The Pulaski County Commissioners denied an 18-month moratorium on Battery Energy Storage Systems by a vote of 2-1 during their meeting Tuesday, February 18.
The moratorium ordinance was presented to the commissioners for consideration by Building Inspector/Plan Administrator Karla Redweik as recommended by the Pulaski County Advisory Plan Commission. Redweik said the recommendation passed with a 7-0 vote in favor of the moratorium with one abstention.
Commission President Don Street asked for the purpose of the moratorium.
Redweik explained that the 18-month time period will give the members of the Advisory Plan Commission time to educate themselves on Battery Energy Storage Systems and to properly put language into an ordinance that would determine what is best for Pulaski County concerning the installation and operation of that equipment. There is no current language that pertains to Battery Energy Storage Systems in Pulaski County in ordinance form at this time.
Commissioner Jenny Knebel commented that if an application would be submitted the county would be at the mercy of whatever language has been developed by the Department of Homeland Security and not to the standards put forth by Pulaski County.
Commissioner Street asked about a timeline and Redweik said she is working on a timeline. The moratorium would give Advisory Plan Commission members a chance to take classes to understand Battery Energy Storage Systems and to put something in place to protect the county, according to Redweik.
Redweik noted that there is a one-sentence statement in an ordinance that points to responsible maintenance of battery storage.
Commissioner Street asked about advertisements. Redweik said she submitted paperwork to be advertised that pertained to a public hearing on certain ordinance adjustments and fee schedules that was published on time. She said she is responsible for advertisements of meetings. She said what was published on the Battery Energy Storage System public hearing was submitted by Commissioner Knebel. Commissioner Knebel stated that she had permission to submit the amended notice for publication by County Attorney Jacob Ahler which added the address of the location of the public hearing and a time frame for the moratorium.
Commissioner Knebel said she had asked Redweik by email and text to meet her to get the notice submitted, but Redweik said she did not receive those notifications until that Tuesday as the office was closed. Commissioner Knebel stated that she did her due diligence before she submitted changes for publication.
Commissioner Street said said that the Building Inspector should have been involved with the change, and County Attorney Ahler said he did not disagree, but he authorized the changes as the paperwork needed to be turned in that specific day or else the special meeting for the public hearing would have had to been moved. He said that the regular process will be followed in the future.
Commissioner Street noted that with the legal concerns in the county he said things need to be done correctly.
Ahler said the commissioners can either accept the moratorium as presented, deny it or make modifications to it.
Commissioner Knebel made a motion to accept the moratorium ordinance as presented by the Building Inspector. There was no second to the motion so the motion died for lack of a second.
Commissioner Mike McClure made a motion to deny the moratorium ordinance which was seconded by Commissioner Street. The motion passed 2-1 with Knebel opposed.
There were comments made by residents that the published notice was correct and that was a “minor detail” when looking at the big picture for the county.
