Clay's $100 Fee Formula Just Met an $89 Billion Project

Key Actions & Decisions

• ◆ • Jan. 21, 2026 Town Board, 7-0: called Feb. 2 public hearings on three battery energy storage system (BESS) special-permit applications - Nexamp's Wetzel Road Storage and Long Branch Storage projects and Carson Power's Goguen Drive project
• ◆ • Feb. 2, 2026 Town Board: held the hearings; Nexamp's Olivia Sproviero said the batteries run about 75 decibels and that emergency dispatch, based in Massachusetts 6-8 hours away, could reach Clay in about 4 hours; residents cited the burden on volunteer fire departments and asked for denial or a moratorium; all three cases were referred to the Planning Board
• ◆ • Feb. 25, 2026 Planning Board: recommended tabling BESS applications until a full ordinance exists; Deputy Chair Mitchell said he was "not in favor of current approval" pending answers on siting, screening and fire-department training
• ◆ • April 6, 2026 Town Board, 7-0: adopted Local Law No. 3 (f/k/a No. 4), a six-month moratorium on new BESS zoning and special-permit decisions; same night called an April 20 hearing on a permanent Chapter 209 "Battery Energy Storage System Law"
• ◆ • April 20-June 1, 2026: that law went through repeated revisions - by May 18, what Deputy Supervisor Bick called its "4th revision," required setbacks had been cut from 100 feet to 50, and the emergency-response requirement loosened from 1 hour to 2, even as Nexamp's John O'Hern argued the state fire code only requires 4; by June 1 it was a 5th draft with no further changes, and the hearing - along with the original three BESS applications - was adjourned again, to July 20
• ◆ • June 1, 2026 Town Board: the same meeting that re-adjourned the still-unfinished BESS law, the board also called a June 15 hearing on Local Law No. 6, a proposed moratorium of up to 12 months on data centers, AI computing facilities and cryptocurrency mining - uses the existing zoning code does not otherwise address
• ◆ • June 15, 2026 Town Board: held the hearing; Bick said the proposal predated Onondaga County's announcement of funding for a study of such facilities; the IBEW contacted the town to oppose the moratorium while Councilor Young and residents Michele Bristol and Kris Beckett spoke for it; the excerpted minutes record no vote adopting Local Law No. 6, and the next meeting's minutes reference an intervening June 29 special meeting not included in this record
• ◆ • July 7, 2026 Town Board, 6-0: adopted Local Law No. 7, the "Large-Scale Development Permit and Community Host Agreement Authorization Law," covering projects of $100,000,000 or more; Bick told the hearing Fab 1 alone costs $89 billion against $69 million in old-formula fees, while the town's own presentation that night put Micron's planned four-factory campus at $51 billion
• ◆ • July 7, 2026 Town Board: a Community Host Agreement with Micron New York Semiconductor Manufacturing, LLC - $20 million over three years plus $10 million in Green Chips spending dedicated to the town, a total Paul Doody's question put at $30 million, which Councilor Russell noted exceeds the town's own budget - was moved by Bick and seconded by Councilor Capria; the minutes record no vote on that motion, only that the meeting adjourned at 6:17 P.M.