Ben Harrell, an engineer with CHA representing Goguen Drive Realty, told the Clay Planning Board on Feb. 12 that a proposed 1,000-gallon fuel tank for the company's Goguen Drive contractor's yard would not require a state bulk-storage permit. The tank falls below the DEC's 1,100-gallon threshold for above-ground storage, Harrell said, because the site's other tanks — four 500-gallon and two 300-gallon units — would sit empty between jobs under a "Red Tag Policy" that tells the fuel supplier never to fill them. Chairman Russ Mitchell said he did not agree, and the case ended the night adjourned to March 19 with the permit question still open. The disagreement ran through nearly the whole hearing. Mitchell wanted the 1,000-gallon tank fixed permanently to a concrete or asphalt pad ringed with bollards, not moved around the site as job needs changed, which is how Harrell said the company intended to operate it. Deputy Chair Michelle Borton asked that the site's ponds and wetlands be added to the drawing and that stormwater rules be followed. Member Karen Guinup pressed Harrell on why a second company, Industry Standard USA, was tied to the application when Goguen owns the parcel; Harrell said he owns both LLCs but they remain separate entities. Guinup also questioned what guarantees the smaller tanks would actually be empty when they returned to the site, calling that unverified, and member Jim Palumbo said he shared her concerns. Member Hal Henty asked about protecting a stream on the property; Harrell said it would be kept clean. During the public hearing, resident Janet Rathburn asked who determines that a tank is empty before it comes back on site, and whether transporting a tank with any residual fuel would itself require a permit. Mitchell said he had received correspondence from other residents citing the fire code who were not in favor of the project. Project engineer Caitlin Choberka of C&S Companies said the tank specified would typically be a UL2085 model that also has to meet the state fire code. Town attorney Kathleen Bennett asked whether the DEC treats the arrangement as temporary, since state rules distinguish tanks in place fewer than 180 cumulative days a year; Commissioner of Code Enforcement Joe Grispino said the DEC letter the board is requesting needs to spell out that none of the tanks on site require a permit, and that the 180-day question still needs clarifying. The board adjourned the case to March 19, with Harrell to seek written confirmation from DEC's John Kane in the meantime. A second land-use dispute centered on wetlands. Tim Coyer of Ianuzi & Romans, representing John E. Fisher Construction Co., asked the board to bring a 9.8-acre industrial yard at 4593 Wetzel Road back into conformance, moving older equipment behind a locked gate and replacing an open storage area with grass and landscaping. Borton said historical records suggested the storage area had crept toward the property's filled wetlands over time, and Bennett said the DEC could use its own historical aerial photographs of vegetation to determine where the wetland boundary should actually sit. Guinup asked that every stockpile on the property — stone, asphalt, millings, topsoil, sand and bulk material — be individually labeled on the site plan, and said she wants any eventual permit to bar millings from the site entirely so the town's code enforcement officer can hold the applicant to it. The board adjourned both the special permit and site plan cases to Feb. 26. Elsewhere, the board closed out a case nine adjournments in the making: it adopted a resolution granting site plan approval to Whitestone Apartments on State Route 31, based on drawings by CHA and Passero and conditioned on the town's legal and engineering sign-off. It also adopted a negative declaration under the state environmental quality review act and a site plan resolution for an amended Syracuse Pistol Club plan on Henry Clay Boulevard, where Coyer said the only changes were removing a gravel driveway and adding contour and wall details. Amerco Real Estate's amended site plan for 8015 Oswego Road was adjourned again, to March 19, and the Charge/Smart EV/Townplace Suites amended site plan on Carling Road was adjourned to the same date pending written ADA parking documentation. On signs, the board approved a 37.75-square-foot wall sign for Stryker on Morgan Place and a 25.4-square-foot freestanding sign for a Bank of America on Route 31, both under the square footage code allows. It held over a three-sign package proposed for a Community Bank on Oswego Road, noting town code allows only two signs on that property; the codes department will contact the applicant about changes. The board approved the Jan. 29 meeting minutes at the start of the session and adjourned at 8:38 p.m., with its next meeting set for Feb. 26.