 The chair knows the time sorry here knows the time is six o'clock. I called the meeting of the Amherst zoning Board of Appeals to order My name is Steve judge as ZBA chair. I want to welcome everyone to this meeting We'll begin with a roll call of ZBA members Steve judges present miss Tammy Parks here Mr. Dylan maxfield here mr. Craig Meadows here Miss Sarah Marshall here The quorum is present also attending is tonight's public hearing is mr. Rob Wachella the planner for the town and we anticipate mr. Rob Mora will also be joining us Pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 Extended by chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 this meeting will be conducted via remote means Members of the public who wish to observe the meeting may do so via zoom or by telephone No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted But every effort will be made to ensure as the public can adequately access Proceedings in real time via technological means The zoning board of appeals of the quasi judicial body that operates under the authority of chapter 40a Of the general laws of the commonwealth For the purpose of promoting the health safety convenience and general welfare of the inhabitants of the town of Amherst In accordance with the provisions of massachusetts general laws chapter 40a In article 10 special permit granting authority of the amherst amherst zoning bylaw This public meeting has been duly advertised and noticed thereof has been posted and mailed to parties at interest All hearings and meetings are open to the public and are recorded by town staff And they may be viewed via the town of amherst youtube channel and the cba web page The procedure is as follows The petitioner presents the application to the board during the hearing after which the board will ask questions for clarification Or for additional information After the board has completed its questions the board will seek public input The public speaks with the permission of the chair If a member of the public wishes to speak they should so indicate by using the raise hand function on their screen Or by dialing nine on their phone The chair with the assistance of the staff will call upon people wishing to speak When you are recognized provide your name and address to the board for the record All questions and comments must be addressed by the board To the board excuse me The board will normally hold public hearings where information about the project And input from the public is gathered followed by public meetings for each The public meeting portion is when the board deliberates and is generally not an opportunity for public comment If the board feels it has enough information in time it will decide upon the applications tonight Each petition heard by the board is distinct and evaluated on its own merits and the board is not ruled by precedent Statutorily for a special permit the board has has 90 days from the close of the hearing to file the decision For a variance the board has 100 days from the date of filing to file its decision No decision is final until the written decision is signed by the sitting board members and is filed with the town clerk's office Once the decision is filed with the town clerk There is a 20 day appeal period for an aggrieved party To contest the decision with a relevant judicial body in the superior court After the appeal period the permit must be recorded at the registry of deeds to take effect tonight's agenda Consideration of minutes and approval of minutes from the meeting of april 27th A public hearing on zba fy 2023 dash 13 bwc eastman brook llc Request for a special permit under section 3.3 40 point zero of the zoning bylaw to construct an 18 point 87 mega mwac 75 point 48 megawatt battery energy storage facility with associated site improvements including stormwater management system access road 16-foot high sound wall barrier vegetative buffer at 515 Sunderland road map 2a parcel 34 ro residential outline rld Slash fc residential low density farmland conservation zoning districts This is continued from april 27th 2023 public meeting to follow in discussion by the members of the board General public comment period on matters not before the board tonight Other business not anticipated within 48 hours in adjournment The first order of business is a consideration of minutes from our last meeting I've reviewed the minutes I have found them to be accurate And I wonder if anybody has any Any changes or modifications? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes from the april 27th 2023 zba meeting Is there a second? second Any discussion on the motion? If not vote occurs on the motion The chair votes aye miss parks aye Mr. maxfield aye Mr. Meadows aye Ms. Marshall aye The minute the vote is unanimous five zero the minutes are approved Rob those are really good minutes. I really appreciate that the work it takes to do that and it's pretty impressive work so and it really helps it does help to To remember exactly what we did the last meeting and to refresh our memory of Before we take up this continued application like this. So thank you very much No problem. And if they I wanted to ask one question of the board if that's okay, mr. Chairman. Yep So do the minutes seem like they're at a good They're not like too overbearing for people to review because I know it's gotten to nine pages And I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't too much for the board to to look over before meeting I can condense them for future meetings if that's preferable or if the board's okay with the minutes as they are I mean the last hearing The last meeting that this covered had a lot of information that was discussed. So I had to capture a lot of it, but I don't know if you guys are okay with me doing it this way. I'll keep doing it that way, but Just keep in mind if permits moving forward aren't as detail oriented as this one is they might be shorter I think this is fine. This is fine. I mean I I found them to be very detailed Perhaps you could do less but I would err on the side of The detail and then if we find that it's too much or you're too overworked you can come back and we can revisit it awesome great very good The first order of business in the public hearing on is on zba fy 2023 dash 13 bwc eastman brook llc Request for the special permit under section 3.3 for 0.0 of the zoning bylaw to construct an 18.87 Wac 75.48 megawatt batter battery energy storage facility with the associated site improvements including stormwater management system access road 16 foot Foot high sound barrier wall and vegetated buffer at 515 thunderland road map to a parcel 34 ro residential outline rldfc residential Low density farmland conservation zoning districts. This has continued from april 27th 2023 Are there any Additional disclosures since our last meeting if not We did do an additional a second site visit on may 15th was it may 10th We did a second site visit At that time we the purpose of that was really to The principal purpose was to see the Out the footprint of the building and the Sound wall laid out on the property. So we observed that we met we met with the the engineer We observed that we walked around the site We walked the the We walked along the Limits of the the boundary of the of the building and the the sound wall the sound barrier The following questions were asked Would some of this the trees on the site remain? Is the grass outside of the project will the grass outside of the project area be left undisturbed? What's the distance from the vehicle gate to the end of the access road? Will it be 150 feet? With the second gate on the southeast portion of the site only for access by foot Why does the southern portion of the site have a zigzag shape to it? It seems to limit the amount of battery racks that could be located on the site And lastly would the applicant consider working with local artists to construct a art mural or some other kind of art on the sound barrier wall um, I think those pretty much adequately Um reflect the questions we asked and what what we did Um, if anybody want to add anything to that? All right, just that it was very useful. Excuse me, mr. Jared. You were very useful. Yeah So we appreciate the effort to stake that out again And it really did help to get a sense of how the project sits on that property Miss parks. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure. Did you say that we were hoping that they would save trees that were able to be saved? I did not mention that but we did discuss that which trees would be saved. Yes What we did and we asked them which we expressed a desire to save as many as possible Good catch I also want to note that um rob more the building commissioner has joined us as well um So the next order is to review the submissions The submissions since our last meeting um are most of which are outlined in the draft project application report include first of all We're sure to that They're in red. So we have new site plan or updated site plans Which are dated 5 12 2023, which includes Sheet one through five Existing conditions proposed site plan sediment and erosion controls site details additional site details this extension sound barrier details which was submitted on 5 17 and um Those are the ones listed on the project application report In addition, we have a letter dated may 17 from mike zimmer of blue wave Responding to 16 questions and requests from the board We have an updated emergency response plan dated may 17th We have details of a sound barrier We have a construction schedule We have a rendering of a site the structure and the sound barrier And we have the document from the staff entitled research for the 5 25 2023 zba meeting Um, I think that's everything is it rob? And did we have I noted no public comment? It was made on this or submitted to the to the to zba or to the council on this No, not for this project all right So, um, next story of business is to hear from the applicant So I guess what the most the most valuable thing to be would be to go through those responsive questions that we Left at the from the last meeting which we sent to you in the last meeting in your response to those um And I guess job josh, are you going to represent the will you identify yourself and your um address for the record? Yes, this is josh larry c from blue wave. Uh, who's address is 15 huntington ave boston, uh, massachusetts r211 Great So is that Is that how you wish to proceed? Mr larry c is to go through that letter of the 17th You give us more detail or do you risk to go somewhere? Do you have other plan for your presentation? No, mr. Trader that works for if I was just playing to pull up our little letter on the screen Go through each of those responsible by one and Just open up to the board for questions or clarifications on any of those those responses That sounds great Um, well, thank you, mr. Chair for members um and rob, thank you as well and uh Right, it's just about by rob the building department and rob player Um Thank you all for your time. Uh, so I'll share my screen now. Um, as rob mentioned, uh, we submitted a number of materials including responses to board questions and requests from our last meeting in public hearing Um, so I'll go through those my one. I also have the the plan up as well The plan that I can reference for any of these specific notes or requests um I can go through them all and then we can go through go back to any of the responses or questions to clarify or if there's additional follow-ups The board wants to discuss um, got it So the first one was uh, the board requested an updated project Project construction schedule our initial submittal was now dated schedule We did submit an update for the goal Uh, with that should have been in the board's packet. Um, that shows the estimated starting construction through completion um at this time, uh, so I'll have you answer any questions on updated schedule um There was a second Show our plan all proposed above ground and underground connections The site plan has been updated to show that um within the site footprint um, so you can see Everything I'll zoom in more everything here labeled uge underground electric As well as the above ground connections here coming off of uh, 116 or excuse me off the sunbill and road Uh, oh, he is overhead electrical on these poles For seeing the underground portion the site then overground again Uh before underground back to the inverter pads Uh, and I will um size if those are conceptual, of course any uh, you know prior to construction we'd be submitting a uh, uh, fully Issued for construction plan set. We'd be signed off by an electrical engineer. Uh, and I would be submitted to go and review and sign off Um There was a request for updated site renderings specifically to ensure that all the utility pole locations were correct As well as to include signage On the site showing where uh, blue, you know, the name of the project and third identification of blueway As well as any warning signage Uh, so we did submit updated site renderings with those corrections um, and the signage we put on the sound barrier itself We're happy to you know For any suggestions or preference the board has in terms of location of signage on site If there's preference to have it out closer to the road or for all the wall here There was a the next request the board asked for a copy of the degradation plan that the manufacturer would be okay with being made public Uh, we were unable unfortunately to to take permission at this time to share the exact degradation schedule um, I'm happy to give a little bit of color here just generically as to the expected degradation um, so the the Uh degradation does generally proceed in a somewhat linear fashion over the 20 years 20 years expected 20 year life of the batteries The first one to two years Is a larger amount of degradation in the batteries. Uh, then subsequent years Um, uh for just based on the underlying chemistry of the battery cells themselves and the usage It just works out that they tend to degrade faster in those first two years Uh, but after that those years you would we would expect it to degrade fairly insistently and linearly over those years um And that would result in an augmentation schedule where we're typically going to look to install additional battery units to Again, what we'll call just top up the battery capacity um Probably once every eight, you know eight years or so is when we would we would love to install additional units So I'll point out again. I'll flip over um, so that would refer to these additional units and In hash lining here, uh, that would be you know portion of them installed Around seven eight years into the operation system and then another seven eight years there would be a couple more And again, that's just to keep the capacity of the overall system at our initial Megawatt hour level in order to meet our isoming on past the obligations So I'm happy to you know put that right into the board as a condition Kind of when we expect the augmentation to occur And of course, you know, we're we're happy to submit Whatever we can prior to building permit being issued Uh, they would be final at that point And after I get the rest of the responses that there's more specific concern that any board members have On this specific item. I'm happy to that's that. Um, there's something we can address with a condition for prior to the issuance of any further format um The next comment, uh, was just to arrange the fallout site visit As the chair recapped that occurred with our project engineer through Vardakis And I believe to the satisfaction of the board We did, uh, there was a request to update the emergency response plan with as much information as we can at this time Uh, including reaching out to the Sonoma fire department including their information as well So we did submit an updated and new iteration of the emergency response plan We did add in a variety of additional information That we can confirm at this time Uh, as I outlined in or we outlined in our response This plan will remain in draft form and there is information in there that really won't Doesn't have an opportunity to be finalized until equit final equipment selection is actually uh concrete We have an issue for construction plan set and we're able to have our trains with the fire department And establish some more specific excuse me specific information regarding You know, muster safety points, uh, any final coordination with the fire department regarding equipment or certain procedures so What we would suggest is just Again, and that that plan will remain quote-unquote draft until the product is fully built ESRG was our safety consultant helping us on this plan They would go out to the site and pick up the final site visit once the system's built They would make sure that everything is where it's supposed to be for the plan And they would conduct that site visit with the fire department and at that point a final emergency response That would be issued for operation of the site uh, so we would just request a condition from the board that I Did that plan? basically an updated plan be submitted prior to issuance of the building permit and then Basically, we can also potentially consider a condition where prior to issuance of maybe cc from the from the the town to actually once the system's built before We get a certificate of completion on construction We ESRG have that site visit and we issue that final plan before that that coc is issued I just get a clarification from you mr. Larson. What does coc means? What? Oh, sorry, excuse me. So from the building department's perspective is coc would just be a certificate of completion typically Yeah, completion As opposed to compliance, which we'll have to also separately get from the conservation Um, so that would be mean that before you turn this in effect before you turn the switch on That's a fire police and the building departments all have signed us on the emergency response plan The final emergency response plan, correct? Correct Okay Additionally, he did reach out to the sun alone fire department. I spoke with the sun alone fire chief over email Inform them of the project its location Centiverse information including the site plan and the emergency response plan at this time They didn't have any comments for Input at this time They did emphasize that they would like to be included in any pre-construction meetings and trainings that we would coordinate with the embers fire department So I we we responded that we would be happy to include them in any and all meetings and trains And we'll continue to do so We need up to and through construction The next request from the board Was just regarding pollinators Our inclusion of them whether they can be included in the plantings list So we did update the notes on the plan to ensure that Any seed mix that's utilized for site stabilization or after site work is completed Will include pollinator friendly landscaping species Generally, we also do have that Landscaping planting list for the visual screen Generally speaking, there's a number of species on there. There are already pollinator friendly. There's a number of flowering shrubs and trees So Effectively that list is already pollinator friendly in regard to the visual screen And we'll again we included that note to ensure that any seeding mix or brown couple mix Would also be a pollinator friendly mix with some kind of you know flowering species burnials native flowering The next comment or question board regarded Was in regard to the installation of bollards on the site plans or some other acceptable way to reinforce the sound barrier Uh, basically the the concern here is a potential collision with the sound wall from Specifically a vehicle And what kind of assurances or providing evidence that that won't jeopardize the integrity of the sound wall or the equipment within the site Our response to your judge based on the current design of the site We we don't believe the installation of bollards is necessary We are uh undergoing mass DOT review on this site. We've submitted our site plans to mass DOT For an access permit which is required uh due to the change in the use of the site Mass DOT has provided comments on our site plan So far they haven't indicated that they see a need from a safety or engineering perspective for any additional barriers along the highway I Generally we do we do have some experience Folks that blew it internally working on projects specifically solar that are along The mass pike and along some other mass DOT words that are pretty close to the highway where tons of high speed vehicle traffic occurs Generally, they don't require any additional barriers until you get within I believe it's 10 to Maybe 15 to 20 feet of the edge of the highway And our sound barriers approximately 100 feet away from the center on the road Additionally, there is also the mass DOT drain ditch that's along the side of the road So the only way a vehicle Can actually or would be able to enter the site at any speed without paying that Utilize one of the two points of access through the the semi-circuit or existing driveway So we do feel comfortable with that There's not a threat to the sound wall from a from a vehicular impact given the setback and that ditch and mass DOT's review If the board still has a concern that that's not adequate or they'd like to see more We're we're happy to also entertain including followers in the site plan. It's not It's something we can do. So if that's still a concern for the boards, we can we can have those the site plan as a position The next request was just a Considering the addition of lights and cameras to the site for static security We did include call-outs for lights and security cameras at the proposed access gates on the northwest and southeast So we would install those so there would be some additional presence there from a security perspective The next request was in regard to the ONM plan And specifically there were references to biannual maintenance that was occurring And whether or not that was meant to be biannual. So every two years it was a semi-annual twice a year So we did correct those that it wasn't intended to be twice a year So we didn't correct that ONM plan to refer to the that specific those specific maintenance items as semi-annual There was also a request to update the ONM plan ensure any kind of information references are up to date and accurate We did review it. Everything is up to date accurate at this time Once the project is closer to construction, we'll have finalized operations and maintenance contracts with regional technicians and maintenance groups Once we have those in hand, we will update Inferno to the board and the building department any finalized Operations and maintenance plan and contacts So we're we're also happy for condition here that prior to the building permits issued that that final main operations maintenance plan be submitted and that contact information is verified That those will be the technicians to respond to site in the need of maintenance There was a request from the board to consider making a sound sound barrier wall a darker green color to help it blend into the surrounding landscape We were blue is happy to accommodate this request. We would just suggest a condition In in note of potential approval that the sound wall be that dark green color or some other color approved by the zba prior to entrance and building permit we ask for that flexibility just in the event that Whatever final sound barrier Construction and contractor we utilize the source of the material just in the event. There's not a specific Shade it's exactly say a dark green or we can find some other agreeable color the board finds acceptable That's blends in well enough into the surrounding environment the next request was The addition of signage to show specifically the company name glue wave the type of facility and other information from the management on m or emergency response plan And then include those in the site renderings. We did add additional signage details to the site plans. So those are on the detail sheet So we did add an additional high voltage signature sign We did update the signage detail for the for the project sign itself specified it is blue wave. It's our the amherst battery storage system And then the 24-hour emergency contact number So And those were included on the site rendering as well again, we would As with some other site details such as leaves they can change construction. So we would again request a condition that the board review and sign off on the final signage Prioritations to the building permit and again, if there's a preference from the board In terms of putting the signs out by the road or on the sound barrier closer to the system We're happy to accommodate the board's presence There was a comment on I think the site visit is As to whether any trees that are currently outside will remain after construction I'll reference the site plan And I'll zoom in here So it can be a little tricky to see so this this symbol right here. This references an existing tree So there is an existing tree here It's hard to see here, but there's one right where my cursor is if you can see it Underneath where the post gravel axis road is And then there's the a larger existing tree further to the south All guys for the slow scroll Right here just just east of the southeast of the access road entrance. So currently those these two trees to the north Would be have to be renewed as part of construction. They are smaller trees Currently compared to one of the southeast As of right now, we would not propose to disturb or remove the tree of the southeast as it's outside of the limited work um, and of course if somehow the design changes to where There somehow we The footprint and the system shrink or some other some other need arose it meant that we no longer had to take up as much space we would do our best to try to reconfigure the site to Not disturb these two trees by this time we would be proposing to remove those two trees and leave the one to the south intact The next item relates to a question as to why the southern portion of the site had this sort of zigzag shape to it Uh, and what's the reasoning behind that and I'll Illustrate here on the site for him So that refers to it's going to southwest portion here East number comes in and then Puts in here comes down cuts again In general the battery system themselves also kind of the the equipment pads zigzag down toward the southeast portion of the site The reasoning behind the specific layout a number of factors so As you can see or maybe not too easily see on the site plan There's also a lot of underlying buffers and setbacks. We're trying to respect with our site plan So we have the wetland buffers the riverfront buffer the east We also have generally the uh, I we try to respect a 100 foot setback from all property lines In accordance with or I should say in an FBA before FBA guidelines on remote systems um, so generally speaking we and then also, uh, there's a mapped flood floodplain Boundary to the south as well. So all those factors restrict our site multiple ways create this kind of unique shape um, and then on top of that generally we just want to keep it as Tight as possible to the containers reduce our footprint as much as possible while so The minimum clearances we need from the fence line or the sound barrier to the battery equipment itself So they're set back the senses we have to achieve there. Uh, and really it just ends up resulting in Uh, this sort of zigzag shape. So for example You know, we could And then a further further comment is to well, why don't you just make it a regular rectangle add more batteries? There's also from the uh, grid perspective. There is a limit to how much capacity we can have So I think I mentioned the last year I felt all greater here again as well Uh, we are we have studied this project with 18.7 megawatts. Uh, replied for 18.7 megawatts with ever source The project cannot go above that so even if we Even if this wetland buffers weren't here or we were able to expand the site footprint beyond where it is today It would be to know no use to us because we wouldn't be able to put any more battery units in So, uh, so that's really this exact shape just results out of these various site site setbacks and factors And then basically just trying to keep the footprint as minimal as possible to fit that capacity we need for the 18.7 megawatts And then the final question or the comment that was proposed that we have again at the site visit Just would we consider working with any local artists or any kind of art mural or installation on the sound mirror wall? We're happy to we're certainly happy to work or talk with local artists about A potential sound art installation on the wall From our perspective, we would just want to first make sure there's no conflict that could arise with any sort of electrical fire safety code Just visibility of the wall If that can cause a concern if the art mural or installation would somehow obscure that But um, certainly from our perspective we That sounds like a great idea and we would we would really appreciate the opportunity to add something like that to the local landscape of amherst so uh, so I don't think it's it's not so we can commit to Or we can we can start to commit to exploring the the possibility at first from a code perspective and then also In connection with local artists, but um I just wanted to say good is happy to look into that as a as a possibility Um, and that was uh, there are responses. So I'll stop there The board members have any specific questions or clarifications. They'd like to have answered on any of the specific I have a couple of questions and then I'll open it up to the rest of the board members. Um So I I found a model of the the signage Um, where do you propose those those signs to be affixed? Are you looking at a monument sign that's out in front or you're fixing them to the the sound barrier? Um I in the site renderings were proposing to fix them to the sound barrier We could certainly put them as a monument out by the road. I think it was just that's where we would differ the preference of the board Uh, I don't think we would have a preference either way and we could we could accommodate either either design Let me just say that if you you put it on the sound barrier You run the risk of the the trees blocking it so you can't see it. Um And it does it lends Sort of less it lends more credibility to the site that is it's not something Odd if there is a monument sign out in front so people won't go by and say but in the hell What is this? Let's go investigator. What is this? No, it's it's out there. It's obvious. It's open So I would we should consider what the rest of the board wishes But I would encourage you to to have a sign out in front or maybe that's a condition we can discuss But as opposed to just putting it on the sound barrier Um When I was running Yep, you can do both too. Yep When I was running through the emergency response plan I think I saw a couple of references to a chain link fence And I didn't see that on the there's not a chain link fence on the site plan. Is there? Yes, apologies. So there there was initially before we incorporated sound wall So there's reference in the emergency response in a chain link fence That would just be a reference that's outdated and I apologize for that. So we can we can add that reference that you know A modification Got it um another question I had was In thinking about the security of the sound wall, I think the I think the concern is That if the sound wall was breached And a vehicle or the sound barrier crashed on one of the battery storage units What would be the danger to the community? I mean it's the one downside is that you would you lose the production of that battery storage system That's you know, that that would be too bad for you guys, but it's not a public It's not a public Danger But I guess is there any danger of fumes emissions anything that we would worry about If there was a breach by somebody running a truck through the sound barrier and into the battery storage Modules what would happen? Sure. So if there was say a collision with the battery cabinet and there was Cells or units within the battery cabinet or our closure. They were damaged um So the ul 9 by 40 tests macro 48 testing that occurs for all large scale lifting mount systems They do similar tests at the cell level to see what happens. So they'll do for example a nail puncture test to see Does the cell have any exhibit any kind of elevated thermal conditions if there's some physical damage or for rupture of the cell Typically if there there is some kind of physical damage that could cause some elevated thermal conditions to the underlying cells within an enclosure In from that perspective, we then Differ again to the ul results of okay If there's a a cell or a number of cells that are compromised in the system and had some kind of elevated conditions What risk does that pose in terms of spreading or propagating throughout the system? And that's where we fall back on to the design of the system from a ul perspective ul and in fda 55 compliance perspective to ensure that any conditions that are Arised with any water for multiple containers Those don't themselves cause a propagation or spread of of fire or thermal conditions to other containers um so There there could it could cause a localized event maybe within a closure that's affected But we would not expect it to spread or cause a wider scale event throughout the system um that being the case again, we're as I mentioned we're In this case a concern with the sound bearer We're happy with you know a very flexible condition for for a decision in terms of how that's protected again. So We're happy to include ballards along the the front portion of the wall Fda has specifications on spacing and the design of ballards and we could follow that And or you know as was mentioned in the the board's request in the comments We could do something that's either ballards incorporated in the site or as was mentioned Some structural analysis that shows that that wall would stand up to a collision of a other vehicle so We are we are certainly more than willing to enhance that and add an extra layer of security to To that that concern, but we wouldn't expect A collision to cause some wide-scale event throughout the system So because of the The thermal runway, I guess is what you were talking about from last meeting we would have You'd have some kind of thermal event amongst the Within the cell or cells that are struck You you say it's unlikely that that would spread to other battery cells that for lack of a better term and and you didn't you didn't say but there's there I I guess I would ask is there any release of any toxic chemical or gas that would come from that that would endanger the public And I think when we talked about this last meeting there was not but I just wanted to reaffirm that Sure, so If there were a fire cause then you know just as with any modern structural or fire That fire could have you know that smoke that comes out of that fire could have you know or does have pollutants Uh, you know something you don't want to prevent necessarily It's going to be again because it's not going to propagate that fire You know what would in theory be limited to just just that enclosure that's affected So when it's spread throughout the system, uh And um and likely would be if there is a fire and there is smoke created Um that smoke would only be created for a shorter period of time You know typically, uh, what's observed during most of these fires, uh, they're What when they occur is that the majority of smoke production Our gas production occurs within the first say 20 to 30 minutes of of an event or fire And it drops off quickly after that. So Um, so we wouldn't expect, you know that to cause yet A wider concern for public safety in the area or excuse the area From a from a gas emission or for smoke emissions standpoint. Um, and again, you know, we're happy to You know again prevent provide more That's that so One last question and I'll open up to the rest of the board. Um, I didn't notice any cut sheets for the lights that you were going to propose and I'd like You should probably do that before you should do that before You get your final site plan in but I want them they should be they have to be a dark sky compliant lighting, um As for our rules and and I don't I don't think there's a condition that states that and if there isn't we might have that I think we would include that in our conditions But they have to comply with um, you know downcast. You're not really going to have Trespass on nearby property. I would think because they're but downcast to you know to keep from uh light pollution And for nature and birds and everything else Yeah, um, those are my quit So you're you're fine with that Absolutely. Yeah, we'd be in hybrid ignition I would call Amherst dark sky in other Amherst regulations online All right Questions from other board members miss marshall I have uh Two topics so since we were just talking about the signs the warning sign. Well, maybe three um If so one of the signs is high danger high voltage if it really is a hazardous uh to the to trespassers I would suggest putting those signs on all sides of the Of the structure um Just because you know, who knows there are people farming in the in the field to the east and I don't know if I mean if it really is a hazard. I think more than one sign would be Would be wise. Um Ballards I also uh, I wonder on the east side, which is next to the farm the the field um If that is right at my recollection, I may be wrong is that's very close to the property line or the the the limit of what you are leasing Um, I just wonder if you might consider putting bought especially since there are no plant things along that east wall have something to protect that wall from The farm equipment that may be turning or or doing whatever whatever is done. Um, but that's really more protecting your asset. I think then Then against any um danger to the public um but then Thirdly, I'm confused Or rather, I think there's inconsistency between the site plan what we're looking at right now And a rendering and so maybe I misunderstand, but I'm looking at the access Road that then curves and goes through the wall So those ovals to the west of that access road. Those are plantings the ovals and the circles. Yes Correct. Okay. All right. So this shows that Those plantings hug the wall until that access road and then they're on the other side between the access road and the Highway, right? Okay. That's not what we see in the renderings Right So here they're depicted Basically the access road separates the wall the plantings on the render in there The plantings are directly against the wall. So which yes, so which which do you intend to build? That's sorry, and I apologize for that inconsistency. Um, I would say we we can build uh Either one and again it would be a preference of the board. I think we look to bump it out on this side mainly It's have that access clearance To the wall so we can have Um, also just put the the planting a little farther out to the road in that area Provides a little maybe better screening at least along that side. So We could go either way and put the plantings as they are on the more toward the south directly adjacent to the wall We will have to It would get tighter here So the plantings might just be more limited if they're directly adjacent to the wall So we don't cut into too much into the strange ditch and then the access road itself Or we can we can keep them on the other side Which would probably which would enable us to do a little bit more. So Happy to defer to the board's preference in terms of from a design perspective. I would say we're Embovel into either option, but if it's the board views one way better than the other from the visual perspective, we don't I would say aesthetically. I like what's on the site plan. Um, but there is a difference I mean, I guess I'm not sure anyone can see me at the moment But on the rendering there's a lot more gravel for just just hardscape force and so you would be giving some of that up. This is Doesn't you know, there's just less Less gravel or dirt for vehicles to be driving on compared to what's in the rendering. So if That's acceptable to you the site plan. That's it is what I would prefer but Unfortunately one with the renderings just the process that our consultants who use the renderings When they have to adjust to when they import the topography from Google earth and the way they kind of adjust the to represent different ground coefficients I will say the rendering shows. I think it's Uh, aggressive and how much of that like you're pointing out gravel and that in this area is shown So I would say what what what the site plan? I would refer to site plan in terms of the actual Instead of say gravel features on them on the road. So Even if these plant teams weren't here in this area, this wouldn't be gravel We would leave it as grass or undisturbed if possible Okay, but if you would prefer, you know, we'd be happy for Be a condition as like a plan modification or not. I would shouldn't say plan modification. Maybe just a condition just You know that the the the vegetative screen as proposed matches the site plan Or matches the site plan dated and submitted And is installed that in that area across the access road Okay And then yeah, all right. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead and say to answer your other two questions Certainly agree with yeah, good. I think it's a good idea. We can include signage along all four sides of the system So if anyone's approaching from any direction, they could they would see that signage And probably along the eastern boundary might put it to two places And then baller it's a good point as well on the potential farm equipment that might be operating in the eastern portion of the site So if You know, we'll we'll revisit down to the line enter if there is expected to be any heavy machinery or farm equipment operating that eastern portion then We would you know, we're for again, also we can install ballers or some other protection I don't mind that along the eastern boundary And if that's that can also be a condition Acceptable to us with the board that you know, if there is going to be Farming farming machinery any heavy machinery operated on site While the system is in operation that there is protection provided Right. I mean you can always One can just drop big rocks You don't have to set ballers and concrete and Be something One baller. Sure. Yeah Okay, mr. Chair. I have one more little one, but I could wait go ahead. Okay. All right about the You mentioned the emergency response plan and that you'll be you know, you can't finish it until your construction During well, maybe until you've actually installed everything And you'll submit it to the two fire departments I'm not sure what the what what is normal, but do you do Ask for a sign-off from those two fire departments that they you know That contains all the information they think is necessary for them Very yeah, um, um, yeah I think are particularly the president of that plan to the fire department Or rather go over the the whatever that iteration of the plan is at that time Ideally final And yeah, basically, I don't know if they would need to say sign it But we would we would want to make sure they've reviewed it and don't have any further questions or concerns about it and Yeah Written or email sign off from the fire department confirming. Yes, you know, we reviewed the plan We we've honored on training on the plan And then to the site with the consultant to visit it and and understand how the plan relates to the site as built And then they are comfortable with that plan and and how what they're supposed to do and So, yeah, so we would propose a simple confirmation from the fire department to zba or the building department Or rather, yeah the building department Once that's done, I think we'll work on our end the condition as drafted in the draft requires submission to the fire department and and the police to the Fire and police department and also submission to the So plans will be reviewed by fire and police and submitted to the building commissioner for approval Prior to the issuance of the building permit and then the final one is later on I would think we'd need the same process before this as you called it the coc or sort of this I think of it as certificate of occupancy or in a residential way, you know, but before you flip the switch My my intent would be that before you flip the switch that the emergency response plan has been approved by the building commissioner and or fire and and police and I can't imagine the building commissioner would approve something that the fire and police have reviewed and found wanting or Insufficient that's my concern that submitting it's one thing but knowing that it's acceptable is enough Maura is that um, is your understanding that it comes to you you You defer your judgment about safety to the fire and the police Or is you work this through cooperatively or collegially or how do you deal with that? So these are actually done joint inspection Uh as a team And it it's electrical fire and building inspectors together Before any final You know final completion or approvals are granted everybody is in agreement Most of the inspections At key points are are done jointly like that. Um, you know structural and other inspections electrical inspectors may happen independently, but Certainly by the end at a final it's all all done together and all the inspectors are communicating about it Okay So if we have you have to be the person to approve plan The sufficient input has been received from fire and from police Yeah, that makes sense because we actually we actually process the permit applications for the fire department through our office And transmit them over to to their fire inspector. So uh, that that's the way we would prefer to function good great Rob the other rob. I see your hand up Rob, what's your law? Thank you, mr. Chairman. So I kind of wanted to go back earlier about, um, this marshals point about vegetative screening so, um, essentially what they have listed on the site plan for location of plantings they have to honor that because They're basically building and constructing everything to the site plans Plus any minor additions they might do after the fact before getting their building permit But I would recommend to the board that they should if they want to instill a condition specifically stating that vegetative planning shall be designed as such in the site plan just to reiterate your point and also, um in terms of the erp, uh, I've discussed with mr. Moore about this, uh, a week ago, uh They don't have to physically sign off on the document itself per se, but it is wise for both fire and police to review it and then given To the billing commissioner at the same time that they submit their final site plans that could Be acceptable as well. That's all I had Um, miss parks. I think you had your hand up Go ahead Yeah, I was just going to say, you know, thank you for your detailed answers for everything here And I just wanted to say, you know, I was the person who suggested the dark green color And I don't want to add any expense to your project or anything else, you know, if the soundproofing wall only comes in Brown or You know, whatever color, you know I wouldn't want to make it a condition that you paint the wall if it's if it doesn't If it's not readily available like that. I'm just My concern is I don't want it to look like a penitentiary so Of more more natural colors less industrial color But I but again, I wouldn't I wouldn't vote no because of the color of defense No, I appreciate that and and like and certainly blue have also had an interest and we we want this to To blend in as much as possible as well and not not stand out. So um Like I said, we're a rapid representing that will The world will pursue the color that blends in most naturally into that environment Which you point out likely a dark green color And then like I said, we're we're happy to just at the time of the sound barrier construction Or rather procurement for construction We can simply identify what colors are are available and consult with the the playing apartment For the board as to Here are the colors available Which one is the one that the board or tower prefer? And we can go about like that All right, thank you Are there other questions? From the board Mr. Larracy, I had one I I've been I've driven past this a couple of times and um And it was and I do think it was really helpful to be able to walk the site with the Um with the flags out so we could see where how it actually physically sits on that Is really helpful for your engineer to do that the one thing I was thinking about is the You're you're not proposing landscaping around the front of the building you know the time the space between 116 and the The oval driveway Or on the left or the right of that as you're facing from with your back to 116 and you're facing the facility but there's a lot of It's just kind of Tacky grass that's there. It's it's just doesn't look And I wouldn't want I don't think it should be I'm not looking for a golf course or anything like that But it just I just know that it's gonna unless it's kind of managed it's gonna look pretty Going kind of lousy. What is your Have a real landscape plan that involves any of that. What is your plan for that? I'm willing to put some kind of You know work to have native Grasses or maybe other native species and removal of somebody invasive species that are obvious as you drive down 116 I'm not worried about behind it. I'm not worried about the I guess it's the north and the south ends because I think those are all Mostly those are the water districts. You can't touch anything in there anyway, but just some of that area out in front The rendering has some grasses growing up a lot of different places, but that's I think that was part of the glitch of google earth So tell me what you're what you'd be interested or willing to think about For just making it look a little bit nicer or being more Native plant friendly so that we do have some benefit to the the landscaping that's there Oh, yeah Yeah, so I mean generally as a as a principal we we tend to any area we We don't need to touch we try not to more is that In an effort to adhere to lowest impact possible But to to your point on in this area between the system and the road Obviously within the drainage the easement, um, right We can't do that since that dut is for a territory, but the area in between You know, I I think again right now it's pretty much constantly to be left as is But we're happy to look into since we're already proposing for example any Disturbed or you know, they're obviously there will be construction on the site. There will be Some machinery some trucks coming in and out there will be stabilization needed probably replanting the grass so we're happy to Where possible along the front portion of property we're we're happy to to expand that seeding for example of like a native Pollinator flowering like kind of like a perennial maybe like a meadow if you call it mix Yeah, we're happy to take, you know, any anywhere where we can expand along the front of like seeding We could we're happy to do that as well. Um, and uh Uh, so yeah, I Yes, we're we're happy to to expand if possible. I don't see it being something Invisible and um, obviously we probably wouldn't go as far as saying to you know, tear up the sod and replan or anything like that um, but yeah, we're we're happy to to maybe if it's a condition or Where feasible or where possible the applicant could um expand the planting of of Native pollinators native flowering mixes, uh, you know along the the portion of the the property abutting the Southern road Okay, so some there you have some language about that um For a pair of disturbed soil Perhaps we can come up with a condition for the front of the building at the front of the Property fit between the street and the front of the building And it sounds like you'd be a amenable to that. Thank you. Mr. Meadows Curious about three Greg we can't hear you. We can't hear you You must have the same air air podge that I do Seems to happen to me There we go A wired connection always stronger than bluetooth or wi-fi No, not yet Try those air pods again Try the air pods again Mr. Chair, can we use the chat? Can we use the chat? Oh, yeah, he could use the chat Yep That is somebody with a lot of zoom experience that came up with that suggestion To hear that Type into the chat maybe We somebody should type to him Good spelling Use the chart function Yeah, the chat function. You got it. It just worked That meant chat Yeah, we can also hear you Craig as well Okay, let me see if I can do this Craig we were able to hear you just now. I don't know if you were aware. Um Your microphone is working again Is it now? Yeah, yep, you can hear you. Yep. Sorry. Sorry about that. We should have told you I can talk faster than I can type. Okay um One simple question. What are the sizes of the inverters? Yeah, good question. Let me Uh off the top of my head, I believe there are three, uh three thousand four hundred fifty Kilowatt inverters I believe our very initial application we submitted a cut sheet of them But they should be three Aspect is uh sma sunny central three four five zero kw inverters Okay, thank you um And the second thing I noticed that you have three options for extensions on your lease What is the base contract? Uh, the base would be 20 years one one one term of 20 years and then Uh, the egypt optional extension would be five years each So six months each Oh, sorry, um That would be our sorry, um So our current agreement, which is an option to lease that would be six months. Um The actual agreement we would enter into Uh, they were we're looking into that the liner would be a long term lease That would have an initial term of 20 years with three five year extension after And that does align with the utility contract you've got Um, we yes, we expect to do typically all projects whenever we interact with the utility um They're typically the intersection service I really goes as long as we're Uh, we're the the system is on and powered so Um, generally we never have issues with going beyond 20 years if we want to take operating And is your utility contract for Um, the full 18 megawatts or is it somewhat less? Right now it's it's for the 18.7 megawatts. Um, there the project is still The study for the project is still active with ever source. So there is still a possibility that ever source could come back. Um, and Requires to change the size of the system. Um, again, not above we would never go more than what we have now If there's a possibility to go less but for now it is the 18.7 You don't have any fudge factor in there? um, when you say fudge factor in terms of General oversizing the system or Well as as you get degradation, you're not going to be able to provide the uh the entire amount Right, correct. So the the initial number of install of batter units Is slightly over so the 18.7 megawatts ac four-hour battery Again translated that My math is not good enough right now for that but around 75 megawatt hours That that number we're slightly oversized from the beginning. So we're roughly 10 to 50 percent oversized To provide, you know, above and beyond that initial uh capacity limit Then as it degrades So we start oversizing the degrade down once we get to a point where we would drop below Uh, what that max capacity were allowed to to discharge at and what we would have a contractual obligation by Sweden England to provide Then we would augment and so that's where those additional unit, uh, the In hatch hatched uh markings Along the southern portion of the site. So those are those would remain empty Initial installation and we would add those additional units later to stay at at our initial capacity And I assume that you're controlling remotely. Are you controlling or is uh I saw me knowing I'm controlling So we're controlling so we'll have a 24 seven remote operations center controlling the system and controlling all dispatch charging and discharging Typically we can basically charge and discharge Uh When we want her, you know, whatever price signals are in the market the ice in england's running If there's any capacity call, so if ice in england is, you know issues at fast, we call We may be required to charge discharge during the specific high demand times Uh, but we would we would be the one in the system Okay, and your cyber security is coming out of In what levels? Um, I would have to follow up by with the manufacturer on the exact level Um, typically we're going to ensure, you know, obviously a very high level Uh of localized security for the system data itself Uh, and then in terms of data traffic going out of the site Um, a secure connection and cryptic connection going directly to our remote operation center so that You know, no one can dispute on that. Um, but I there's a specific Reference or rating you're looking for there. I'm happy to to provide that No, I just want to make sure that it is it is secure Um Your controller is not obvious Oh, yes, absolutely. So physically speaking, there's a there's a level of physical security for the controllers So those are all in lock cabinets So if someone wanted to get a physical connection in the system that would be, you know, extremely difficult And we would we would know if someone were tampering with system remotely Uh, and then yeah, all any trafficking outside would be encrypted. Uh, you all Okay, that's all I had You know, I I had one question that's really very basic and I don't I never have I don't know How much power you've got in that battery and those batteries what 18.75 Mega watts really means in terms of How many homes it could light up how long it could you know, how how much power is going to be in those batteries and How much benefit would the community get from having those batteries come online? not not from a sense of power not from the Cost savings but from the sense of what you can light up what you can power with that Yeah, that's a great question. So, um Generally speaking So I'll say everything's measuring to a lot of hours megawatt hours. Um, so our system is 18.27 megawatts four hour battery. So again, let's just call it's around 75 megawatt hours That's so that's what could be charged in a day and discharged in a day or a four hour period charge discharge Um Your average home so you know a lot of appliances you have are in kilowatt hour kill a lot rating. So washing machine HVAC units or wattages typically an average annual homes energy usage Depending obviously on how big it is and where you're at the country But let's just call it somewhere between nine and eleven thousand kilowatt hours a year That would be like a typical homes annual energy usage So from that perspective Every day a battery system would be charging to charging up energy. They could power A single homes annual usage or I should say around six to seven annual homes Usage so there's a quite a bit of energy that's being charged to charge every day and certainly every year with the system so In terms of what what the systems are intended to be utilized for Which is really shifting That clean energy generated to when it's when the demand is most It's actually making quite a bit of impact in terms of you know The amount of homes and that are using electricity and how much energy is in the carbon emissions or subsequent offset Great. Thank you Other questions from the board Mr. Larracy, is there anything else you wish to? Advise us on or comment on before we go to public comment I don't think so. Again, I appreciate all the questions and clarifications and Yeah, we're forward to moving moving the party forward Um Now's the opportunity for the public to comment Staff will help identify if there are if there is anybody who wishes to ask the question of the The applicant again the questions must be directed to the chair and staff will recognize you if you're On the computer raise your hand if you're on a phone press nine I see no raised hands Nope So um one last opportunity for us to ask questions if we have any further questions for um the applicant all right, if not, I would um We now will move to the um public Meeting and I would move we'll move to the public meeting without closing the public hearing in case we need to gather additional information in the public meeting is typically where the board deliberates on the The matter before us it is not normally a time for public comment But we reserve the right to get comment of especially from the applicant for clarification um I'm looking I'll tell you where I'm kind of coming from in this this specific application is I'm inclined to believe that the Applicant and blue wave has responded positively to most of the suggestions and questions we had It seems to me that there's a real need for this kind of Enterprise or across the country and beneficial to the community as well and I'm inclined to Move ahead with perhaps a couple of additional conditions, but to move ahead with this Application I'd look to get the feeling of the board and we can talk about specific conditions or concerns you might have But do I have any anybody have additional comments they want to make at this time? okay, so If there are no further questions and no further comments what I'd like to do is go to conditions first review conditions that we have And then adopt them in block by going through them if anybody as we always do if anybody objects to a specific condition We'll set it aside So I'd like to deal with the ones that were in the in the project application report first first And then move to the any additional new conditions second So if we look at the project application report page 25 at the end of page 25 The possible conditions start The first one is um sort of boilerplate It's but the topic is the mention that it has to be this really requires This project to be built as per the plans that have been submitted and approved and so those to that extent to the walk talking about the wall and about the The placement of the plants Etc. Etc. All that has to be done with the possible exception of minor changes which can be approved by the business commissioner The second one is um that no longer The conditions in the former special Special permit have expired Third is that the a new owner must be have a management plan submitted and reviewed by the zoning board of appeals at a public meeting All previous approvals and conditions authorized by the conservation commission shall be adhered to at all times And we don't have to Those conditions are contained in that document. We don't have to list all those conditions Number five the emergency management plan shall be reviewed by the amherst fired police departments And shall be submitted to the building commissioner for approval prior to the issue of the building permit um And I think we would want to add that um It has similarly it has to be Submitted to the fired police and approved by the building commissioner Prior to the certificate to the coc a certificate of occupancy or what would be the terminology we want to use there, rob So that I mean this is a building permit, which is one thing But you're going to have stuff actually on site and you have to have a second approval. I think Or do you not I would just say final approval That'll cover final approval is that a bill Right instead of building permit permit. Okay. All right. Sorry final approval by whom? Building commissioner it says submitted to the building commissioner for approval prior to issues of final Well, we'll rework that So be submitted to the building commissioner for final approval for final approval Right, but it was before the coc is what we were talking about earlier. So So Coc is not a real thing that gets issued by the building department. So that's why I'm saying I'm suggesting that That it's safe shall be submitted to the building commissioner prior to final approval And that will cover all the various inspections and Signoffs by all of the officials So submit submitted to you before final approval and it wouldn't be you don't give final approval without approving it So final approval is your discretion. So we don't have to empower you to approve it. Got it Okay The emerson sundal in fire department shall be properly notified and trained on the property on the appropriate emergency response techniques Alarms shall be installed in underground water storage tanks indicate whether failed some Sump pumps. I think that's supposed to be or is it are they sub pumps rob? I think it's sump pumps Yep, okay or tank overflow. That's the type of my bad. I apologize Yeah The sound barrier wall must be painted green. Let's I would like to alter that to say something to the effect that the the The sound barrier wall shall be painted a color intended to blend into the environment or You had indicated you may want to look to a mural or is Is there a like a public art commission? Rob or somebody that in town would review this So I don't want to make it too difficult for you to hire a local artist to do a mural or to paint But there are some pretty cool things done in the valley here and I'd like to give you that opportunity So how about if we a lot of that a color that blends into the environment which then Which I think green is one but there'd be several or to work with the To to work to with the approval of the fine art the public arts commission a design on the Design approved by the the public arts commission something that effect. What do you think? The board Rob Mora so so there wouldn't actually be a requirement to submit to the art public art commission first for a private installation like this so You know, we might be able to work on some wording about you know recommendation by seek recommendation Prior to you know, I think of when we if you remember I think you were here mr. Judge when we Issued the the permits for a rise out in North Amherst And you know that went through a process of a public process and you know kind of a their own Request for proposals by artists process more More critical than than our process was so you know, I think I think maybe recommendations by a committee that's experience but Ultimately this board would control when and how that happened. So I think the condition has to start here You know, whether you're requiring it or Leaving it as an opportunity To occur if the applicant chooses to take it Clarifying that and then my only other suggestion is that There'd be some language that would allow or have the board review the landscape plan if that you know mural option was taken because the plans would block everything that was All the work that was just done If if the landscape plan was maintained All right What does the board think about that? Have we made it too a good thing too complicated? Sarah I mean miss marshal um, yeah, I I wonder though if we have to Address there seem to be two proposals one to make Or or hopes wishes that the entire wall all the way around be a color that blends in with the environment Versus a mural or some art that might only be on the road side. So I just throw that throw that out I guess Miss miss parks you're you actually were there at the site for the when this came up As well I don't think we should have anything in the conditions about the mural It's just a nice idea and you know, it's something that they could you know that it would be nice if if if they would Look at that and as that is a possibility, but I really don't think it should be a condition I don't think it should be I don't think that anything should matter about that for this project so I will I'll just say I'd like you to think about a mural, but It's not as a condition But you would you wouldn't you wouldn't think that they would have Would you have want them to come back to the zba if they wanted to do a mural or Just do it on their own if they want to do a mural they do a mural Is that what you're thinking? I don't know I I think we should let the idea go for now I think there's enough conditions on the project and it's a really big project and so I it's I I prefer not to add add things that aren't necessary right now so Mr. Maxfield Well, I uh thinking maybe a way to kind of simplify this while well satisfying everybody here with this as we could say that it's going to be A natural color for the fence or the applicant may choose to work with a local artist to um Paint a mural you could say something like that so it is that or they can do that if it ends up making sense the people like that idea would leave it up to the To blue wave to the side. Do we need to approve that? No, you're not a you're not suggesting that it comes back to the zba for approval for the design We we could also just put in if they so choose That we could just just whatever whatever we want to terms we want to put on the the the mural Just say it has to be some green brown natural color Or if you want to do a mural and then whatever conditions we want to do on a mural and then we can kind of Kind of let it go from there that we were not bogging them down But if it ends up being a great idea and everybody loves it there we go we get the mural I'm That works for me and I I don't really want to be in the business of approving a mural In terms of public and no and none of you should want me to be in that position either with my taste so Rob, can you kind of come up with can you come up with some language that works with that? I mean, it's pretty close to what we're talking about Yeah, so basically um, and I'm assuming you're talking to me rob right not rob mora Just he's about to he's about to turn on his microphone just now. Um, so I could just word it and say That you have to make the wall color blend in with the environment That's that's a condition the board wants to see But the mural portion can be optional if the app can so chooses to that's kind of how i'm going to approach it Okay, or the applicant can choose to have a mural. Yep. And and if the I think rob's part about the landscaping makes sense, but you can work a mural around those trees if you're going to have a mural so all right It looks to me like we have three or four people that agree with that. So Assuming that that is the will of the board will move on unless anybody wants to segregate that out um An updated construction schedule with accurate dates shall be submitted to the building commissioner prior to the issuance of building permit Construction logistics must be submitted prior to the issuance of a building building permit Load calculations must be provided for the underground withstand the weight of necessary vehicles or equipment prior to issuance of building permit All struck associated with the battery energy storage system shall be removed within one year of said Prior to the issuance of a building permit for the best The applicant shall post and submit a bond or other financial security Acceptable to the building commissioner the submission must be accompanied by a decommissioning plan With an accurate decommissioning cost generated by a registered engineer with a 20-year escalation to account for inflation and public and a public projects factor um special permit is granted to bwc easman brook llc of po box 1713 81 boston massachusetts if the owner of the battery Storage system were to change the new owner must come before the zoning board to review the conditions of the special permit Those are the ones contained in the Draft there's some other ones that were raised as possibility. Yes, miss marshal I have a question about uh condition one Yep degradation If that's the thing mr. Meadows had requested, I don't think we're getting that so Should that be or is this something else? I think that is it well, um Mr. Meadows, you're the one that we're asking about it is what they said. Does that satisfy your um interest Yes, that satisfied my interest Additionally, uh, you just mentioned a 20-year demolition plan Yeah, if you recall I asked him about the timeline and he's got a 20-year lease with three five-year extensions possible So I think we need to word that a little bit differently I'll just I'll just offer a question. I just yeah 20-year initial lease with uh extensions, but So you're breaking up, but I thought it you did you Accept the notion of a 20-year with five with three five-year extensions A surety bond based on that number. Okay. I don't know what that does to the price of the bond That doesn't mean for me Yeah, that's that's uh good Okay, so we can Yep, mr. Wachtella. Yeah, so I just want to give some background on these bonds. So usually they're renewed annually so Every bond copy that I've dealt with working and where uh, they usually send an automatic renewal every year to the town That's just standard practice The 20-year escalation factor is more for the cost of decommissioning the facility So Say if the applicant were to choose a different form of surety So they if they didn't want to do the bond they would rather do like a cash deposit instead I don't really see a lot of people do that nowadays, but if they wanted to they would give us an amount to cover the cost 20 years from now of removing Those units and restoring the site. So that's what the escalation factor is put in there for I caution against making it overly complicated with the language for that because At any point the building commissioner could request that they give us new numbers after a certain amount of time So that's that's basically what that condition's entailing and I just want to make the board aware of that All right, this marshal is your point to the deck to the surety bond or or not. No back to my original question Okay. All right. Let's get back to that and we'll get back to that in a second on degradation I don't want to lose a train of thought here. Mr. Meadows I I think 20 years sounds good, but if they've got if they opt for the three five year extensions Then we're talking about 35 years So we have to have some mechanism to account for the additional cost If it goes to 35 years as opposed to 20 years I see. Okay. So Yeah, that's Does the board want to consider then adding some extra language that says if those options are Executed then account for them as well in the estimate Yeah, okay Yeah, definitely add that or at the time at the time there those options are exercised That might be the way to do it as to opposed to imposing the cost of a 35 year bond Within 20 years plus then when they exercise the option There's an additional they have to come back with an additional bond additional side Larger bond That's what I mean to say Okay, okay All right Do we need to have that restated? But I think I think you got the gist of that I don't think we need to have that restated here. Okay. Ms. Marshall you want to go back to degradation Yeah, just that we don't have we don't have a degradation plant. So I don't think it should be in this list Right Well, that's that's true, but um, there was a Isn't there some kind of representation didn't you say that? Well, this is less than what we have received do we have I mean it's implied that it's in writing and it's not So you should just eliminate it unless unless We want the applicant to put in writing what was represented to us earlier in the meeting and call it a degradation Yeah, but that's what I thought you that's what I thought he was going to do is put something in writing of which would memorialize how he Represented that to the board just confirm that then. Thank you Yeah, is that right? Mr. Larger say you're willing to do that, right? Yeah, sir, I get provided right when I said earlier regarding general degradation and then uh an anticipated augmentation Great, I think that's that's to satisfy your concerns. It doesn't this is Marshall great. Thank you. Um anybody else All right, let's move to other conditions uh the board should Discussing whether it's still a condition on sound measurement post to ensure compliance The noise assessment carried out by a You know, I I would I normally would want to do a second, you know, or once you're Once you're up and running to check it and I think that's probably makes some sense but it I guess we should just do it once but The level of noise coming from this is really pretty low. I mean we're talking Level of kind of conversation is what is what I saw on the plan Uh the highest level was probably was 45 or 50 decibels, which Is that the street level and and it seems pretty low? Um, I know that there's some concern that some energy battery systems buzz But this one, I don't know if that this is the case here. What's the board's feeling on this? My feeling is that it's probably one check. Um After you switch this to switch on Have a epsilon come back and and make a noise assessment, but I wouldn't do much more than that Because I think they're pretty I think it's pretty low okay um Okay, we talked about the sound barrier. Well, is there a desire to require bollards or Not or is there or is the um Is it the feeling of the board that they that the security is to be adequate and that if there is a light if the If the if the sound barrier is not sufficient to protect the perceived threats except for the Farm equipment that would take it upon that the owner of the property would put those bollards up on their own On their own volition and we just have to go to the Building commissioner to get an amendment plan to do that Miss barks I don't think it should be a condition, but I mean it's on them if if something happens to the facility And it's not really going to damage the environment because they have the drainage system And so I think I mean If I were them that this is a consideration for them more than it is For us I think so I wouldn't make it a condition But you know, they should think about those things and I hope they're I don't know what the what the I know the wall has i-beams, but I don't know what the material is in between So, you know, that's something that they should look into Yeah, that's about it I'm inclined to agree with that. I don't think it creates a lot of public health risk And chances of it are pretty low of the of a Vehicle crashing into it. So I I agree with you that it's probably on On them to protect their investment more than it is to protect the public health Mr. Chair Yep Can I speak to that? Ms. Marshall. Yes, you sure can My interest in bollards or rocks or whatever some kind of barrier Is because of two concerns and if those concerns are allayed then then I withdraw the the whole suggestion one that it's Not a danger to the public if something crashes through the wall and strikes one of those units um You know, I'll be the driver of the vehicle obviously that's that's a problem But it's not a danger to the public if that's true then okay and second of all it's not It's not going to throw our power grid into into chaos if some part parts of it Or if the whole thing has to be taken offline to deal with whatever the Damage has been caused those those are the reasons I'm I'm interested otherwise. It's a matter of you protecting your very valuable equipment It was my impression that the first question was answered by mr. Larracee early on I mean Earlier by saying that You might have a fire for a while It's very small likelihood of that and then it's a small fire. So it's not a lot of I came away from that thinking there wasn't a lot of Danger risk of danger and threat to the public's safety I can't believe this is going to if it would go down. I can't believe that it's large enough to endanger Or even to seriously affect the Our grid out here, but I that is something I don't know. So I guess I Just looked to mr. Larracee to to affirm that or we're not Yeah, sure. So happy to speak to that So there's a few layers of ejection and for the grid in regard to any malfunction or or abnormality operation equipment So the power conversion system itself to the inverters there that Basically take take the energy from the batteries and set it up into the override wires Those have protection settings So if there's any Yeah, I'm normal condition detected in the batteries or some issue happen to the batteries those inverters have had some fail states and them I blew away as part of our air connection process with ever source We have a series of three poles That have protection equipment and ever source will also install their own redundant set of poles that have protection equipment So those each have a load break disconnect that can fully separate the system from the grid Um and so basically like there's we we can shut down the system and shut it off in the grid Uh, and also ever source can and will do the same if there's any any condition detected they could could cause some kind of you know Damage or issue for the grid. So, uh, no, I wouldn't expect the system would shut down Um, it wouldn't it would go longer send power out of the grid. Um, it wouldn't cause The grid and amherst to to have any issues All right, does that satisfy your your concerns miss marshal? All right, good. Um, I had a couple of other Couple of other conditions One is deals with the um, I have a condition that the lights are dark sky compliant I don't I don't see that in the management plan or I didn't I didn't notice it any place. So condition that Lights are dark sky compliant in accordance with our rules and regulations um I think it seems to me that we should we need to either make a decision about whether you put up a a monument Sign or whether you just put signs up on the wall and whether there's four signs on on the property on every single wall So I think a condition that said they're forced either amend your signage plan or a condition That there's four signs on the on the sound wall And then we have to decide whether there's a to be a monument sign or not and That they were amenable to having a monument sign I think it's a good idea to just have it out there as opposed to Just identification on the the wall which could get overgrown with trees and shrubs over time um lastly cut sheets on the wall high voltage signs and lastly is the is Sort of the ground taking care of the ground and the landscaping in the front And I think that can be I think you could amend your management plan Where you talk about how you're going to repair the ground and you give special attention to repairing the and providing receding with native plants bushes and A shrubs In the area in the front of the building and I think if you amend your your management plan to do that I think we don't need to put a condition in but I think if you do that Then you have to abide by the management plan and and you can it gives you more flexibility and you can You can still do it at the same time Or be required to do it All right Yes, miss marshal I don't have a strong feeling about a monument sign But if if that is a condition does the applicant need to return to us with A plan I mean we have reviewed such You know monument sign plans in the past or do we just say Like the building commissioners Well, I would I would leave it up to the building commissioner I know they've got enough work to do but um, I I think we're gonna have Too much work to do coming up to review a monument sign. I think I don't think we need we're not obliged to we're not obliged. We don't have to review it if I don't think what rob has got his hand up. So I'm not gonna I'm not gonna opine at all or anything until I hear from Mr. Mora No, that's fine. I was just going to mention now. So it doesn't get lost when you get further along You will need to grant a waiver under section 8.5 for the The maximum number of signs that are permitted in the residential district pertaining to the use, which is two So I just want just to make you aware of that It wasn't an issue when there was just one sign being proposed, but yeah, there's four or five signs Uh, if you could just grant that, you know, acknowledge that waiver being granted and you know I'm happy to deal with the rest of it when when it comes up for construction all right After we vote on the conditions, we'll move right to the waiver of 8.2 Yeah, 8.5. It's actually it's section 8.101 is the section that has the limit of the the number of signs and an 8.5 is the section that authorizes the waiver any of the provision All right Could you repeat the sections please you said 8.5 and what was the other one? 8.101 Okay, thank you Ms. Parks Um, does that signage include like danger high voltage or is it just the name of the of the business? I thought it was just the name of the business and the danger high voltage was on the wall was on the sound walls Okay, because I I agree with um sarah suggesting that there's you know danger high voltage on all of the surface Or at least on the front and the back But when you say monument sign, I just want to make sure I understand that because I guess when I think of monument sign I think there's something made of stone, but this is like just something on two posts, right? right All right, and I was free standing is what I think of it as something free standing Yeah, that's what I thought you meant. I would say that for me I I'll just throw out that I think it will make it look more like a Friendly business than a penitentiary again with a free standing sign It will be a little friendlier blue wave is a nice name So, you know, I I would I would recommend that as well great Any other comments from board members and then we'll go to mr. Wachilla Okay, mr. Wachilla Could I recommend to the board? Uh, you just you did suggest proposing a condition for the signs Can we change the word monument sign to free standing sign so it's more broad? Just so the applicant doesn't have to get a sign with masonry work involved Yeah, whatever whatever is the correct term of arc there is Perfect is what we want. Yep. Okay. Yeah, but Yeah, we do not want I don't want them putting up a gravestone all right Okay, so, um, I'm not heard any objection to any of the outline conditions So I would entertain a motion that we approve the conditions as laid out in the proposed The application report with the modifications that we have discussed and the additional conditions that we have discussed So All right, and I heard us. I think I heard too. So there's a second. Ms. Marshall It's moved by miss parks Craig Oh, mr. Meadows seconded Any discussion on the motion? If not, this is a roll call vote Chair votes. I miss parks. I Mr. Meadows I Mr. Maxfield I Miss Marshall I All right, the conditions are approved Next we'd go to our findings and waivers Um, thank you for catching that mr. Mora Um, the first thing I'd want to do is note that we That we should wave eight point The limits in 8.101 And that authority to do that waiver is found in section 8.5 So that would be an amendment to the Plan and that we approve the waiver Since we're doing that was just added here and it wasn't currently in the plan or in the project I think it'd be a good idea to vote on that So this deals with the this deals with the signs Have a motion to approve the waiver So moved Is there a second second Any discussion If not the vote occurs on the motion to approve the waiver 8.101 and 8.5 Chair votes aye Miss parks I Mr. Maxfield I Mr. Meadows I Miss Marshall I Great Now we'll make Our findings. Uh, there's several findings. Um The first is um, it's in the conservation district That roadways So to have the least possible impact on adjacent land or agricultural lands Um with all the drainage work they did, I think they satisfied that 3.2857 every reason what effort should be made to maintain views of open agricultural lands from nearby public ways I would just remove that first bullet. There is no existing agricultural activity on 515 or on the budding properties There looks to be, you know agricultural Activity On providing properties, but I think that a reason every reasonable effort has been made to maintain the views of open agricultural lands So I think you take away that first bullet I'm sorry, mr. Chair. Where are you? Yep, so I'm under sex. I'm under um What's on page Of the project draft project application report. We're looking at The findings we have to make for me. They start on page 22 the 10.38 specific find yeah, I'm back earlier that 10.38 will go through as well These are the other these are other sections Some of them are not applicable and some we just have to find that we're not violating the the intent Zoning by law So the second one is 3.2857 I don't think it applies in this case. Um, I mean, I do think it applies, but I think they've done It's made a reasonable effort to not obscure open the view of open agricultural land section 3.3 use and classification standards This is this is allowed in The districts that it sits in Section 6 is dimensional requirements. The first one is fences The applicant is installing a 16 foot fence A sound barrier his sound barrier will be within the will be within all the setbacks The second part it deals with landscaping will be required subject conditions and um The last is that the height of the barrier is um Is within limits the limit is 35 feet Uh, this is high as the highest fence and permitted. This is a 16 foot sound barrier So it's less than the maximum limit. So it meets those dimensional regulations Parking requirements, uh There's sufficient parking for the use of the of the property But more importantly is talking about the dense graded crushed stone and the proposed driver will slope of the driveway all which meet the um requirements 7.13 103 again setbacks Um satisfies that no building structures are in the proposed access driveways And there's a minimum width entrance and exit of 18 feet and this is a 20 foot driveway um Oh, excuse me minimum of 10 feet and we have an 18 foot wide for two way use the minimum Yeah, but we have um Satisfy that we've got no portion to drive way the edge of the street pavement So it'll be closer to the 75 feet from the intersection. So the proposed driveway exceeds the Exceeds the requirement, which is good and the um I guess we didn't talk about whether the emergency vehicles can safely turn around I guess that's why the hammerhead has been put there so We would hear from the fire department if that didn't work Yeah, okay 7.7 access requirements and driveways. This is where we talk about the 20 foot drive 20 foot wide driveway the requirements is It exceeds the requirement of 12 feet And it also um does not exceed the slope requirements. So I think we They've met the the conditions the requirements of that section Section 7.9 deals with parking regulations We don't we should I think we have to waive we don't have to waive them. They just We have to waive the parking requirements rob mora where we just there aren't any for this either 7.90 No, I believe you just went through confirming compliance with all the designs everything for everything. There's nothing to waive Yeah, okay Okay, now we're at 10.38 So 10.380 and 10.381 This is basically that it's located in a suitable location I believe that it is in a suitable location. It's an it's a it's It's allowed by special permit in the two zoning districts in which the property six And I think it fits within the surrounding areas 10.382 383 385 and 387 this generally these sections generally deal with nuisance and Disturbance from the prop from the use of the property on the neighboring sites and I think the There's they've demonstrated that there's very little Nuisance flood Noise odor dust vibrations and they've imposed and they've constructed a 16 foot high wall to minimum to minimize the Nuisance to the neighbors. So I think they've met the requirements of those four sections 10.384 adequate and appropriate facilities and provided for proper operation proposed use They have the needed equipment to safely handle the site respond emergency situations and handle onsite repairs and management It's in their ONM plan 10.386 We've already dealt with this parking And we Signed well, there will be signs erected. So we have to change this rub Uh, we have to change this All right, so we'll change this to accommodate the four signs and the land and the pre-standing sign 10.387 the proposal provides convenient and safe vehicular traffic and produced within the within the site I think they have done that and I just But and I don't think there's going to be any I'm just sure You're not going to have vehicles inside Once this is constructed you're not vehicles are not going to be going inside the The sound barrier You're going to do everything by a crane Just within the portion of the access road that's on the northern boundary Yeah Okay So I think you've met the requirements of 10.387 10.388 proposal ensures adequate space for off-street loading and parking Yeah, the hammerhead drive seems to do that and there's also just you're not going to be You're not delivering materials there very often Uh, 10.389 the proposal provides adequate methods of disposal and or recyclables After construction, I don't think there's going to be very much in the way of, um, trash there But should there be Your management plan has you taking it away from the site 10.390 the proposal ensures fire protection flood hazards We've talked about this And you're going to be getting your your Number one you have you seem to complied with all the u.l. And other kinds of industry standards for safety you're having an excellent, um, you'll have a approval from the fire department and police departments and the building commissioners for the, um Material there and and it's not located in the floodplain. I guess this is all floodplain I'm sorry. I thought this was more than that. So you're not in the floodplain You don't have to deal with 3.90 3.91 not applicable 3.92 adequate landscaping um I think you meet all this He's up around the the somber your wall. We talked about the reseeding of natural plants and and, um pollinators And you have specified which trees in your site in your additional detail 10.393 protection of the adjacent properties by any intrusion of lighting You're going to have you're going to comply with the review with the rules of the zba regarding downcast lighting 10.394 Flat piece of property No floodplains. I don't think this is Aside from the order of conditions from the com-com. I don't think you're going to be Endangering the wetlands or you're not on steep slopes 10.395 does not create disharmony with respected terrain use scale and architecture Yeah, so you you've limited the sound the You've gone to great lengths to you you've agreed to go to um Paint so that it doesn't Alter it doesn't create disharmony paint something so it matches the natural colors That it won't create disharmony in the district And you're also you're dealing with the sound At a low level through the construction of the sound barrier And you're going to have an applicant you're going to have the Sound company come out once after construction is completed to check that 10.396 proposals provide screening for storage areas. Um, I think this is fine To sound very well Protect everything 10.397 adequate recreation. This is not Applicable 10.398 Is in harmony general purpose intent of the bylaw the proposal abides by the auspices of the zoning bylaw despite the fact that best regulation still is in progress That also buys by massachusetts renewable energy goals and ambitions So it's I don't think it's by proposed by the auspices, but the um the aspirations Of the you know of the um bylaw or something to that effect But um, I think I find and I think the board agrees that we've met the Requirements under 10.38 and the other sections of the zoning bylaw And we can find that we've complied with them With that Um, is there any other discussion from board members before we have a motion to approve the project application with conditions? Oh, let's vote on the on the findings before we do that Deserve a motion to to make the findings as just discussed by me in block for Um section 10.38 second and the rest of the sections So I hear I hear a move I hear one and I hear two we've got A motion and a second. Um, any discussion All in favor, um, it's a roll call vote. I vote. I Miss parks. I Mr. Maxfield I Mr. Meadows I Miss marshal All right We've made the find required findings under the zoning bylaw The next motion is to is a motion to approve the application Um before us with conditions. Oops miss marshal. Just when do we close the public hearing? I'm sorry. That's I just don't know We'll do that as part No, we'll do this as part of of this motion where we close the public will we will um Vote we'll approve the Special advocate the motion will be to approve the special application report with The special permit with conditions and that we close the public hearing and public meeting on on this application That's the motion Is there a such a motion? Oh, I hope so We've got one All right, and I think I heard mr. Meadows for two All right. Is there any discussion? So the vote occurs on the motion to approve the special permit application with conditions and to close the public hearing and public meeting on this application Roll call vote to chair votes. I Miss parks I Mr. Maxfield I Mr. Meadows I Miss marshal I Great Vote is five to zero unanimous vote. Um, congratulations You've got your special permit. Um, you you've got some work yet to do to keep the to make the Changes that to your management plans and other things which we discussed The staff has got a note of those things And you've also got some work to do with the The emergency response plan coming up, but congratulations and if you have You'll work with with rob and company and we wish you the best of luck Thank you, sir. Thank you for members. I really appreciate all the questions. Uh, it's great work with you. Um, I'll solve the problem the planning department on on a me if all of Adams and then Certainly, I'll have to keep keep the board in touch and in communication as we're moving forward, but Really, I appreciate your Your questions and uh for the public board Okay, thank you All right, thank you next order of business is general public comment on matters not before the board tonight we have four attendees and three attendees And I don't see any hands up All right No public comment on matters not before the board tonight other business not anticipated within the last 48 hours and what I would add is the I don't think there's any business from board members and New business is just I would add that we need to schedule out the meetings What do we have coming up rob? Oops, I can't hear you There sorry, I forgot was on mute. Um, so the next meeting we have I believe is June 8th. We have two permits are upcoming for special permit One is a extension And the other is a modification to the existing permit I don't know if you want me to go into details about those permits, but uh, essentially One Actually, I don't really have that on top of my head right now. I'm a chairman, but it's all right. We don't Yep, so we've got two things on the on june 8th. Okay. The June 22nd Yeah, sorry June 22nd is um so far. There's one hearing scheduled and that's for a um modification as well. So they're pretty Pretty short hearings from what the foreseeable future seems like So that's what we have scheduled right now. Um, we don't have anything for July Or august put in place yet So the June 22nd. Oh, I will be in town. Okay. All right. Yep Okay, good enough All right, miss parks I just wanted to let everyone know that my commission ends on June 30th. So my last meeting will be uh, June 22nd I think uh, Dylan as well So it's really been wonderful serving with everybody. It's really I've really enjoyed being on the zba. I think it's a great committee and I'm gonna miss it But I have a lot of other stuff happening in my life now Well, we've really enjoyed working with you and we'll say formal goodbyes when on your last or your formal Thank yous on your last meeting But it's been a real pleasure to work with you ten Thanks and just one aside. Sorry craig You weren't supposed to desert me I couldn't drag to join other committees. It's not fair Not really bad All right Mr. Maxwell, did you have your hand up to No, no, no, but I uh, I didn't know Tammy was going sad to see you leave too. It's a end of an era here I know I think we've both been on it. Well, you you were on it before the last three term the last three years, right? Nope, like, uh, this will be the end of my my three or two term I think you were on slightly before me. You were on as an associate member first or Yeah, I think for two years. I don't know. Yeah, two years. I think Yeah Well, you know for both of you guys Rob didn't test Didn't he couldn't come right off the top of his head that what was in the on the agenda for June 22nd But there's a really long 40 b application that comes up Any second so we're going to hook you in and then you'll be you'll be with us for A couple more months left, you know, you we're not saying goodbye yet What's another what's another year? Yeah All right, anything else Well again, thank you to the staff On this one. We appreciate it and we appreciate your time tonight And I appreciate all your efforts from all the members doing their work and we'll see you all next week Oh, I I just want to actually add on to that. Mr. Chair. I do want to thank the board everybody here For this project especially I don't feel like I was able to give it quite as much attention as I really would have liked to For something like this. So I thank you guys You really you guys really stepped up and crushed this one because I'm like, all right good I I can feel less bad about it. We're here with uh here with a good group of people. So I appreciate it We're just trying to everybody takes their turn carrying their weight and when you have something going on We want to carry it and help you out. So we did that you've done it up for us enough times. Thank you Mr. Chair you said or somebody said yeah, you'd see us next week Oh next week not next week next meeting yep Although yeah, that was a Freudian slip. I I will miss you guys if I don't see you I doubt it That's all all right If there's nothing else I would take a motion to adjourn So You you get the chance Miss parks moves. Mr. Maxfield seconds the motion to adjourn until The next meeting on june 8 This is a non-debatable motion And it requires a roll call vote Chair votes. Aye Miss parks. Aye Mr. Marks maxfield Aye Mr. Meadows Aye Miss marshal Hi All right, we're adjourned. Thank you all. We'll see you in two weeks