% you're saying you can ship this what I'm saying it's under class 9 so it's a low down so there's Not extra precaution. There's not extra precautions. This cannot be shipped unless it's

so just a minute. So we're not interrupting Chief Frasier here if uh if there's other questions for Chief Frasier. If not, then we thank you and you're welcome to take a seat if you would like. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you. Now you can continue your questions if you'd like. if you'd like to step up and answer those questions, we would appreciate it, but not going to have back and forth. Okay. Thank you all.

Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. President, members of the board. Uh I further wanted there was a mention of the Marathon Petroleum pipeline. Uh I wanted to clarify that IPA power has already been in contact and working together with Marathon Petroleum. They are aware of our project. They are aware of the setbacks. The reason we have those setbacks in place is because they are mutually agreed upon between Marathon Petroleum and ourselves. So that is a builtin feature of our site plan there. That is the reason that we have additional setbacks as well as the landscaping buffer between them. So we are working with Marathon on this particular parcel. Uh, furthermore, I wanted to bring up our uh, licensed real estate appraiser, Rich Kirkland, to discuss property values.

Good evening. Um, again, my name is Rich Kirkland with Kirkland Appraisals. Um, I am out of Raleigh, North Carolina, but I'm also certified in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and a wide variety of other states. The reason I'm certified in a lot of states is because we do impact analysis on property value like this all over the country and um it's a specialized area appraisal field which is why you've got someone from outside your state coming in to talk about this. I'm also have an MAI designation which is the highest designation put out by the appraisal institute. I also have the ARRA designation which is the um what's the highest designation put out by the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. ASFM. It's a rough acronym, but um we've been doing impact analysis for about 20 years as a company. We've been looking at battery energy storage facilities for maybe the last um four years. Um we use the same methodology for this that we would for a church or apartments or rock corey or any other use that we've been asked to look at. Um we try to focus on doing what's called a sale resale analysis. It's very straightforward. We want to find, in this case, a home that sold next to a battery energy storage system that is in existence that also sold recently before the battery energy storage was put in there. We want to look at the exact same home that sold before the batteries and after the batteries. The only difference being that the changes in the market over time, and we just link that directly to the FHFA, the Federal Housing Finance Agency home house price index. They track all the sales across the um the nation. They narrow it down by zip code and by CMA. We just apply their appreciation for that area. So, there's no appraiser judgment involved. There's just a sale, then a follow-up sale. Does it match up with the expectations of growth in that area? So, we we've done that sale resale analysis um looking at

battery energy storage facilities. We've also done matched pair analysis, which is similar, but we look at a home that sold next to a battery project and compared to multiple other similar homes that sold in that area in the same time frame and just see if there's anything that would be attributable to that battery project. We also reach out to the brokers to interview them to see if they thought there was any impact on the marketing time, the marketing process, or the sales price. Um, we've looked at projects, we've looked at 50 existing projects so far. Um we've looked at when we look at the larger ones we've looked at about 20 that are 100 megawws or larger up to 680 megawatts. Um the average of that that set is about 191 megawatt. So we considered that to be a good sample to look at for this. Um so again we've found from these sales or from these battery projects we found that the typical distances that we're looking at for a project in this size range is between 400 500 feet um from the nearest point on the battery to the nearest home. And um when we look at the sales data we are finding very similar distances. We have homes much closer than that under 200 feet within range of these battery projects. But when we look at projects over 100 megawws we looking at average distances from those around 500 ft. again. So, the closest home here is around 630 ft, which is significantly further than the 500. We're measuring no impacts um on average. And again, we found sales much closer than that, but on average, we're sitting around 500 ft. So, I'd be happy to go into other details or answer any questions, but this is the basis for our opinion on no impact on property value. And that's without looking at areas like this where we have the mitigating factors of multiple power lines, a railroad, and its zoned industrial which already has baked in potential impacts to neighboring properties.

I have I have a few comments. Go ahead.

So, I currently live in the highly emotional industry of residential real estate and I appreciate everything that you've done and and thank you for bringing that. I think that um first of all it is highly emotional so you know when people are buying homes to start families raise babies they look at everything around and sometimes I'm even surprised at the questions that I get asked on you know how close is a gas station how close is this um so although it is safe and it may have proven to be safe and it follows all regulatory things that doesn't take away in my opinion um my professional opinion it doesn't take away from the emotional impact of how close is this group of batteries and as realers we can talk till we're blue in the face on how it's safe it's safe it's safe but that has nothing to do with how safe they feel to move in their family or you know even when you're downsizing um we continue and we are rural I farmed for several years in very rural northwest Iowa where there wasn't anything around. So I come here and while I'm here it it seems that we are rural but we aren't rural. I mean we are 30 minutes from downtown Indie. So we are not rural. So to kind of compare it to other rural areas I think that that's a little bit of a misgiv. Also, when we're comparing house sales to existing homes, we are in this prime area and as we've had many meetings for developers, we're coming out of the only place to go to come out of Westfield Noblesville and so we are prime for development and I think it's going to happen and I think it's going to happen faster than all of us want to. I think it'll be the

majority of it'll be long after I'm gone. But I think when when builders come to look at sites, I think that this will have a a very big impact on on on if they're going to put a neighborhood here. It may not when you're looking at homes and especially if you're looking at existing home sales in rural communities, you may be looking at hundred-y old homes or so there when you come to an existing home out in the middle of the country, which was a homestead years ago that there's not a lot that affects that price. When you're building a new neighborhood and you're looking at that, which you know, we are a a very familyfriendly neighborhood. Um, I think that that will affect the I think that will affect the value of the or the potential value of the surrounding land.

Well, I I would just point out that there's at least two projects that I I know of right off hand. Um, one's at uh Kuna in Idaho where u large battery project and there's a new subdivision being built right next to it. Brand new home sites. Please stop interrupting speaker. the vacant lots are going to be or the home sites are going to be 200 feet away or less. And there's a there's there's another one. I don't remember the name of that other project, but there's there's multiple projects where we've seen the batteries are in place and new subdivisions are going right next to them. You've done multiple analyses around battery across the country. We we've looked at batteries in multiple states,

urban, rural, suburban, all of it. We we yeah we we have projects we've looked at smaller projects such as there's like I want to say it's a five megawatt project in say Asheville, North Carolina completely surrounded by housing high-end housing. We've looked at other projects where we're looking at you know up to 200 megawatts in say Texas where we have new houses or not new houses existing houses completely surrounding it but in a rural setting. So across all those various you're just not seeing impacts. Again

I'm not putting words in your mouth. I'm I'm asking what you're saying. We're we're saying we we see impacts. The impacts we see range from minus 5% to plus 6%. The average of that is about 0%. And plus or minus 5% in the appraisal world, we consider that just to be market imperfection. I would find that uh again, if you've ever had your home refinanced recently and you look and you see the appraisal done, there'll be four comps in there probably and you'll see that they don't adjust to exactly the right same number. They adjust to a numbers that are plus or minus in a range. And that's just what we would find. So this is a very typical breakdown on the values that we would see. So we don't consider that to be any impact. And the uh market imperfection that range it's it's actually that's a smaller range than what uh like Fanny May would look at and it's certainly a smaller range than for rural sites. The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers put out a study looking at some of the financing that they had looked at and looked at multiple appraisers appraising the same farm sites with housing on them. and they they had a plus or minus differential on those using the same appraisers looking at the same properties over several years that was greater than plus or minus 10%.

This compared to Hamilton County, Indiana, uh again some of the projects that we've identified would definitely compare to this area. Yes, but and the present growth in Hamilton County, Indiana. Uh again, but we have looked at projects in more urban areas and more rural areas. We're bracketing the area

because you know this Gillespie down there she has she's a she's a realtor and also buy a fair amount of farmland for the company work for and you cannot touch ground here in Hamilton County for much less than 20 20,000 an acre regular farm ground and that has been going up for the last four years. So sprawl is moving this way in Cro, Indiana. And like Mlesby said, it's a it's I think it's going to move a whole lot faster over the next 5 years. So it's hard for me to believe because it's not affect. I understand what you're saying. I'm very familiar with with it's hard to believe that it's not going toffect my my opinion. Again, we're we're just do based this off the data we can look at. We're looking at actual sales and not this is not an uninformed opinion. I again you you're welcome to how you feel though.

I have one other question that's kind of not with the appraisal value but go ahead. Um probably my other concern is that you guys have gotten unfavorable um from other locations. How many times do you have more than one? Like probably one of my fears is that this will set a precedent that um you know Hamilton County said no. I don't know where the other one said no. And then we do we give a favorable and it goes in and now you're looking to put in another one. Where's the first place you're coming? And then the president has been set.

Do you I'm not quite sure I understand. and uh put other facilities in like this one goes in might in like 5 years you guys we need to put another one in and so here we come I see so the question is if uh this facility in Cicero Jackson Township were to be constructed and operational would we consider another one in this immediate area is that the question

yes it's kind of an easy hit because Noblesville said no Hamilton County said no other places have said no so now is kind of the easy choice The easy answer to that is no because we are talking about a load pocket. In this case, injection capacity to line segments. In this case, this is the 345 KV high voltage line. Those very tall lines that currently run on the south side of this parcel. There uh there is only so much electricity that can run through lines at various voltages. there's only so much electricity that a substation at their specific bus for a specific voltage can handle before you essentially have to rebuild everything. Uh so no, this is only specific to this load pocket here. Uh what I call a load pocket is between substations on a line. So this would be between the substation at the generating station over in Noblesville to the east and then to the Morse Reservoir to the west. On that subject, one quick question. Why not put this at the generating station?

Uh, that is exactly what we attempted to do on Overdorf Road. And that's the project that I discussed previously that was denied because of legal technicality, the definition of hardship with regards to the fourth mandate within a land use variance in front of the Hamilton uh County Board of Zoning Appeals. We thought that was a very good place for that. We also think that this project here is a very good place because of the energy infrastructure that already exists in the form of those 345 KV lines. Furthermore, this is a light industrial zone that was an agricultural zone and we see in the zoning ordinance that this is an ex an acceptable and very specific use in light industrial.

But the over project wasn't on generating stations property. That's what I'm saying. Why not put it on the property?

So, that property is owned by the utility and the utility does not uh give up land uh especially to private developers. They could opt to self-build a facility like this. But what we've found, and this is consistent not just here in Indiana, but across the United States, is that when a regulated utility attempts to do something, it is a lot more expensive than when a third party does it. That's the same reason that governments uh bid out contracts because if they had divisions for every single uh thing they wanted to do, it'd be much more expensive because of the red tape. That is exactly the same here. Through power purchase agreements or PPAs, local utilities can contract this power, have certainty to this power, and not have to put up the capital themselves. It's cheaper for you to build it and then lease then lease it back

and it's cheaper for rateayers and the utilities. That's exactly right.

So a quick u couple of things I guess I have quite a list so I probably not going to keep everybody here all night but from the standpoint there was a couple of questions in regards to oversight of the project through construction. So, you know, I would suggest that the possibility of looking in your PUD document or some agreement with the town that you coordinate that u you know, working with an engineer with the town to have oversight of your project as well as there's going to be a lot of review and different things. uh probably review by the town attorney and stuff and I guess figuring out uh a way to reimburse the town for those additional services that'll probably be required going through this project

and and Mr. President uh it is the plan commission's uh opportunity as well as the town council uh to write that into the draft ordinance and uh we we'd certainly uh be uh we'd love to work with the town on that matter. not opposed to that because I know that was a concern of who is going to have oversight do the inspections and things. So just wanted to make sure that we addressed that during your project. So

certainly. So one of the questions that came up and so in regards do you foresee any environmental or natural resource issues and if you did do you have mitigation plans for those?

We've already gone through a battery of tests with regards to environmental due diligence. We have found no issues on the site as of yet. We will continue to diligence the site and as such find mitigating uh factors as they come up. But right now again there are no environmental issues on this site through our first very stringent battery of those tests surveys and analyses. A question in regards to the decibb. So I appreciate the digging into those explaining what 55 and some of those looks like but I guess how you're monitoring of that works on an ongoing basis. And then so I know during the construction process you may exceed that depending on what some of the equipment's there I would guess. So I guess looking at what hours that you would be working there whether that be like a 7 to 5 9 to5 or whatever that you might potentially exceed those.

Sir that seems to be two separate items and I'd be happy to break them down. Uh the first item being the 50 decibel at the uh uh resident dwelling, the occupied dwelling, that 50 dBA quantifiable limit. Uh we have the ability and especially through third-party testing as well. That's what we would utilize to set up microphones and do those tests in order to keep compliant because the ordinance here will govern this uh not just parcel but this project itself. Uh so we must remain compliant in order to continue operating with regards to construction noise and traffic. We would be happy to work with the town, with the plan commission or whomever you see fit in order to establish very stringent working hours. No one wants to be woken up at 5 in the morning uh if they don't have to already to go to work. And obviously none of us want to have construction noise or traffic late into the evening. So, in regards to fire response times, so I know that you know the intent is not to put water on the fire, but it is to cool the systems. So, in regards to you have a 30,000galon tank on on site.

Yes, sir. So, why is that there? Uh, that's out of an abundance of caution and frankly a legacy federal requirement as well. Um, so we have the ability here, as I mentioned previously, none of the operations require any water and we don't have any wells. We don't have any utility hookups there. So this is a standalone 30,000galon tank. It can be designed to the specifications of the fire department as well as their mutual aid partners. We want to make that available to them if they so desire and require it. And there's a federal rag that says that has to be there. That's correct. Yes. Yes. I thought that was an important piece that was discussed or brought up.

Can I ask one, Dan? Sure. Go right ahead. Dark sky lighting is that language is in the current PD that's in front of us. So you guys are committed to using that type of lighting. Yes, sir. So, as you're going through and getting all your documentation for your final site plan approvals and things like that, uh you'll provide us all copies of all review letters and your final approved plans and reports from all the other agencies and everything so we can review those. Absolutely.

Okay. That'll include the state level regulations uh and the copies of the permits obtained from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security that are specific to battery energy storage systems. Okay.

You talked about tree height a little bit. I mean landscaping. Um I'm sure there may be some shrub sorry. I'm sure there may be some shrubs and things like that, right? But when we talk about trees, so you think predominantly those will be at when they're planted will be larger. So what we're uh specifying in those visual rendering is not future growth. We're talking about at installation. So a minimum 10-ft height on those evergreen trees at installation. I want to be very clear. We're not planning to install and grow saplings because obviously that does nothing on day one. Now, starting at a 10 or 12t tree, you can expect that to roughly double over 10 years. Uh, but we want to start at installation with a already uh fully shielded and uh vegetated buffered project site.

Thank you. So, I know there were some questions in the regards of some of the things that you left out of your PU document and you know, you talked about a spill prevention and response plan. and shall remained on site. So, can you tell me a little bit about those plans that you're doing because I know you'll do a emergency response plan, you'll do a fire response plan and some of those things. So, are those things you will continue to work with the fire departments on emergency services and put those plans together?

Yes. So, those are uh collaborative measures that we'll embark upon through this process. Again, all of the regulations, specifically here in Indiana, are promoting collaboration. And that's not just for hunky dory fun. It's to have accountability from the AHJ. The in this case, the authority having jurisdiction obviously in zoning. That is this board here. With regards to safety and fire, that would be the uh fire department. Okay. So out of curiosity since I know you engaged other fire departments, why did you not engage Jackson Township Fire Department in discussion or did you engage them? So previously uh we had invited everyone in the area through the emergency management uh agency in Hamilton County back in 2025 a uh you know we were talking about battery energy storage rit large and at that time we were talking about the overdorf project. We invited and presented at a local emergency planning commission meeting. There were representatives there from Hamilton County EMA, from Cicero Fire, Noblesville, White River Township, and Carmel amongst a few others. Uh that invitation went out to every fire chief in the area. That was sent out by the folks from EMA, not from IPA power just because they have the addresses there. With regards to this specific project, uh, we've been focusing on the town of Cicero and the fire department of the town of Cicero because they are the closest and they're also tied to this plan commission board and they're also tied to the town of uh, Cicero. So, when we look at a map, the three closest, I believe it was mentioned previously, the three closest fire stations to this parcel are first being the town of Cicero, second being Noblesville, third being Jackson Township Fire Station. And I appreciate that you reached out to Cisero, but you you have to be aware we are a Jackson Township board also. So we are Cisro Jackson Township Planning Commission. So

absolutely, but I appreciate that you know as the closest that you reached out to Cisro, but I wanted to make sure that we are in communication with Jackson Township as well

and these collaborative measures will only continue as the further development goes on. Part of that is not just the particular town of Cicero, its mutual aid partners. I welcome any and all communication. Uh it doesn't even matter if it's uh the in the immediate township. I would love to obviously get together with Jackson Township Fire Department. I would love to get together with all in the area, even out to Carmel and Westfield. I would love to have this be a gold star example here in Hamilton County that we can project across the state of how to go about creating a collaborative emergency response plan.

Thank you. So substantial alteration. So, in your PD document, you talk about substantial alterations up to 25%. So, can you explain that to me what you're looking at in regards to the 25%.

Uh, if you wouldn't mind reading from it. I don't have it in front of me. See if I can find it for Mr. Watski. Find it. So you have in here that modification that would increase the project's maximum name plate capacity by more than 25%. Expand the outer limits of disturbance beyond those contemplated in the prelim preliminary development plan in exhibit B. Reduce setbacks below the minimum established in section five or increase height beyond section five shall require planning commission review. So I'm trying to figure out why you need that 25% in that document.

Well, we specifically don't when it comes to uh name plate capacity. We are already at the maximum of our name plate capacity for this Q position. And what that means is when we file with the interconnection uh system operator in this case that is uh has an office in Carmel. uh we have to specify any applicant of any form of energy has to specify where and how much electricity they want to put onto the grid. This is then studied over multiple um they call it cycles but uh it's it's many studies and restudies. Uh so for that reason we are at the top of our name plate capacity. Uh there was another mention somewhere I believe it was a member of the comment of how much electricity is really being uh pulled off the grid or put onto the grid. It is exactly that is the name plate capacity. In this case it is 200 megawatt.

Good evening, good night. Where are we at? Uh my name is Rachel Connor. I'm one of the attorneys for the project. Um that is some relatively standard template language that I started with in what we presented uh to um the planning staff and if we don't necessarily need it the client is at capacity. So, if the town board or council is interested in modifying and striking that, uh, frankly, I I just used some template language, and that's not uncommon to allow for an increase if there's capacity for an increase up to a certain point, but that language doesn't have to be left in there, and there's not a contemplated 25% increase.

Well, my concern would be in regards to that. You showed a lot of green space, showed a lot of other areas. You've talked about buffering um tall trees and everything else. Yep. So, the concern would be by allowing modifications up to 25% that you could potentially start taking out those buffering areas or altering your site plan in some of those. So, I would be concerned that that might happen in the future if

because one of your big selling points today is that you're shielding this facility and I would be concerned in the future that that might not happen. uh if the town or township uh through council or through the town board would like to modify uh I don't see that as an issue. So that's just it's not an intended usage for this particular client. It's just a drafting decision of their council using templates. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. I was just making myself available.

Oh, okay. Thank you. Anyone else has questions or comments, go ahead. We gather a couple of thoughts. So, I have a lot I'm probably going down a rabbit hole, though. There was some conversation in the um county BZA meeting about um I think I've learned a lot too about putting these things out if a emergency were to happen. um which could happen anywhere, right? So, um you'll start securing the surrounding area, which in my mind would mean potentially water. I don't know if you're trying to cool the batteries around, I don't know, but my mind there's water on the ground, right? It's going to go eventually to your um retention pond and then you've got that gate valve on there. Assuming that there could be some contamination that's lined with the gate valve, what's the capacity of the pond? Do you know the capacity of the pond? Uh it's already been uh established with the MS4 engineer at the Hamilton County Surveyor's Office to be of sufficient capa uh capacity. I do not know the size off the top of my head. I'd have to reference the drawing.

I'm probably just going down. 811,000 gallons. Is that what you showed on your site plan? I believe so. That sounds familiar. And that is a reference point from the 100year flood plane. That might be something to consider for whoever is doing this review down the road.

What's the purpose of that gate valve? The gate valve is intended uh and and created in order to just as uh Mr. Mason said is to hold the water there. As we had heard from Chief Frink and Dr. Olsen, uh there have been extensive tests where water has been put onto these facilities that are in a thermal event. They have then retained all of the water out of concern for releasing it into the natural environment. That water was then tested. It was found to not be contaminated. It was then released out of an abundance of caution. We have the same exact facility here in a lined gated valve. So the entire pond is lined. The valve is gated. We can hold all of that water and then we can do the same procedure.

And if it was contaminated after some event, then you wouldn't release it. Obviously, you would you would uh dispose of it some other way. Right. That's correct. Thank you.

Sorry, Harrison. And I didn't mean to jump on your question there detail. There was more discussion at the county meeting, I think about it, but I think some of the revisions maybe in this or from that county meeting, I think so. Um, I am very interested in the economic impacts to this, but I think that that's probably more of a town council discussion. So, I'll look forward to attending that meeting and hearing that. Um, I'm also interested in how it would lower our utility costs as I understand those are rising. have a lot of interest in the actual grid operator and what the DOE um and the regulated utility providers are doing for that. Um I can speak to that now if you like.

No, cuz it's something I don't think that this entire town wants to hear right now at 11:00 tonight. So it's just a rabbit hole I need to go down. So federal government. So um I'm just going through here to make sure that we've covered most of the town stuff. I didn't I I didn't understand the drain impact here or anything with the regulated drain in that area. I don't know if that's something that needs to come up for the community or if you guys have looked at that at all.

Yeah. So, we've already built that in when we surveyed uh the parcel. Sorry, it's it's not up, but on our site plan, our preliminary development plan there, uh we have that regulated drain. You can see it on the northeast side of the site plan. Uh and a significant setback off of said regulated drain. Uh again, our drainage and our storm water management program has already been prepared by a third party engineer. They have done so under the guidance of the Hamilton County Surveyor's Office and the MS4 engineer there. Furthermore, all aspects of drainage for this property and really any sort of development in this area must receive review and approval from the Hamilton County Drainage Board. We are certainly subject to that.

Thank you, Mr. Thank you. So in regards to I know you put into your your document that you would maintain vegetation and those type things. So uh facility facility management of your project as making sure that you know I think you addressed in there that if things died to certain period of time that they be replaced and might want to maybe expand on that a little bit.

Yes sir. Those are two separate jobs. So, our operations and maintenance staff are focused on the electricity, the actual battery containers themselves with a specialized skill set focus on our facility. I talking about landscaping, that is something that we would love to work with someone in the community and hire out. Uh, landscaping is relatively ubiquitous everywhere in the United States. I think it would mean a lot if we were to work with a local company to manage that vegetation, but that is not it's obviously the responsibility of IPA power as laid out in the document there. However, it is not an IPA power staff on the operations and maintenance team that is focused on the facility itself. That would be hired out to a landscaping company. Well, I hope you understand some of my questions I know are to the plan development document, but it is part of our job to dig into that to do our best that we can to get this to the town council in a good format.

I am here for as long as you, Mr. President, and members of the commission would like. So, I think the other piece, so you still you still have a lot of departments that you have to go through. This is sort of one of the original phases and I'm guessing that you're looking for uh approval of your project and then you have other agencies that you'll have to sign off with moving forward before you can start your project. Yes, sir. If I understand it correctly.

Yes, sir. The town of Cicero and Jackson Township Plan Commission and then the uh Cicero Town Council. Those are the jurisdictions for zoning purposes. They are not uh the authorities as I I'm sure that you would uh agree authorities on the intimacies of uh electricity storage grid operations. There are many other regulatory agencies that we have to go through. I specifically I always uh have continued to mention the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. There are two different uh permits required uh by the IDHS. One is prior to any commencement of construction. The second is prior to any commencement of operation. It's just one example of of the kind of matrix or web of various state, local and federal rules and regulations to which we must answer. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. I think that's all the questions I had at this particular time. Other questions, comments

on the on the drainage. You You've already gotten approval from from this schematic here on the county. We've had input and guidance from the MS4 engineer in the surveyor's office. That is not intended to be an replacement to the drainage board review and approval. That is a formal review and approval process. We have proactively reached out to the folks at the county with regards to our drainage to make sure that it is jing with their plans that our inflows and outfalls are all matching up with what their calculations say. Your notes here still

Yes, sir. This is the preliminary site development plan. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Board discussion or I guess the question would be is the board ready to make a recommendation? I know you've got a lot of information in front of you and a lot of information presented and so I would ask the board if you're want to move forward this evening or what you're thinking. I'm prepared to continue and move forward if if people's questions have been answered. That's my personal opinion. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Is everyone else want to move forward with the recommendation this evening? I got one clarification if I can that they're looking for they're they're wanting the EU for C3 and they're looking under the communication utility utility substation.

Yeah. special exception. So, it's actually not a special exception in this particular case. They're looking for a plan development to allow them to do this as the use for that land under the C3 base zoning district. Yeah, I I believe that that was purely making a comparison that that was a special exception use that was permitted. Thank you, Mr. Because this is a use that's identified under the ordinance. If the ordinance is approved, it would be permitted.

Mr. Cop, if you'd like to, would you like to explain that a little bit? I I I mean the purpose of the of the PD ordinance is when you're looking at a large project um when you've got a large number of acres, there's a lot of moving parts, it recognizes that a catchall zoning ordinance that applies across a district may not work with those. And so it's an opportunity to try to tailor that to the specifics of a particular piece of land as well as a particular project. And so here, this is a land use. It it it does sound similar to land uses that are permitted. You know, as you know, our list in the ordinance is not exhaustive. It does not spell out every every item that's permitted. It's intended to give examples and then we look and see whether it fits in with that type of of project, you know, and I believe the point here they were making was about it being a utility as well as electrical and arguing that it fit in that way. However, the ordinance can specify a specific use and if the ordinance is adopted, then that becomes an approved use. But the other thing that I think is involved with the PD is setting standards because our typical standards, we don't have standards that apply to a project like this. You know, it's kind of similar to when you have a large uh residential subdivision and they come in with custom design setbacks and other rules that they're proposing that would fit their project. And some of that's based on, you know, depending on how the land's laid out and the elevations and where uh ponds need to be and things like that, it will impact the way the site has to be laid out.

Mr. Thomas, did that answer your question? Okay. Yeah, it my question. If not, you know, if there's further clarification, I'm sure Mr. Culp can answer it. Thank you, Mr. Cole. Certainly.

Well, I'm hearing no objections to continuing to move forward. So, with that being said, so just for everyone to hear. So after hearing all the information, you know, we did conduct a public hearing and our role at this point is to consider all that information that was presented, all the comments, all the emails, our zoning ordinance, the documents that were presented, all in the comprehensive plan. And at this point, we would all consider that and everyone has a chance to review all the information. and it appears that they're looking that we can move forward. So in this particular case, this would be a recommendation to the town council as the planning commission can only send a recommendation to the county council whether that would be a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable recommendation or no recommendation to the county council for them to consider on this particular docket. And with that, I just wanted everyone to understand we that we will not be the final decision. This will be a town council decision at one of their meetings upcoming. So with that, if the board would like, I would look for a motion. I'm going to go ahead and make the motion. Um, Harrison Misani moving to approve docket number PC-0126-02-C3.

When When you say approve, do you mean to make a favorable? Yes. Make a make a recommendation. Yeah, we have to make a recommendation one way or the other. So, you're looking at a favorable recommendation. Your motion. It could be favorable. It could be no recommendation. Negative. Okay. So, I'm starting the vote right now. I'm going to I'm going to recommend a negative. No, he's asking you what your motion is. Are you making a favorable recommendation? Unfavorable recommendation. So, your recommendation at this point is an unfavorable recommendation, sir. And that's your motion? Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. So, we have an unstable recommendation to move on to the town council. I would look for a second on that motion. Mr. Chairman, Mark Thomas. I'll second that. Okay. We have a motion and a second. We will take a roll call vote on that, Mr. Mosani. And this would be for an unfavorable recommendation to the town council is what we're voting on. Agree to a negative recommendation. Mr. Shrimp, agree to the negative recommendation. Okay. Mr. Johnson. Nay. Okay. So you are a no to the recommendation.

Correct. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ever. Nay. Mr. Diller. Nay. Mr. Thomas. Nay. Okay. I want to make sure that the naysay are that you're not agreeing with the recommendation, right? I don't agree with the recommendation. Okay. Yeah. I don't agree. Okay. I just want to make sure everybody understoods what we're we're doing on the nays. Unbelievable. So, I just want to be make certain we're clear. Yeah.

Since the motion is to give an unfavorable recommendation, if you vote yes, that means you want to give an unfavorable recommendation. If you vote no, that means you do not want to give an unfavorable recommendation. I Harrison went a unfavorable recommendation. I seconded that. So my my recommendation is unfavorable. Okay. Okay.

Mr. Hebner, positive on negative. So I agree with Mr. Misan. Okay. And then I would agree with Mr. Mani on the negative recommendation. So did you tally those Mr. Zawatski? I haven't. I'm sorry. I forgot that I But I agree with the unfavorable. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you. You're right. I have a six to three vote that it passes as an unfavorable recommendation.

Okay. So with that being said, this would move on to the town council with a 6 to3 negative recommendation from this board. So the petitioner next town council meeting would be January 20th. Would you plan to move this recommendation to that meeting on the 20th? Excuse me. Or would you like to go at the following meeting? Yeah. And then the next one would be February the 3rd or that would be the following and the one after that would be the 17th. But we're asking what you would like to do moving this forward.

January 20th. Okay. So you will move to the January 20th to the town council with a negative recommendation from this board then. Yes, sir. Okay. We'll need to certify that's why I was making sure. So thank you. With that being said, M Mr. Strong if I may. There is just a second, sir. Let us finish here for a moment. Okay. Thank you. Tonight was the public hearing. There is not a public hearing in front of the town council. However, all five town council members are in attendance. Two of them are sitting up here and the other three are all out in the audience. So, they all heard everything that was said and had a chance to hear everything that you shared with the board tonight.

Okay. That being said, is this about the meeting in the future or sir? Uh, Mr. President, with a very determined analogy of what different people said, who were the three that were out or acceptable for and correct me if I'm wrong. I had a 6 to3 vote. Six people voting to give it a negative recommendation. Three voting not to give it a negative recommendation. The three not to give it a negative negative recommendation were Dennis Johnson, Jacob Ever, and Mark Dillard. Is that correct?

Is that am I correct on that? Correct on mine? Yes, that would be correct is what I had. Is that what you had, Mr. Zachk? So, that's what I had. Thank you sir. Thank you Mr. President.

Okay. Thank you. So at this point that would con conduct everything on this particular petition. If anyone like to stay, you're more than welcome to stay, but it'll give you a couple minutes to leave because we still have some other business to take care of at this particular time. So if you take your if you want to talk, please go outside so we can conclude our business. Thank you. Mr. Stone, I would suggest maybe we take five minutes to let people clear it out cuz we're not going to be able to talk over.

Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome.

Did I confuse the matter when I said name? I think I did. When you're voting yes or no on a negative, it's always that's why I wanted to make sure everyone was disappointed to realize that we stood out immediately. Yeah, These micro generator knowledge is not required. Yes, sir.

Hey. the engineers prepare a list. So we'll have

Oh, that's fine. We're we're done. Well, we've got a few minutes left. Okay, we're going to uh continue our business. So, if everyone wants to have discussion, could you take it outside or maybe back towards the back of the building so we can continue, please? Thank you. So, moving on to planning director report. Mr. Zwatsky.

Good evening, Plan Commission. This here is the latest version of the director's report. This is for December of 2025. Permanent revenue for the month of December 2025, $3,63. That brings us up to year to date of 67, uh, I think that's yeah, $574. At the same time last year, December 2024, we were at $5,110 for the month and $63,971 for the year. That's a difference for the month of December, a minus $1,57 and a plus for the year, $3,63. We issued a total of 12 building permits for December 2025. 10 of those were for within the corporate limits. No new homes there. We issued another two out in Jackson Township, two new homes out there. Estimated cost of these projects permitted was $1,83,953. We do have a BZA meeting scheduled for this month and that will be held at on January 22nd at the town hall. Uh that's my report. Anybody have any questions for me?

Thank you, Mr. Zawatsky. Any questions or comments for Mr. Zawatski? Okay, seeing none, president's report. I really don't have anything to report. I do appreciate the board being engaged this evening and uh I know it's late in the evening, a long meeting, but uh thank you for all being focused and uh continuing to uh get this uh continue to move forward onto the town council with a recommendation. I know a lot of thought was given into this. These are never easy decisions and especially when you have petitioners and you know we have a lot of people in attendance but uh thank all of you and uh thanks for your vote of confidence and voting me president again. So I appreciate that. Moving on to legal council report Mr. Cole.

Yeah just just two notes. One is, and I wish I thought this before people peeled out, but it's my understanding the town council meeting is going to be here instead of a town hall next week. Is that correct? We had not scheduled it to be here. We had scheduled it to be a town hall. Okay.

I would guess we want to I'm going to guess we would have a similar crowd to come to the meeting next week. So, Superintendent Hunter, is the building available for uh meeting here on the 20th? January. Yeah, you may have it reserved, but I can't remember. I do have it reserved for the eastern stuff. I was thought that you had something there already when I checked previously. I can notify them or make other

I I guess my concern is I'm anticipating a similar crowd would be there and our town hall is not large enough. Do they have a large group, Mr. Hunter? Sorry. Do they have a large group? Do you have any idea? No. Could they swap spots with the council? Okay.

Understood. The second item I wanted to bring up and we'll we can talk about this more but tonight will be back when CO started we began reading letters into the record and that was done in part because a lot of individuals weren't didn't feel comfortable coming to meetings and we had talked about eliminating that and tonight we had several letters from people who got up and spoke book. The other concern was we limit people to two minutes, but somebody could submit a 15-minute letter. A and so the intent was we will continue to make copies of letters. They will be given to all the board members, but um I'm going to ask at the next meeting to consider reversing that and no longer accepting or having Frank read the letters into the record. Um because I I I think that just like I said there was a couple of those that were

on the web. There were a couple of those that were probably 8 to 10 minutes in length and at least two I noticed were from people who also spoke and so we're trying to treat people fairly whether they do it in writing or they come here in person. I know we had previously discussed this in regards especially when we had the one petition and we had 70 letters. Yeah. and we discussed about the potential of not reading those and making sure the board had of all those and and in that particular case we never took an official action. So, you know, in looking at the minutes, we never did that. So, in your proposal, then I think that would be discussion and if if so, we would want to take official action that that's what we were doing moving forward.

Yeah. Yeah, that's what I would suggest um just to avoid that situation and also to make it clear. But we didn't want to implement that, especially with something like the item on the agenda tonight without letting the people know in advance. Now, whether they're read or not, they become part of our record. Those letters go in along like the minutes and everything else and are part of the public record and so that doesn't impact the way they're weighed at all or that they're kept as part of the permanent um recording of the proceedings. So, Mr. Zawatski, sorry. Would you uh add that to our next agenda, please? Yes, sir. So, we don't forget it. Yes, Mr. Tom.

Question on that. Is there any way we can ask for those letters to be sent, you know, get your letters in two days before and uh and then they can send all the ones that you have gotten out to out to the group so we can actually look at those meetings before the those letters before the meeting. Yeah, we could set a deadline like for example say Monday at noon and then anything that's submitted by then goes out and then with people understanding actually read those beforehand or before the meeting. Yes. So,

so with that being said when we do our legal notice currently we do 3 3 p.m. the day of the hearing. So would we want to modify our legal notice then to clarify that more? Yeah, I would suggest if we're going to require it in advance, which makes sense so that the plan commission has time to read it and they're not being handed it the day of, that we just modify that and put a deadline. And I think the 48 hours, if they're due by noon on Monday, then Frank can get them out before the end of the day and that gives the planning commission 48 hours to look at. Okay. So, do I understand modify the legal notice to say

I I'm just going to ask at the next meeting when that's on the agenda that we formally vote to do that. So, we would probably want to look at how we would want to modify that and have a suggestion for that next meeting as well. Just to uh have Mr. Culp review that to make sure that that's proper legal notice and it's worded properly. Is that all right with you, Mr. Cup? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Good. So, anything else, Mr. Cole? Nope. Okay. Any additional board member comments this evening? Welcome, Jacob. YES.

Starting in the deep end, right? Yeah. Well, you did a nice job. Thank you. I have a comment. Can we never do a negative ever again? Yeah, that's all. Thanks, Mr. Zilonsky. A negative negative. Yeah, a negative emotion made in the negative. Yeah, let's try to avoid that going forward. Yeah, I just sit here silent.

So, anyway, with that, any other board member comments? If not, then our next planning commission meeting will be February 11th at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall. And with that, I'd look for a motion to adjurnn. Mr. Chairman, Dennis Shrimp, I move we adjourn. Thank you, Mr. Shrimp. Second Harrison. Thank you, Mr. from the side.