Ticonderoga board pauses on battery storage project, forms neutral research team after heated public comments

Residents filled the Ticonderoga meeting room to press the town board on a proposed battery energy storage system, raising safety, transparency and tax concerns and prompting the board to pause consideration.

Supervisor James O'Brien said the board moved unanimously to implement a six‑month moratorium on BESS projects, extendable to 18 months, to allow a newly formed research task team to study operational risks, siting, potential impacts on hospitals and nursing homes, tax implications and legal vulnerabilities. "This pause will allow us time to study BESS, develop information and present to the community before taking a vote," O'Brien said. He described community presentations already held and said the board intends to present findings publicly and possibly put the matter to a community vote.

The moratorium followed more than two hours of public comment. Lisa Level, a resident who spoke early in the public comment period, told the board, "The BESS project — nobody wants one in their town or their county," and urged strict adherence to open‑meetings and permit processes. Other residents challenged the role of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the potential use of PILOT or tax‑exemption deals that would shift revenue away from schools and local services.

Board members acknowledged the complexity. Town attorney Matt told residents legal questions remain and will require counsel review. O'Brien said the research team will be neutral, composed of local fire/hazmat personnel, electrical and industrial experts, high‑school science teachers, medical staff and planning board members. He named categories of volunteers that will serve on the task team and emphasized the group "will serve as a neutral body responsible for conducting the research and will not be asked to take a position for or against BESS."

Speakers repeatedly pressed for clarity on emergency planning; one commenter cited evacuation timelines at local institutions and asked whether the nursing home evacuation plan would suffice in a chemical or thermal event. Fire and hazmat professionals were included on the announced task team roster; O'Brien said the town had invited safety staff from project developers to earlier meetings in December and March and that technical questions had been posed to those teams about emergency response.

The board directed staff to make the task team's findings public and set a schedule of monthly updates while research proceeds. No final approvals or permits were granted; the moratorium prevents permitting activity tied to new BESS siting decisions during the review period.