The Clay Town Board's May 4 hearing on its proposed battery energy storage law — recorded in minutes the town did not post publicly until early August — produced the meeting's most concrete number: the setback distance required around such systems has been cut in half in the latest draft, from 100 feet to 50 feet, Planning & Development Commissioner Brian Bender told the board. The hearing, continued from April 20, drew renewed objections from industry. Applicants behind three pending battery-storage special permits argued the setbacks were still too restrictive and that wetlands should be weighed case by case rather than factored in automatically. Sara Yoon of Aurora Renewables echoed that the draft remains overly restrictive. Jim Hickey, who said he owns land in the town's industrial zone, said the proposed setbacks would prevent him from applying for a project on his property. Resident Janet Rathburn, who said she lives near one pending application and close to a likely second one, said she had not yet read the second revision of the law but that it is the town's responsibility to look out for residents. Councilor Young told her to wait and review the new revision once it's available. The board adjourned the hearing to May 18, 2026, at 7:50 PM on a 6-0 vote. The board also opened a hearing on Local Law No. 5 of 2026, which would add a formal definition of "Smoke Shop" to the town code and require operators to obtain a Special Permit in the RC-1, HC-1 and NC-1 commercial districts. Deputy Supervisor Bick said the Codes Department requested the change because it has been fielding complaints without clear rules to enforce. Councilor Young flagged that the draft definition lists "cannabis cigarettes" among smoke-shop products, which he said could be read as granting smoke shops the right to sell them, and suggested the phrase be removed. Resident Leann Giles said she did not want to see smoke shops in the area. Deborah Magaro-Dolan asked whether existing shops would be grandfathered in (they would), whether the town would cap the number of shops or set distance limits from schools and parks, and who would enforce the law. Janet Rathburn asked whether non-compliant shops would be fined; Bick said the law would better define the rules and could serve as a mechanism to close establishments that don't comply. The hearing was closed with no vote recorded in these minutes. The board also set the stage for two zoning fights to return May 18. It called a public hearing for 7:44 PM on a zone change from NC-1 to HC-1 for a 0.73-acre parcel at 3687 State Route 31, requested to let West Herr expand its parking lot to hold additional vehicle inventory. And it called a hearing for 7:47 PM on a zone change from RA-100 to R-7.5 covering roughly 20.18 acres at 8201 Lawton Road and adjacent land, to allow future development of approximately 61 single-family lots under Town Board Case #1251, The Reserve at Clay. Both resolutions passed 6-0; the underlying rezonings themselves remain scheduled, not decided. In other business, the board adopted, 6-0, both a State Environmental Quality Review finding and a Special Permit approval allowing Steven Calocerinos to convert a single-family home at 4793 Buckley Road into a two-family dwelling on 3.53 acres. It closed, without recorded votes in these minutes, public hearings on a zone change tied to the Sweetheart Corner redevelopment on Wally Road, on a Special Permit for a proposed Community Bank drive-thru branch with a 2,700-square-foot building near Raymour's furniture store on Route 31, and on the town's 2027 Community Development Block Grant application for street repairs on Steelway Blvd. South. The board approved the April 20 meeting minutes 6-0 and adopted a routine resolution, 6-0, setting standard workday reporting for elected and appointed officials in the state retirement system. Councilor Capria thanked the Highway Department and introduced a representative of Senator Ryan's office, who said the senator will hold a Town Hall meeting on June 25 at 6 PM on a state-run 529 college investment program. Councilor Young said he would like the board to consider regulating delivery drones before their use becomes more widespread. The meeting adjourned at 8:37 PM.