Common Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. This is a regular session of Rome Common Council. The date is June 10th, 2026, and the time is 7 p.m. Mrs. Campbell, please call the roll.

Councillor Sprace.

Present.

Councillor Mortis.

Present.

Councillor Fazio. Present. Councillor Smith. Here. Councillor Riley.

Present.

Councillor Dursey. Present. Councillor Sparaglia.

Present.

Please rise for Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The invocation will be given by the chair. Heavenly Father, guide our thoughts, words, and actions this evening. Grant us wisdom in our decisions and help us to serve our community with integrity and compassion. Amen. At this point, the meeting is now open to the public. You have the opportunity to appear before the council and present your views concerning city affairs. If you wish to speak, please come up to the back microphone, state your name and address, and limit yourself to five minutes. Also, please sign in on the sign-in sheet. We're ready for our first speaker.

Good evening. I'm Bobbi O'Brien speaking on behalf of the Rome Waterways and Trails Advocacy Group, President Nash, counselors, city representatives, and members of the community. I have three things. The first, I would like to ask the council support of Resolution 72 in accepting the donation of $1,000 from Air City Lofts. This sponsorship is very appreciated and will help to ensure the success of the third annual Welcoming Block Party. This year it will occur on July 16th when the hundreds of participants in Parks and Trails New York Cycle the Erie Canal Tour arrives in Rome. Rome's welcoming party gets better every year as we get feedback not only from our team but from the community as well. They let us know how much they enjoy the event and they give us suggestions. What we did right, what other activities could we add, and what wasn't so good. The community event info for this year will be coming very soon. We're close to finalizing everything. This celebration is important because it's one of the ways we ensure the Parks and Trails New York Trail Town designation is maintained. Part of the mission is to broaden awareness about the accessibility of our trails and waterways, as well as the health benefits of simply getting outside. We think the block party is a great way to show our appreciation of the community's support while at the same time drawing in visitors from all over the Mohawk Valley. It helps to increase regional tourism throughout the year, especially this year as we celebrate our country's 250th anniversary. We are lucky to live where heritage tourism abounds. I also want to acknowledge Worthington Industries. They have been our premier sponsor since the first event. I believe their donation will appear as a resolution on the June 24th Common Council meeting agenda. We appreciate your favorable vote tonight on Resolution 72. On the second item, I look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow to come out and welcome the arrival of the Seneca Chief on its Back to Buffalo tour. It will be arriving at about 5 p.m., so later in the day tomorrow. The main event starts Friday at noon with activities focused toward our younger community and by four o'clock, the usual food truck and frivolity will ensue for one and all. And of course, the Seneca Chief will be open for touring. Third, I wasn't able to attend in person the planning board meeting that was held on June 2nd. I was interested in the Penrose time extension for the development along the barge canal. However, the longest and most interesting topic of discussion was their agenda item 12, the public hearing regarding ordinance number 9869, authorizing a six month moratorium of battery energy storage systems, BESS. It is notably on tonight's agenda as well. I just want to say that in attendance were representatives from the Youth Common Council. They spoke to the moratorium subject and I want to let them know their contribution to the discussion and their active engagement was impressive. Thank you for taking the time. Your voices were heard. They made this resident very proud. Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good evening, members of the Common Council, President Nash and esteemed department heads. I would echo Bobby O'Brien's comments. I think the block party is just one of the coolest events that Rome has ever put on, and it gets better every year. It's an event that the whole state really, really recognizes. Really applaud those efforts and all your efforts to support that every year. Looking forward to it again. I would like to echo the comments regarding the Rome Youth Common Council. It is so gratifying to see youth being involved in our community. However, you're not always right so and I'll and I'll tell you why um and I'm glad to help with with like the education on this too um I'm here um speaking in um opposition to uh ordinance number 9884 And I, number one, completely appreciate all the work that everybody's put into it. I really do. And Councilor Mortis and Councilor Sprague, love you guys. You know I do, right? And in my free time, I'm a filthy hippie. So you would think I would, you know, you think I would like be in support of a ban on all things like that. However, I have spent a considerable time Recently in my career working with all the publicly traded utilities across the state, working with the New York Independent System Operator, Department of Public Service, and more importantly, manufacturers across New York State. I always have believed that Rome is at its core a manufacturing city and celebrate that. um and we are you are doing amazing things in that regard to support manufacturers and they in turn support our community um but i can say you know uh battery energy storage systems are going to be a critical component of the future of our grid. And without them, we are going to be in big trouble. I think the biggest threat to our grid right now is data centers, right? That's what's putting all the pressure on. And if we're going to avoid rolling blackouts in the future, we are going to have to have ways to store energy during low demand periods during the day. So battery energy storage systems are not only important just for the common integrity of our system, but we went through decades of flat or declining load demand by You know, when manufacturing was leaving New York, all these things, right? The past decade, we've seen tremendous load growth, and as a result, the reliability margins are shrinking, and people are feeling a lot of pressure to find new generation and ways to maximize efficiency of a pretty outdated grid. We certainly as a state are going to be working on installing new generation as far as nuclear, and that's a really good idea, but that's 10 years away. Everybody knows at least it takes that long to get permitted and to construct something like that. Even an entire brand new nuclear power plant, is not even going to touch the load growth that we are going to see over the next few decades with the rise of advanced manufacturing and the pressure that data centers are putting on. I would counsel caution on the ban. I think the moratorium is a prudent move. just because it does give you time to study. There are municipalities across New York State right now who are putting pretty strict land use regulations and safety protocols in place to accommodate battery energy storage systems. But there's also manufacturers in New York State who are getting into that game. And that's a good thing. You know, they're helping to solve that problem. And kind of everybody has to participate in ensuring the reliability of our grid. And if people think the recent Rates are a real bummer. The rate increases are a bummer. Just wait until every municipality starts banning better energy storage systems. Our rates are going to go up 30, 40, 50 percent because that's got to be part of the solution. It's not the only solution, but it's got to be part. What we don't understand right now is a lot of the potential for better energy storage is not just at the utility scale, It's behind the meters for manufacturers. So when they're able to shave their peaks, when they're able to store energy at night when it's low and cut down on their peak demand during the day, it could save some of our larger manufacturers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And everybody knows that. The bottom lines are thin in American manufacturing. We're competing with global interests. So anything that we do to put them at a disadvantage, and this is a safe technology. I know that fires and stuff make the paper, but it is a fraction of a percent of these globally that actually have disasters. And now there's international electric, The IEEE codes and all the national codes have been updated as recently as this year to ensure safety. They've kind of figured out the cause and figured out how proliferation of the fires are, and they've put safety protocols in place internationally. So we can't import batteries that are unsafe, and we sure as heck can't make them here in New York that are unsafe. i and i again totally appreciate all the work that went into it um and totally appreciate everybody looking to protect the best interests of of our residents and you have all done magnificent work in that regard you know i would just kind of i would counsel some caution maybe we can table that a little bit you know i thought you know more moratoriums are good ideas to educate and study a little bit harder but i would just caution against a ban and i really I appreciate you guys' time today. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris. Next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Scott Aronson, and I'm the owner of a property at 600 Canal Street. That was the property that I was interested in putting what's called a distribution level battery energy storage system. I want to give you guys, I want to have a little bit of a discussion with you about, I guess, you know, why we chose that spot, what went into it and kind of my thoughts on battery energy storage. So, you know, the first thing that we do is before we look at any spot, and when I say we, I mean, you know, me and my company, which I'm the owner of, is we call the city and we ask them where would be a good spot to put it. You know, and just like the last speaker said, you know, I understand, you know, I understand that you have concerns about where they are. I understand that you have concerns about development and that the development needs to be monitored and there needs to be discussions about safety and about all of these things. We went out of our way with working with the city in order to find a decent spot for this to be. The spot that we want to put battery energy storage in now is about a half acre. It's at 600 Canal Street. It's in an industrial area. It's next to a very large substation. And like I said, before we purchased the property, we called the city, we talked to them, we said, where do you want to see it? They said, this is the perfect spot to do it. And they said that it's permitted as a use. Based off of our discussions with them, we spent a significant amount of time and money to start the process of developing this site. So that means not just purchasing the site, which we did, but dealing with engineers, talking with the electric company, going through several studies with the electric company, which costs tens of thousands of dollars, doing a whole bunch of things that we need in order to make the development happen. So we've done all this. not, you know, under the guy not not, you know, fully with in support and fully discussing with the the city. You know, our goal is not to try to circumvent any anything regarding to safety or anything that you guys need in order to feel comfortable with the project is safe. That's exactly why you have a site review process and your site review process is, you know, requires a significant amount of things. Our only ask is that you give us the opportunity to work with you so that you guys can see that everything is safe and to see that we're following all the rules. So putting an outright ban on that would... prevent us from working with you, when in reality, we're not asking you to outright approve anything. We're not saying you have to approve any specific things regarding our plans. All we're saying is that we'd like to have the opportunity to sit with you, to sit with everybody, to sit with the fire marshal, to sit with everybody and make sure that this is something that you can get behind. The project that we're looking to do is not a utility scale project. It's a distribution project. And what that means is that the electricity that's being used is not being shipped somewhere downstate. The electricity that's being used is directly being used in the local area to support the local grid. There were some talks about data centers. I know that there's a lot of talks about some large yogurt factory development that's providing a lot of economics to the area. What people look for when they're looking to develop in an area is they're looking for power. Power is one of many things, but one of the most important things is whether or not the electrical infrastructure can control development. This helps that. This also helps prevent brownouts. It helps regulate during the, there during the peak times so essentially what it does is when when there are peak times when the grid is really really really strained this puts a little bit of an extra boost back into the system that helps support the grid so prevents brownouts it prevents those surge pricing that you get you know between two and five uh pm and um you know it's you know everything that that this is doing is good for the community um so that being said you know again i just like to reiterate can you wrap it up scott please sure sure we want we want to be good for the community we're not trying to to skirt through anything we want to work with you in in putting a ban on on this just prevents us from doing that allowing this to continue just allows us to sit with you and work doesn't mean you have to do anything until you have full approval and feel comfortable about the project thank you thank you scott

NEXT SPEAKER, PLEASE. ANYBODY ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK? PUBLIC SESSION IS CLOSED. THE CHAIR ENTERTAIN A MOTION THAT THE READING OF THE MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING SESSION BE DISPENSELESS AND THAT THEY BE APPROVED.

SO MOVED.

COUNCILOR SMITH. SECOND. COUNCILOR MORRIS. MOVED AND SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Let's see. Communications.

Teddies of 851 Black River Boulevard has notified the city clerk's office of its intent to renew its liquor license.

Report to city officials. Report to councilors and general city affairs. Yes. Councilor Dursey.

President Nash, members of council, I just want to thank everybody for speaking today and thank the youth council for speaking. Last Tuesday night, I apologize, I wasn't able to be there. A healthy debate and discussion is what makes democracy work. So I appreciate that from everybody here tonight and know that whatever I end up doing on any of these pieces of legislation, it will be after really, careful thought um and i haven't really made a decision yet and i'm sure the rest of council is the same um in those regards um and that's all i have for that thanks thank you councillor not just brya

President Nash, fellow council members, and members of the audience, I just want to read a quick statement regarding the parks open space trails plan. We are in the process of gathering up our final comments and edits for Fisher. to make to provide us the final copy. As far as implementation of the recommendations, we are not aware of any timeline or final decision about what parks are getting what upgrades and when. So I just wanted to give that update. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Sprague. Dr. Smith.

I'd like to speak on the battery ban. I would not be in support of it, okay? It doesn't make sense to me right now. I believe that a moratorium would be the way to go, okay? Because this gives us time to do research and get some credible documentation of what other cities are doing, other communities are doing. And I think the temporary pause would allow the residents, the officials, to make informed decisions that balances the public safety. that's really important and the environmental considerations and economic impact that's going to have a big impact on us in the future so right now i don't think it's a question whether the new energy technology is part of our future but it's like are we prepared uh do we know what's happening are we trying to put safeguards in place and are we looking at some of the other communities that are doing well now three places that i found that put in more security and more regulations in new york state i'm looking of course it would be new york city the bronx and long island so we should take a look at what they have put in place for safety would it work in our city how can we tweak it because i think we'd be missing the boat if we were to put a ban on it um i really think as a society we need to move forward it's the 21st century whether we like it or not i don't always love technology but it is taking the lead and we need to be prepared for that as a community and educate our community and our officials thank you thank you

Thank you president at the very least we, we need to do the moratorium. I think we need more time to look at everything as for the band. We cannot act on that. It needs to be something planning board and. The different channels, so that will not be done. There will not be a band. We will not vote on that tonight. I think we have a ton of knowledge about this at this point. I mean, yes, actually we do. We've read a lot and we've worked with the council and we've looked at a bunch of things, but I think putting the moratorium in place gives us more time to really look and to make a decision on where we're gonna go from here. So for all the people thinking that we are going to vote on that ban, if not, it will be different. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Spruce. Councilor Riley.

just to jump on the on the uh i'm sorry president nash fellow counselors thank you uh just to jump on the the battery energy storage systems so uh scott when when you spoke um and i understand you know that you're involved in this property and you're going to give us positives um i would like during this uh time frame as we're researching it a presentation from you uh to the council public the truth and Go over the cons. So I'm not saying no, I'm just saying there are cons to this. They're very easily looked up, you know, and one of them coming from a law enforcement background is that I feel as if there's something's going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong. um and having a company in new york state for example fire suppression systems so if this system starts on fire you're going to have a fire suppression systems believe it or not in new york state when you have new construction for a convenience store you don't you do not have to have a fire suppression system for their gas stations okay so what's to say and this is what i want you to touch on What's to say that they don't force you to have a fire suppression system for something like this? Fire suppression systems are expensive. So what are we going to do at that point? If a fire does occur there, the toxic waste that comes off of that, when the water hits that fire, where does that runoff go? The other thing is that you say that it's in a industrial area. I don't know if necessarily the people on Lawrence Street would agree with you on that because there's residences that are very close to that area. So as you prepare your, I assume that you would do something like that. As you prepare that, do the cons too and what you feel as if how those cons could be addressed. That's all I ask. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Riley. Anyone else? Board of committees.

Councilor Dursey. President Nash, members of the council. I just want to report that the finance committee met with Treasure Adams last week, and we're moving forward as best we can in this economic climate. So things are moving along. We are looking over them, over the different bands and bonds and police leases versus all these different things. So we are on top of things and we are working on them. And I'm sure there will be in the next few months, another set of of things that can be put to bond so so look forward to that at a future meeting thanks thank you confederacy any other reports resolutions resolution number 69 resolution determining that the rehabilitation of boyd dam is a type 2 action for purposes of the new york state environmental quality review act

Move that. So moved. Council Dursley and Council Mortis. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 69 is carried. Resolution number 7.

Resolution determining that the replacement of equipment, machinery, or apparatus for the city sewer system is a type 2 action for purposes of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.

Move it.

Councilor Fazio. Second. Councilor Speraglia. Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 70 is carried. Resolution number 71.

Accepting donation presented to the City of Rome by Adirondack Bank for the police K-9 unit, $10,000. Move it.

Councilor Speraglia. Second. Councilor Morris. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Thank you, Adirondack Bank. Thank you for the generous donation. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 71 is carried. Resolution number 72.

Accepting donation presented to the City of Rome by the Air City Lofts for the Cycle of the Erie Canal Welcoming Block Party, $1,000. Move that.

Councilor Fezzio. Second. And Councilor Sparaglia. Moving second. Any discussion? I'd also like to thank Air City Lofts for their donation because this is a really fun event and it's a great community event. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 72 is carried. Resolution number 73.

Authorizing the Mayor of the City of Rome to submit a grant application to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and Dormitory Authority of the New York State for NY Plays funding, $1,986,302.40. So moved. Second. Ms. Brace and Councillor Riley. Moved and seconded.

Any discussion?

Councilor Dursey. President Nash, members of the Council, I just want to make the public aware that this is a grant where there's only a 20% match. So we are not looking to spend $2 million of the city's funds, but it would also be for Parks Recreation, a really great possible project if we can get it. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Dursey.

Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 73 is carried. Resolution number 74.

Delegating the authority under general municipal law subsection 77-B to the Commissioner of Public Works.

Move it.

Council Sparaglia. Second. And Council Sparaglia. Move and second. Any discussion? Council Sparaglia.

As President Nash, fellow council members, I just want to explain that this allows Commissioner Giuliano to select personnel in his department who require proper training. As we all know, training is very important to a job, and it makes it a lot easier if we allow the commissioner to select those people that are due for that training.

Thank you.

Yes, in the past, every time HE WANTED TO SEND SOMEBODY TO A CONFERENCE OR SOMETHING. HE HAD TO COME THROUGH THE COUNCIL AND JUST BODS THINGS DOWN. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. RESOLUTION NUMBER 74 IS CARRIED. RESOLUTION NUMBER 75.

ACCEPTING DONATION PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF ROME $500 BY THE TEUGA COUNTRY CLUB.

MOVE IT.

COUNCILOR SMITH. AYE. AND COUNCILOR DERSEY. MOVED AND SECONDED. ANY DISCUSSION? And I'd like to thank you, Jessica, for their generous donation also. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Resolution number 75 is carried. Resolution number 76.

Designating the Common Council as lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review, SECER, as it pertains to zoning code amendments prohibiting battery energy storage systems in Rome, New York.

Move it.

Sorry. Sorry, President. Move it. Second. Council Sparaglia. Moved and seconded. Any discussion?

Council Marcus. President, members of the council, I'd like to table this, ordinance number 76, and then we will send this to planning board for the review and public hearing. It's the... the ordinance that'll be i thought it was both of them gerard okay so not both okay my apologies are you rescinding that yes i'll rescind this one and then yes i apologize i'll do it ordinance i just thought it was both any further discussion all those in favor say aye aye opposed resolution number 76 is carried ordinance number 9876

Authorizing the issuance of $4,600,000 bonds to the City of Rome, Oneida County, New York, to pay the cost of rehabilitation, Boyd Dam.

So moved. Second.

Fazio, Speraglia, Riley, and Dursey. Forms number 9876 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent, say aye. Aye. Opposed, unanimous consent is carried. Is there any discussion? No, ma'am. COMMISSIONER GIULIANO, IS THERE ANY BOND OR GRANT MONEY FOR THIS, OR IS THIS ALL ON THE CITY?

PRESIDENT NASH, RIGHT NOW, I BELIEVE WE HAVE A $1 MILLION GRANT FROM ESD for the Boyd Dam rehabilitation. We're trying to sort out whether it's going to go towards engineering or construction at this point. Treasurer Adams and I will get you a definite answer on that.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you.

Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All right. Ordinance number 9876 is carried. Ordinance number 9877.

Bond ordinance of the City of Rome, Oneida County, New York, authorizing the issuance of not exceed $218,000 bonds to finance costs of replacing equipment, machinery, or apparatus for the city sewer system.

So move. Council Morda. Second. Councilor Riley.

Unanimous consent.

Councilor Sparaglia.

Second.

And Councilor Dersi. Ordinance number 9877 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent, say aye. Aye. Opposed, unanimous consent is carried. Is there any discussion?

Dr. Sprague. Yes, President Nash, members of the council, members of the public. I just want to make the public aware that both Ordinance 9876 and 9877 have been included in the capital improvement project for 2026. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ordinance number 9877 is carried. Ordinance number 9878.

Authorizing Mayor of the City of Rome to approve the sale of city-owned parcel 8366 West Thomas Street to buyer for $8,001. Move it.

Councilor Smith. Second. Councilor Riley. UNANIMOUS CONSENT COUNCIL SPARIA SECOND AND COUNCIL SPRACE ORANGE NUMBER 9878 HAS BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED UNANIMOUS CONSENT HAS BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF UNANIMOUS CONSENT SAY AYE AYE OPPOSED UNANIMOUS CONSENT IS CARRIED IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE AYE OPPOSED ORANGE NUMBER 9878 IS CARRIED ORANGE NUMBER 9879

Authorizing Mayor of the City of Rome to approve the sale of city-owned parcel 8368 West Thomas Street to buyer for $8,001.

So moved. Council Sparaglia? Second. Councilor Riley? Yes, consent. Councilor Darcy?

Second. And Councilor Moore?

Ordinance number 9879 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent say aye. Aye. Opposed? Unanimous consent is carried. Is there any discussion?

Yes, President Nash, members of the council, I just want to make the public aware that Ordinance 9877 and 9878, even though we are selling lots for $8,001, the contractor has proposed putting up new housing at a value of $400,000 on each lot. Thank you.

One correction. It was 9878 and 9878 and 9877.

No, I stand correct.

Seven, nine, seven, nine, seven, nine, seven, nine, right? Seven, eight and seven. Yeah. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Or in summer, nine, eight, seven, nine is carried. Or in summer, nine, eight, eight, zero.

Authorizing mayor of the city of Rome to approve the sale of city owned parcel Brennan Ave to buyer for $1,000. Move it.

Councilor Spruce. Second. Councilor Mortis.

Anonymous consent.

Councilor Sparaglia. Second. Councilor Riley. Orange number 9880 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Unanimous consent is carried. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Orange number 9880 is carried. Orange number 9881.

Authorizing mayor of the city of Rome to approve the sale of city-owned parcel 209 East Whitesboro Street to buyer for $3,250. So move. Councilor Mortis.

Second. Councilor Riley. Councilor Sprace. Second. Councilor Fazio. All those in favor of 9881 is moved and seconded. Anonymous consent is moved and seconded. All those in favor of anonymous consent say aye. Aye. Opposed? Anonymous consent is carried. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Orange number 9881 is carried. Orange number 9882.

Authorizing Mayor of the City of Rome to enter into rehabilitation agreement in approving the sale of city-owned parcel located at 420 North James Street for $10,000. Move it.

COUNSELOR SMITH, COUNSELOR DURSEY. UNANIMOUS CONSENT. COUNSELOR MORTIS. SECOND. AND COUNSEL SPRACE. ARROW NUMBER 9882, THE MOVEMENT SECONDED. UNANIMOUS CONSENT, THE MOVEMENT SECONDED. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF UNANIMOUS CONSENT, SAY AYE.

AYE.

OPPOSED, UNANIMOUS CONSENT IS CARRIED. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED, ARROW NUMBER 9882 IS CARRIED. ARROW NUMBER 9883.

Amending Chapter 70 of the Rome Code of Ordinances regarding the regulation and impoundment of off-the-road vehicles in the City of Rome.

Move it. Council Spruce. Second. Council Fazio.

Unanimous consent.

Council Sparaglia. Second. And Council Riley. Orange number 9883 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent say aye. Aye. Opposed unanimous consent carried. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, ordinance number 9883 is carried. Ordinance number 9884.

Amending Rome Code of Ordinances, Chapter 80, to prohibit the establishment, installation, and construction of battery energy storage systems within the City of Rome.

So moved. Council Mortis. Second. Council Sparaglia. Second. Council Spruce. Second. And Council Smith. Ordinance number 9884 has been moved and seconded. Unanimous consent has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of unanimous consent, say aye. Aye. Opposed, unanimous consent is carried. Any discussion?

Councilor Mortis. President, members of council, I'd like to table Ordinance 9884 to refer it to the Planning Board for review and for the Planning Board to hold a public hearing on it. Do I have a second on that? I'll leave that motion. Second.

Seconded by Councilor Sparaglia.

Moved and seconded.

Any discussion? All those in favor of tabling Ordinance Number 9884, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ordinance Number 9884 is tabled. The Chair will entertain a motion to remove Ordinance Number 9867 from the table.

So moved.

Councilor Smith? Second. And Councilor Durst? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ordinance Number 9867.

Authorizing the creation of a residential plan development district PD-R 7900 through 7902 Turn Road.

The chair will entertain a motion to insert on the last paragraph of the first page, June 2nd, 2026. It goes to date of the planning board public hearing on this item. Who would like to make that motion? Councilor Diercy? Seconded by Councilor Mortis. Any discussion? All those in favor of that amendment say aye. Aye. Opposed? The amendment carries. Now the ordinance number 9867 as amended. Any further discussion? Councilor Dorsey.

President Nash, members of the council, just so you know, this is for the Nascentia Health development project over at the old former beaches. It is a lot of phases. It's a lot of moving parts and it is more efficient and friendly for everybody in order to do this all as one as a planned development. I look forward to seeing what they can do with this property. So far, they've done some great things. Thank you. Any further discussion?

All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, ordinance number 9867 as amended is carried. Just for council and the public, we are unable to remove ordinance number 9869 from the table because we have not heard from the County Planning Commissioner yet. So it must stay on the table until we hear from them. President Nash?

Yeah, if I could just, President Nash, members of the council, if I could just expand on that. I did get in contact with... Matt Andrews from planning. Um, we did not hear from the county yet, and they still have more time in their 30 day window to respond. So we can't act at this time, but he's been told that we should have their report by Friday. So we should be good to act on it at the next meeting.

Okay. Thank you, Gerard. Sure. Want to attend the motion to adjourn? So moved after Smith's on favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Where? Thank you all for coming tonight.