Thank you.

Okay, now is the time for and place for a public hearing.

Would the clerk please read the short title?

Yes, Madam President.

This public hearing is relative to a proposed six-month moratorium on our city zoning or permit approved of battery energy storage system within the city of Syracuse.

Thank you.

So before we start our meeting, uh some ground rules.

Everybody will have three minutes to state their point.

Please speak into the mic.

We have Carrie with us today.

She's gonna be our stenographer.

For her to take um effective notes, we need you to speak into the mic.

Okay.

And then for those who are maybe watching us through um WCNY, please if you need some comments, please make sure that you submit those to the office of the clerk before midnight tonight.

Um I think that's about it for now.

And oh, if you want to speak, there are yellow cards in the back of the room.

Please complete one and they'll bring it to us.

Okay.

So at this point, we want to call Dave uh Jake Desha to the mic.

Zoning administrator.

Uh good evening.

Uh I'm Jake Dishaw, Deputy Commissioner of Code Enforcement.

Uh just for clarification, I do want to reiterate that um the common council did vote this afternoon on a special use permit uh for a battery energy storage uh system facility on East Brighton.

Um two separate things.

Tonight's meeting is a public hearing uh where the common council will take public comments on the idea of a possible moratorium for battery energy storage systems, otherwise known as BESS or BES.

The idea of a moratorium would allow relevant city agencies such as code enforcement, zoning, fire prevention, planning and sustainability, DPW and engineering time to assess the benefits and also the public concerns associated with battery energy storage facilities and their placements within the city in regards to the siting of facilities, adverse environmental impacts, fire risk of lithium-ion batteries, decommissioning of facilities, and much more.

Local renewable energy systems, such as Van Buren's Community Solar Farm, provide Syracuse with clean electricity generation.

However, renewable energy systems are not perfect and rely on uncontrollable factors, such as the sun to shine and wind to blow.

To combat this problem with a sustainable solution, battery energy storage is the best system we have to do this.

These systems can draw energy from the grid when electricity prices are low, store it during periods of low demand, and redistribute it during times of peak usage.

By shifting energy use in this way, battery energy storage systems help reduce stress on the grid while providing a cleaner, healthier solution for meeting peak demands that benefit both the environment and surrounding communities.

Not to mention, when these batteries are no longer functioning, they will be properly disposed of or recycled.

The land can be then restored to how it previously was.

Currently, the systems we have in place to deal with peak demand are fossil fuel peaker plants, which are often located in marginalized communities like the plants in Sabay and Geddes.

Emissions from these plants radiate into the Syracuse community, worsening air quality.

These communities, including Syracuse, are at risk for asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory related illnesses.

When fossil fuels are burned, there are contaminants, there are contaminants and microscopic particles emitted into the air in the surrounding communities.

By implementing battery storage energy systems, the harmful effects of fossil fuel plants like the ones in Salway and Gettys can be reduced.

Thank you for your comments.

Yes.

Thank you for your time.

If you want if you want to leave your your notes on the next, we're gonna have Rhea.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Can you please say your name, state your name and your address?

Always too high for me.

Rhea Jaser.

Uh greetings to you all and and congratulations on a wonderful election, may I say?

Um I'm here because I care deeply about the city of Syracuse.

Most of you know that.

I care about its residents, and I appreciate how much work you guys do to protect the citizens.

As many of you know, I've been involved in reducing the effects of climate change for decades.

Although cities are large contributors to climate change, they're also highly vulnerable to its impacts.

Cities, because of high density, are responsible for approximately 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change has taken a disproportionate toll on cities and its inhabitants, with his enormous asthma, other health issue rates, and much damage to the infrastructure.

Cities face the most extreme impacts with the least resources to adapt to them.

Syracuse, however, is a model city and has been taking climate change seriously for a long time.

In partnership with SUNY ESF and the Federal Department of Energy, the city completed a sustainability plan in 2012 as part of the comprehensive plan, which is for 2040.

And I know that Mayor Owens is committed to work and update the sustainability plan.

The city is now given the opportunity to further its goal by increasing the use of renewable energy with the introduction of battery energy storage, which is essential, essential in the transition to a sustainable energy future.

More rural areas are helping create clean renewable energy systems with wind and solar, but since these sources are erratic, battery energy storage systems need to be built.

And I know that this body has been studying and considering integrating these facilities into the city.

With that in mind, the annual symposium on energy in the 21st century, which chooses the most important topics to cover each year, is dedicating a considerable part of this year's symposium to learn about the depth about battery energy storage systems.

We have experts like David Sandberg from NYSERTA and speakers from the New York State Firefighters Associations who will speak about safety, which is so important.

Many of you have attended in the past, and I'm confident that you will get a tremendous amount out of this.

I have flyers here.

I'd like uh like you to register.

Um I can get funding to help pay for it.

It's on April 17th.

And um uh I'll put the flowers out.

If you'd like to come and I could register for you uh my um phone numbers for the if you would like to leave your comments with us.

Sure, I should thank you very much.

Our next speaker, Peter Plumley.

Please state your name and if you're representing anyone.

Peter Plumley from Syracuse University.

I have no prepared remarks, but I wanted to say I was really impressed with the stored water storage, the Skahery Creek and Gilboa have, uh, eastern part of New York State, where the power is sufficient to actually cover brownouts in New York City.

And so uh I think there's uh plenty of opportunity to build something like that here in Onadaga County, and uh I would encourage looking at that for storage.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Dorian Kessler.

Please state your name in the mic and your address.

Hello, I'm Dorian Kessler.

I live on 330 Benson Street in the Southern Comstock neighborhood.

Are you representing any particular No, just myself?

Okay.

Um I don't have a speech really prepared, so it's gonna be off the cuff, but um I am an environmental scientist by trade.

I work at the Onondaga Lake Restoration effort, and I have been in this field for about 13 years.

Um besides the Onondaga Lake, 90% of projects I have personally been on all are related to the fossil fuel industry and the long-term negative effects that they have had to New York in general.

I've been all over the place, and I just want to clearly state that anything that takes us away from fossil fuels is good.

And um, that's about it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker would be Matt Gatner.

Please state your name, your address if you're representing any group.

Yes, hi.

Uh my name is Matt Geitner.

I work for Park Strategies.

Uh, we have an office in Franklin Square.

Um, I live over on Willow.

Like Peter, good to see you and Rhea.

Uh, I don't have uh prepared remarks either.

Uh I was recently retained by New Leaf Energy, and um the message is clear tonight.

We're here to work with the city, and we're here to work with the neighborhoods.

Thank you.

That's it.

Thank you very much.

Okay, this one I make you.

So concerns uh next speaker, Tilde Jensen or Jess.

Just your name.

I'm sorry that I probably killed it.

And your address, and if you're representing any particular group.

Uh yeah, no, I'm I'm just here for me.

Uh I'm Tilda Jensen.

Um, I'm from Denmark Denmark originally, so that's why the name is a little difficult.

Um so I'm just here because I'm a bit of a renewable energy uh nut or nerd.

Um and I know that um I'm very pro-uh battery energy storage systems.

I have been for a long time.

I live myself off-grid, uh, and it I'm I'm fully um solar and and battery powered.

Um, so it can be done.

Um but I know that people have uh residents have um issues, safety issues with the lithium ion um battery technology, and I believe that when it comes to battery technology uh safety should be a top priority because uh lithium ion is a toxic product.

Um when it burns, you know, that that can be pretty disastrous.

So a few years ago I started looking into alternatives to lithium ion batteries and found there's a company called EAS Energy, which is um down in Pennsylvania.

It's an American company.

Um and they have a sink uh water-based battery.

Their batteries are non-flammable, and they are non-toxic, and they are also not noisy.

Um, because they don't require this complex cooling and fire uh suppression systems that lithium ion do, and they're also 100% recyclable at end of life and have a much longer lifespan than lithium ion batteries.

So this battery technology um basically solves all of the safety issues that lithium ion have that we as residents might be concerned with.

And it's also American-made, 95 or 94 percent, I believe American sourced, soon to be 100%.

Uh and the company just launched a new battery uh stacking system that's called in density, which targets uh roughly four times the energy storage density per acre compared to lithium ion systems.

Uh they're aiming for about one gigawatt hour per acre.

Um so this is sort of geared towards both data center and grid um firming.

So I just hope that this sort of discussion um will not be about banning uh or putting a monitorium on battery storage systems.

I know some other communities have simply banned battery storage because they're concerned about the lithium-ion fire hazards.

Uh so I hope it that instead we can talk about it as choosing um the the safe non-toxic alternative like EOS Energy.

Uh there's others.

EOS is one of the few that have made it through.

Um so yeah, I just hope that we can um support safe alternatives uh and battery energy storage in general.

Thank you.

Submit more in the next speaker will be Kate Mercer.

Oh, I skipped your name and uh your address, and if you are representing any group.

Sure.

Good evening.

My name is Kate Mercer.

I live at 131 Alden Street, uh, and I'm not representing anyone tonight.

I live a couple of blocks over from the proposed site on Brighton Ave.

Um, and I don't have any prepared remarks, but I would like to express my support for the moratorium to give you all in the city time to put the right infrastructure and rules in place to go forward with these kinds of discussions, and also my support for any kind of greener alternative, uh, including the battery storage facilities.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker will be Pam Peter.

State your name, your address if you're representing any group.

These are always too low.

My name is Pam Peter.

I live at 126 Gene Avenue.

Um my house is not very far from the National Grid Power Station that is on East Brighton Avenue, and I don't I won't live far from the proposed site.

And while I agree that there needs to be substantial research and discussion into fire safety and codes related to the battery station, I am very much for having this type of um green energy come to Syracuse.

Um I think we need to increase our infrastructure related to green energy, especially with the coming of micron.

I feel that if the city can increase its infrastructure, there will there will be more people that actually want to live in the city rather than in the suburbs.

And that will not only bring more people, more local businesses, but it will also increase our tax base, which I know is needed, especially for our schools.

And so I just want to express my support for the battery power stations.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So at this point, I have no more yellow cards.

If you if anybody would like to speak regarding this proposal, um, this is the time to come up.

Okay.

Well, hearing none, I declare this public hearing closed, and the legislation will be considered during the regular order of business.

Thank you.