OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Pictured is the crowd at the latest public hearing regarding a battery energy storage system project proposal to the Town of Hanover.

HANOVER — The Town of Hanover heard an overwhelming amount of pushback from residents over the course of three hours at a public hearing, followed by two weeks to think over a proposed battery energy storage system in the town.

But when it came to asking residents if they wanted more information, the results were more open-ended than the tone of the room would have suggested. Despite an overwhelmingly negative majority of public comments, followed by responses of nearly 90% of residents opposing the project, the majority of the community also wanted more information.

As a result, the Town Board has planned to hold another meeting, as Deputy Supervisor Bernie Feldmann said, “to give everyone one more crack at asking the questions that they need.”

Following the recent public hearing on the matter — featuring nearly three hours of public comments and discussion with representatives associated with the project — the Town Clerk’s Office has been busy. The office compiled all of the data from a survey on-site at the recent meeting, coupled with a poll online and correspondence from residents. The Town Board was presented with pie charts and figures that showed 90% of more than 300 respondents opposed the proposed project. However, approximately 50% of respondents wanted another public meeting on the matter. Of the 50% that did not strongly push for another meeting, only 10% stated they did not want another meeting at all.

Following those figures being announced at the meeting, Bernie Feldmann made a motion to schedule another public hearing. His son, James Feldmann, seconded the motion. When it came time to vote, Town Board member Aimee Rogers voted against having another meeting, while Town Supervisor Lou Pelletter reluctantly agreed to vote in favor, knowing that without his vote — coupled with the absence of Town Board member Ed Schintzius — the motion would have failed to pass.

“Well I guess I’ll have to go with yes,” Pelletter said.

Pelletter has spoken with the Silver Creek Central School District about holding another meeting on campus due to the overwhelming crowd that attended the previous meeting. The target date floated for the meeting was March 31, but in order to coordinate with the School District, Northland Power representatives, and the Town Board, no official date has been finalized. A public notice will be posted in the OBSERVER and shared online when the date is set.

The Town Board hopes to make a final decision on the project – one way or another – by the end of April. The Town is hopeful to hold the meeting at the School prior to that time to allow for final deliberations before a vote.

The proposed project is a 250 megawatt lithium-ion battery storage system, which would be owned by Northland Power, Inc., the same owner as the Ball Hill Wind Turbine project. The interconnection would be located on Stebbins Road through National Grid. The earliest date for operation would likely be in 2028.