Town Board - Regular Meeting

Sometimes it's ahead, sometimes it's behind. It just doesn't. I think she's the one who tells Mark to get it fixed. All right, all set.

Okay, I'd like to call regular meeting number 14 of 2026 of the Grand Island Town Board to order and ask the clerk to read the roll.

Supervisor Marston?

Here.

Councilman Degate? Here. Councilman Kilmer? Here. Councilman Garcia? Here. Councilwoman Diehl? Here.

Tonight's invocation will be led by Trinity Church's Pastor Kevin Slough and the pledge led by Councilman Degate. Please rise.

Let us pray. Dear God, we gather today as neighbors, united by our shared love and commitment to this town, Grand Island. We thank you for the privilege of community, for the diverse voices represented here, and for the opportunity to shape our collective future. Grant our leaders and citizens wisdom to make sound decisions, patience to listen with open minds, and compassion to understand differing viewpoints. Help us to speak with clarity and respect, ensuring that every voice is valued and heard. Bless the remaining of our summer, our firefighters, our emergency services, and watch over us as we continue to enjoy this season that you've brought us. And be with us tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Okay, next is public comments. And that would be public comments on agenda items only.

So if there's anything on the agenda that you'd like to come speak about, please come to the mic, give us your name, and you have three minutes to do that.

Hi, my name is Alice Gerard and I would like to speak about Fran Havens. I was her gardener and over the past few years I got to know her. She was a very kind woman who sent me cards for my birthday and cards for Christmas. I love going to her house and hearing her stories. about her experiences working here in Town Hall. She told me that during the blizzard of 77, when the highway workers were very, very busy and couldn't get home, she made food for them and made sure that they had the food that she had prepared for them. And anyway, she was a very kind person. I'm thankful that I got to know her and to hear her stories and to take care of her garden. And I will dearly miss her.

Thank you.

Good evening, my name is Paula Schuch, and I did want to ask a question about the EPA DEC request. If and when something is found, who is paying for remediation? There's radiation, something contaminated that's found on town public property. So that's a question that I'm sure mostly the taxpayers and residents are inquiring about, especially what's been going on in the news lately.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Hi, my name is Lauren Hall and I'm here on behalf of Carson Power. I'm here regarding the battery energy storage law that's up for vote tonight on the agenda. First of all, I just want to thank everyone because I know how much time and effort has gone into crafting this law. My team has come to speak numerous times over the past several months about this. And we know how much consideration has gone into bringing it to the current state. So I just want to thank you for that. I'm here to give my support for the law. I think that in its current form, it is a very strong, thoughtful, and well-balanced law that really allows for well-sighted projects to go through the permitting process. So I want to just thank you again for your consideration, and we look forward to our continued work with the town.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Hello, my name is Kristen Cascio. I do sit on a couple of advisory boards for the town, but today I am just speaking for myself as an individual resident on the topic of the battery energy storage law and based on the research and work that I have done myself. um uh and i spoke at the last meeting as well uh urging the board not to pass this law in its current form and that is what i am here to do again today uh looking at the version of the law that is in today's packet um i did a comparison between the draft from July 15th. It doesn't appear, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that a single word was changed from the last version on July 15th to today, although the draft included in today's packet, unlike the July 15th version, that draft was marked as a draft copy and had a date on it. The one on the packet today does not appear to be marked as a draft, nor does it appear to have any date on it. Before I go on, I do want to say that I am not opposed to battery energy storage systems. I understand their importance and their value to grid stability. However, I am speaking in the interest of this town passing a law that is uh that assures that these battery energy storage systems are appropriately cited and adequately regulated and truly do take into account what is best for the health and welfare of this community so i'm going to bring up a couple of things and i do hope when it comes time for discussion on the passage of this law that the board members can speak to and address some of these issues In New York State, according to one source, there are currently 86 active moratorium on battery energy storage systems. Many of them are specific to moratoriums for large-scale or utility-grade battery energy storage systems, also known as BES. The Grand Island Law is currently written Well, first, not only did the town, in my opinion, not give serious consideration to imposing a temporary moratorium on BESS, the Grand Island Law is currently drafted, does not even define a large-scale or utility-grade BESS. These are commonly known as a Tier 3. You will see if you look at the law, it is not in it. So I believe, in my opinion, there are many problems that remain with the organization and structure of the law and with the content. The proposed law deviates in many significant ways from other nearby towns that do have best laws in their code. Spoke to this the last meeting. The towns specifically that I've looked at include the town of Tonawanda, Hamburg, Wheatfield, West Seneca, and Cambria. In comparing the Grand Island law to that in the other five towns, it is my opinion that the law is overly verbose. It is over five pages longer than the next longest law that I reviewed, clocking in at 19 pages. It is not, in my opinion, more thorough. It is just more convoluted and confusing to understand. It contains over four pages of definitions and no other law I saw came even close to that. The general requirement section appears to might potentially be misleading because it includes things as a general requirement that are actually not required for Tier 1 BESS because it includes things about site plan review. So again, to the structure, I would say that that perhaps does not belong in that section. As a side note, Section 1087, permitting requirements for Tier 2 battery energy storage systems, has two paragraph As. Again, just speaking to whether or not this bill, this law, is actually ready for passage. I've already spoken about the failure of the laws, the law's failure to adequately define and describe the tiers and the intent and purpose of the battery storage systems for each tier. The law also does mention that a battery energy storage system permit, and I don't believe the public has seen that. I would be curious to see what that permit looks like. Just to speak on the tiers again, which is really a very critical part of this law. So tier one, is described as having an aggregate energy capacity of less than or equal to 600 kilowatt hours. Hamburg and other towns that follow more closely NYSERDA's model law include, where ARLA doesn't, it says, and if in a room or enclosed area, consist of only a single energy storage system technology. ARLA doesn't include that language. Under Tier 2, which is for systems with an aggregate capacity greater than 600 kilowatt hours, Our law, unlike West Seneca's law, doesn't include language like this, that they are comprised of more than one storage battery technology in a room or enclosed area, which they define as a Tier 2A, or in an outdoor area, which they define as a Tier B. Their accessory uses to a principal use and are intended for energy use by the principal use and do not exceed storage of 110% of two days of energy for the user. as determined by the town building department. Our law does not designate indoor or outdoor distinctions, and it does not limit storage for Tier 2. Tier 3, as I've mentioned, is not included at all in this law. Tier three, again, West Seneca defines it as utility grade system as most other towns do. And it talks about them being designed independent of a user with a purpose to store energy and put that energy back into the power grid. They can be an accessory or a primary use. They also include any system not meeting a Tier 1 or 2 definition. Wheatfield also includes a limit. Wheatfield limits Tier 3 to the size of 1 megawatt and says systems over this size are not allowed in the town. I am not saying that all of these things absolutely should be in our law, but I believe that they deserve consideration that I am not certain that they have gotten. And failing to include Tier 3 also means that this law has failed to provide for heightened permitting and other requirements for a utility scale BESS. I can go on and on. I'm sure I'm at my three minutes, but I will also say I have a question about the safety issues section, particularly the lack of Grand Island Fire Company involvement. Under the general requirements section 10.5.B.12, It simply says the town of Grand Island Building Department shall notify the Grand Island Fire Company upon the approval of any approved battery energy storage systems. Now, to me, that doesn't sound like the fire company is going to be involved in the approval of these battery energy storage systems, and they will simply be notified after an approval has already taken place. So why am I doing this? Why am I up here? Why am I bothering? I'm here because I live in this town. I care about this town. I think this is a big piece of legislation that's going to have real and immediate impact on this town when it passes. I am concerned about noise quality for my neighbors. I am concerned about water quality, safety. air quality uh the land all of that so that is why i'm up here tonight i just want this town to be very thoughtful and thorough before it passes this law And I ask the town board members before they vote, if they can just ask themselves, do I truly understand this law? Am I ready to put this law into effect for this town? Because you know, you can't say that you didn't know. And if you vote for it, this is something that you have now given your consent to. I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comments? Okay. Moving on. We have a proclamation tonight for National Airborne Day, August 16th, 2026. I'll read it. Whereas the parachute test platoon composed of 48 volunteers was authorized by the War Department on June 25th, 1940 to experiment with the potential use of airborne troops began training in July 1940, and performed the first official Army parachute jump on August 16, 1940, and whereas the success of the parachute test platoon led to the formation of a large and successful airborne contingent serving in World War II, to the present, and whereas the 82nd Airborne Division was the first airborne division organized, the Airborne Association exists to honor the memory of the 82nd Airborne Division troopers, and the U.S. Senate passed the National Airborne Day Resolution on July 6, 2004, and whereas Grand Island, New York, is the birthplace and final resting place in Maple Grove Cemetery of Private First Class Charles and the glopper awarded the nation's highest award medal of honor for historic and selflessness actions selfless actions while serving as a member of company c first battalion 325th glider infantry regiment 82nd airborne division at the theory rants and to june 9 1944 and whereas Grand Isle is the birthplace and final resting place in St. Stephen's Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Terrence K. Crowe, trained airborne trooper serving with the 98th Infantry Division and killed by hostile fire while part of offensive operations in Hotel Affair Iraq on June 7, 2005, and whereas... The Glopper Memorial, dedicated on June 5, 2021, has expanded to honor all the island's veterans, including tributes for those killed in action. And whereas the members of the Association of U.S. Normandy Memoir Gratitude and Volunteers continue to maintain the World War II D-Day Airborne and Veterans Memorials in France and organize the annual memorial ceremonies. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the town board of the town of Grand Island does hereby proclaim August 16th, 2026 National Airborne Day in the town of Grand Island and encourages its citizens to observe and commemorate this historic event by visiting the Glopper Memorial at Baseline Road and Grand Island Boulevard. We have two proclamations here. one for the Glaupper family and one for the Crow family. Are there representation here? OK. Next, we have one public hearing, which is Local law number four, 2026. I'll ask the clerk to read the pertinent part of that roll. Oh, it's canceled. I'm sorry.

It's going to be rescheduled for next meeting.

Okay. And that is due to the, okay. Very good. There was some changes. Okay. Do we need to.

Should we make a motion? Yeah.

I'll make a motion to reset the public hearing for, is it the 24th? Yes. For the 24th. At 8 p.m. At 8 p.m. Seconded.

All in favor? Discussion? All in favor? Aye? Aye. Okay. Good. Next is minutes. If you want to go.

Go ahead.

Garcia? Aye. Marston? Aye. Dugatti? Aye. Kilmer? Aye. Thiel? Aye.

OK, next is minutes approved the minutes of workshop meeting number 17 July 6, 2026. Approved the minutes of workshop meeting number 18 July 7, 2026. Approved the minutes of workshop meeting number 19 July 20, 2026. Approved the minutes of regular meeting number 13 July 20, 2026.

So moved. Second.

Motion second. Any discussion? Roll call.

Garcia. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Dugatti. Aye. Diehl. Aye. Marston.

Aye. Next is a consent agenda. First of all, the Golden Age Center facility usage, May of 2026. Meeting minutes of Board of Ethics, June 4th, 2025. Meeting minutes of Board of Architecture Review, June 16th, 2026. meeting minutes of conservation advisory board, June 25th, 2026 meeting minutes of zoning board of appeals, June 4th, 2026. Motion. Second discussion. I don't know what happened on ethics one. That gets stuck with a timeline. It's over a year old.

Yeah.

Oh, okay. Well, there you go.

It explains the data part of the minutes, right?

No, I guess not. Rule call.

Garcia. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Degatti. Aye. Diehl. Aye. Marston.

Aye. Next from my office is a monthly supervisory report. I don't think any action is required on that. The next is the DEC EPA request authorization approval. A motion is in order to authorize the supervisor to sign any permissions for the DEC slash EPA or inspect town-owned or controlled properties the DEC or the EPA deems areas of concern. So I would make a motion to allow that with the version amended by our attorneys.

I just sent the town board has an updated draft or willing to check with some modest provisions. They don't change the substance of permitting access, which is doing away that shows protection sound property.

Okay, so I guess the motion is to authorize the supervisor to sign the amended. Yes, yes. Motion? Second. Second. Any discussion?

Just make sure. Contact me. I can't.

Either one. Well, so I'm not going to go dark with this. I'll let you know if any other properties come up as well. It's just that it's a time. Yeah. It's time sensitive. So I want to keep them moving if they need to see more. So roll call.

Dugatti. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Garcia. Aye. Diehl. Aye. Marston.

Aye. Aye.

ah next councilwoman deal so we have on here authorized supervisor to execute a new york state dot firm one undertaking we just had to go through a process to close the road for national night out through erie county we now which is through a portal we now have to close or alert New York State DOT for any road that connects to that, if it's going to have a detour or if we're going to have a barricade. It's a portal. It was a pretty in-depth thing. But one, they allowed us to close this time without having this undertaking signed. It's a standard form. It will be good for us for all events. July 4th, anytime we close a road, we will not have to go through this process again. In an email, they said 20 years, but in the document, you'll notice it just says for an extended period of time. I guess if they want to change something, they can ask us to redo it. Just a formality. So I make a motion to authorize the town supervisor to sign the attached undertaking and that the town board adopt the following resolution. We'll need this resolution as written out as well that will stay in our portal online. or our usage. Second.

Okay. Motion is second. Any more discussion?

Thanks for doing it.

We are now closed for tomorrow.

Yeah. Roll call.

Deal. Aye. Dugatti. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Garcia. Aye. Marston.

Aye. Communications from other town officials. Town code enforcement. Number one is a special use permit. Renewal. Tops Express, 2130 Grand Island Boulevard. Operate a convenience store with gas pumps in a central business district. Looks like the fees have been paid. The site has been inspected.

Motion to approve.

Yeah.

Second.

Motion second. Any discussion? Roll call.

Garcia. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Bugatti. Aye. Diehl. Aye. Marston.

Aye.

Hi. Next, a special use permit for Sharon and Calvin Kern, 2905 Steely Road for a bed and breakfast. It appears the fee's been paid and the use is unchanged.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion second. Any discussion? I can't believe it's been a year already.

I know, it's crazy.

I'm glad you're having fun. Roll call.

Garcia? Aye. Dugatti? Aye. Kilmer? Aye. Diehl? Aye. Marston?

Aye. Okay, it looks like next is a report to the committee.

I make a motion to pay the bills from the following funds. From the general fund, $89,026.75. From the highway fund, $13,737.55. From the sewer fund, $54,314.38. From the water fund, $88,000. $281.12 from the Trust and Agency Fund, $41. From the Capital Fund, $244,769.13. From the Refuse and Garbage Fund, $170,470.17 for a total of $660,640.10. Second. I just want to say that I've never heard someone so excited, Dustin. I like to make sure everyone can hear me.

Okay. Probably an e-bike.

Probably. So do we get a motion and a second? Any discussion? Roll call.

Garcia. Aye. Diehl. Aye. Marston.

Aye.

Degatti. Aye. Filmer.

Under unfinished business. Local law number five of 2025, battery energy storage system law. Looks like we have correspondence and several pieces. Anybody like to move forward on that? What do we got going on? Correspondence planning board?

That's been announced.

What's that?

That's been announced.

Okay.

That's just held over from the previous meeting, right?

So next up is adopt EAF parts two and three from the secret negative declaration proposed local law number five of 2025 battery energy storage systems law. Peter, do you have any input on this? No. So I'll make a motion to authorize a negative declaration as written. Okay. Motion second discussion. We'll call.

Marston.

Aye.

Degatti. Aye. Kilmer. Aye. Garcia. Aye. Diehl. Aye.

Next, adopt LWRP consistency findings, composed local law number 502025, battery energy storage systems law. Make a motion to do such a thing.

Did we get a second?

Yeah.

No.

No, we didn't get a second.

A second.

We'll second it. Motion and second. Any discussion?

All right, well, here we go. Is it working? It seems to be, but I don't know how long it's like that. Okay. I don't know about it now.

Okay. Next, item two, business authorized supervisor signed letter of intent, energy savings, performance contract, energy solutions. Please find the attached letter of intent with revisions as discussed at the July 20th town board meeting. I would also like to make a motion to authorize the town supervisor to sign the agreement at the conclusion of attorney review.

So this is my item. It was tabled. And we had some... Peter, would you like to talk about any of the revisions that you suggested?

We discussed briefly at the workshop meeting what they were. They weren't all that... Deal-wise, there were a few key points around... that we discussed. So I don't think anything fundamentally changes the arrangement, but I don't think there was any concern with the items that I had mentioned. The board, Rhonda, has the draft that incorporates those items. So I think we're pretty much good to go.

I shared that as well with our representative. Steve is here with Verity. So he reviewed that. So he sounds like we're good. Yeah. So, Peter, do you want to make that motion? Does that stand? Oh, you were just reading it?

Okay.

I would like to make a motion to authorize the town supervisor to sign the agreement. And we've concluded the attorney review. I'll update it and send you all a copy.

Second.

Okay. Motion, second. Any discussion?

Only I guess I'll just reiterate what I said last meeting that I know a lot of these projects is going to be designed to make sure we're not made where I don't want to say nothing but this time. Agreed. We all feel the same way.

I think that this is when we are looking for solutions that will save taxpayer dollars but give a better product and better service. From all the research I've done, I think this could be the solution that we need to be fiscally responsible. There'll be an energy audit done to see what areas we can save energy or save on operational cost. Then we will get to sit down as a board and decide where those priorities need to lie. We'll know what that expenditure will be and we can set those. This will be managed by Verigy. They will project manage it. They will put out bids. They will secure the best product for us and they will oversee the project. When we agree on what the project will be and the scope of work, there'll be a set price and that will be the price on the final day. There'll be no change orders. There'll be no, oops, we didn't see this. All the product just went up in cost. Fuel went up, whatever it might be. That's going to be, it will help us budget. And it will also help us with capital planning down the road so that we can be a very proactive community and not reactive to emergencies and breaks.

I just want to say, I wish you would have explained like that last. Yes.

So many ways.

Now that you've explained it that way. I understand. Yeah. No. And I say that both those. And it was very involved me. And made me feel comfortable. Any more discussion.

I will say, transparently, I'm a little bit concerned, especially getting into these infrastructure projects that we've already are several months into and are relatively well planned out. I don't know how this fits on an existing project that's already going. I do agree with the rationality of adopting this type of thing with the guaranteed rates and all that stuff. I just, I'm not 100% sure that this is the right projects to set you loose on, but I'm going to take a leap of faith and hopefully you can figure it out because you get one shot at it. Okay. Roll call.

Deal. Aye. Garcia. Aye. Marston.

Aye.

Dugatti. Aye. Kilmer.

Okay. Next up, public comments. If anybody would like to come to the mic and talk about anything going on in the town, please come up, give us your name, and you have three minutes. Hearing nothing from the board, Councilman Kilmer. Okay.

No, I got nothing. Enjoyed what I slept this summer. That's something.

Councilman Garcia. I'd just like to bring out, I don't know if anyone saw Harvey Road, but the Highway Department did an incredible job. Two days, very little inconvenience as far as I could tell. I drove by a few times and they were hammering it out. So great work from the Highway Department. And tomorrow is National Night Out. I will let Councilwoman We'll talk about it because she's the big driver and she's been spending time. Can't wait to be good about it.

Well, we've got to go right around to them. Councilwoman Beal.

So, yes, tomorrow is National Night Out. We're very excited about it. There will be a road closing starting at four o'clock. It will be sitting. It's going to be White Haven, the portion between the boulevard and baseline. And the reason we're closing that road is We will have law enforcement agencies here with equipment, one for Marine unit, forces. There's a better term for it. But we also, thanks to Councilman Garcia, who has been very persistent asking for the helicopter. So as long as weather is permitting, and we're hoping that they don't get a call, but if they, just because you hate to have a call, period, right? But if they do... They will not be here with us, but the plan is that they will land at 6 o'clock. They will be here for the kids and adults to touch, play, see, experience that helicopter, and then they plan to leave at 640. So tell your friends and family that if they want to see it land. and take off to be here by six o'clock. And also for all the kiddos, we'll be doing a costume contest for their favorite first responder. We'll have some prizes from both the Fun Center and Island Shop. And then we have squishy toys, which I'm told are all the rage. We'll probably all want one. But last year we had a couple of families that came dressed up and that was really cool. Hint, hint. If anyone can talk their families into doing a group costume. And there'll be other vendors too. This is an opportunity to meet first responders but also for our area businesses. Our advisory boards will be present. Also some of the not-for-profits and civic groups. So you know, it's a time that we can come out and really build community and get to know each other. So I hope you will come and spread the word. It will be open from 5.30 to 8, and we will have live entertainment by the gazebo. So I hope to see you. Anything else we need to add?

Great. Anything left to talk about?

I'll just say thanks, guys, for putting it together. See you tomorrow. Okay.

Is it time to say go bills yet? Getting there. Not there yet.

Don't do it yet.

Okay. A couple of quick things. We've been, we've been actually getting some things done. So you may notice we got the crack grass finally getting cut and be around and some sort of regular schedule that took more calls than you could ever imagine, but at least it's finally moving. And that's, that's good to hear. As Councilman Kilmer mentioned, the highway department's been very busy. They've been servicing multiple roads. We are also seeing the state come in and do some improvements and repairs to their roads, as well as the county. So a lot of construction going on, a lot of things like that going on. Event-wise, there's something coming up. What is it?

National Night Owl.

No, there was something else beyond that. I'm trying to remember. I'm forgetting something. Oh, there's the poker run and car show stuff, which is going on at next, I think, partially through this week and next weekend at the Buffalo Launch Club. Okay. All right. So if anybody's interested in that kind of stuff, please look it up. Sounds like a good time. They got a lot of different things going on, something for everybody. With that, motion to adjourn tonight's meeting at 8.50.

So moved. Second.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? That carries. Please rise. Tonight, we will observe a moment of silence in memory of Frances Havens and Doris Meyer.