Battery storage, Chabad back before Town Board

Photo taken during site inspection July 1 shows work done without a permit at Chabad of Bedford, including installation of an AstroTurf carpet over a portion of the existing sewage disposal system field. (TOWN OF BEDFORD Photo)

By JEFF MORRIS

Multiple agenda items were dispatched in short order during a 45-minute Town Board meeting Aug. 5, including extensions of a battery storage moratorium and time to allow Chabad of Bedford to complete site work.

Battery storage moratorium

A public hearing was held on extending the town’s moratorium on applications for large-scale battery energy storage systems for another six months. 

Supervisor Ellen Calves explained that the moratorium has been in place for about a year, “as we work on drafting a local ordinance to better manage battery energy storage systems.” She said this law does not include small-scale battery storage systems, which have an aggregate energy capacity of less than 80 kWh. Those are usually connected to solar panels or used as a generator in a home, she said, in contrast with those that are usually on commercial properties, such as at the GMC dealership on Route 117, or larger ones for utility use. 

Calves said the state had just come out with regulations a couple of days earlier that are supposed to make New York state’s fire code much more vigorous with respect to these systems. “We’ll be looking at that, and looking at the model ordinance and looking at our own zoning and requirements, to see if we can put something forward that adequately regulates these,” she said. “In the meantime, we don’t want any applications coming in without a law in place to understand how to deal with them.”

No one came forward to speak about the issue, either in person or online. The board quickly closed the hearing and approved the moratorium extension.

Chabad of Bedford

Three years after Chabad of Bedford was issued a temporary certificate of compliance for site work necessary to complete their project at 220 South Bedford Road, Rabbi Arik Wolf appeared before the board to request an extension.

Town attorney Eric Gordon explained that the temporary certificate can only last one year and had expired. He said there is site work that still needs to be completed, and there was additional site work done “that was not part of the original site plan that needs to be analyzed; there were violations issued regarding some of that site work that Chabad is aware of and they’re working to cure right now, as well as some wetlands issues and they need to apply for a wetlands permit as well.” 

Documents provided by the town indicate that on June 23, the Westchester County Department of Health conducted an inspection of the site and found “the grade above the Onsite Wastewater Treatment Area” was modified without approval, “via replacement of soil and grass in this area with a gravel pad.” The DOH noted that plans approved April 2, 2020, called for “a minimum depth of topsoil over the completed OWTS area of 4 inches followed by seeding of the area.” DOH further noted that the “As-Built plan dated July 25, 2022 states that the OWTS was installed in accordance with the approved plans,” and called for the area to be “restored to As-built conditions within 1 month of this letter” and failure to do so “may result in the issuance of a Notice of Violation.”

On July 1, according to a report from Wetlands Consultant Paul Jaehnig, the site was visited by Code Enforcement Officer Angel Oyo and Town Engineer William Angiolillo. The report determined that “vegetation clearing, machine excavation and re-grading has been carried-out within the 100 ft. wetland buffer without a permit.” It also found some tree trunks were damaged; tree trunk bases were covered over with re-graded fill soil; and no erosion control measures were installed. In addition, said Jaehnig, “it was determined that grounds have been disturbed and re-graded with an excavator adjacent to the building and an astroturf carpet has been installed over a portion of the existing sewage disposal system field.” A stop work order was issued, and contractors were asked to install erosion control measures along the edge of the wetlands.

On July 23, Wolf sent a letter to the Town Board, stating that in August 2022 Chabad had obtained a temporary certificate of occupancy from the building department, but that “due to several site issues, a final CO was never issued.” He said Chabad is in the process of resolving all site issues, including permission from the Wetlands Commission to remove soil that was placed in a wetland buffer, and permission from the town to satisfy a WCDOH request to “remove a small amount of turf that was placed over a small portion of the septic fields.”

The resolution before the board stated Chabad will “demonstrate that it has been proceeding with due diligence to remedy the issues and concerns raised by the WCDOH, the Town Engineer, the Town Environmental Consultant and the Building Department’s Notice of Violation.” Gordon noted that if the work is not completed within the allotted time, the board has the ability to extend the temporary permit for another six months, so long as Chabad shows diligence in resolving the issues.

“Our contractors made some mistakes that we are taking responsibility for and fixing,” said Wolf. He said they are on the Wetlands Commission agenda for Sept. 8, and DOH had already visited and resolved their issues. “We should be done with all this within a month or two and not need any more temporaries,” he said. “We want this to be done quickly and not have to come back and ask for any extensions.”

The board voted to approve the resolution.

Additional matters

The board approved an amendment to the lease entered into in 2018 with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the Bedford Hills train station, that will allow the town to sublease the station. 

There was also continued discussion of the proposal to update the sign code that would apply to yard signs outside the public right-of-way. Calves said, “We haven’t drafted a local law yet, because we try not to set public hearings and do things that may be of interest to the public to come and talk about and contemplate, in the dead of summer.” She said she would ask Gordon to prepare something for the next meeting so they can set a public hearing in September or October.

The next board meeting is Thursday, Sept. 4.