From left, Busti Board members Tyler Nelson and Jim Andrews conduct business Monday, at the Busti Town Board meeting. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – No one from the public was in attendance to air any comments – negative or positive – concerning three moratorium laws approved Monday by the Busti Town Board.

In three separate public hearings, board members waited for comments by the public, and no one aired any.

After hearing no comments during the first public hearing, board members voted to approve Local Law 1 of 2026 entitled A local Law Enacting a Moratorium on Commercial Solar Energy Facilities.

According to a prepared document, “The proposed law would extend a moratorium on the consideration of any commercial solar energy facility by the town until June 30, 2027, while the town amends the existing land use regulations for such facilities.

Local Law 2 of 2026 was approved after the second public hearing, and it was similar to local law 1.

Local Law 2 is a local law enacting a moratorium on wind energy conversion systems and it read “The proposed law would extend a moratorium on the consideration of any commercial wind energy conversion facility by the town until June 30, 2027, while the town amends the existing land use regulations for such facilities.”

Board members also approved a law on battery energy storage systems.

Local Law 3 of 2026 read that “The proposed law would extend a moratorium on the consideration of any commercial battery energy storage facility by the town until June 30, 2027, while the town amends the existing land use regulations for such facilities, and awaits the final report and recommendation of a NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) working group established to study such facilities.”

In another matter, a fourth public hearing was held for the purpose of hearing public comments on the Town of Busti’s community development needs, and to discuss the possible submission of one or more Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applications for the 2026 program year. The CDBG program is administered by the New York State Office of Community Renewal (OCR) and will make available to eligible local governments approximately $45 million for Public Infrastructure and Public Facilities projects for the 2026 for housing, economic development, public facilities, public infrastructure, and planning activities, with the principal purpose of benefitting low/moderate income persons.

The town is applying for $2 million in CDBG funds to complete water system improvements including extending municipal water service from the existing Town of Busti Water District, construct a new water storage tank, and make necessary upgrades to an existing pump station.

In February, the town moved forward with its District 7 Water Expansion Project. Then, Andy Johnson of EcoStrategies, and Matthew Zarbo of Square Engineering updated town board members on what the next steps were.

The proposed $5.82 million project was approved in May 2024, and is a 2.1 mile loop that begins at the five-way intersection, in Busti, at Busti-Sugar Grove Road to Lawson Road to Mill Road to the intersection to complete the loop. The proposed expansion is expected to service about 106 users.

The proposed water storage tank will be located on Orr Street, and will be connected, and maintained by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

For the project, Busti was awarded a New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. Water Infrastructure Improvement and Intermunicipal Grant of $4,072,740 or 70 percent of the project’s cost.

Johnson told board members CDBG money is federal money, and the town may not receive all of the $2 million it is applying for, but the town also can apply for other grants or zero-interest loans to cover any remaining amounts.

Supervisor Jesse Robbins has been in contact with U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy’s office to find out what other grants are available.

Busti resident Nancy O’Brien questioned where the proposed water storage tank is going to be located. She said the proposed tank is near her property and may be unsightly. Both Robbins and Johnson said the tank is not a tower, so it would not be high in the air.

“We are aiming for 30 feet,” Johnson said.

With a 30-foot height, evergreen trees may be placed near the proposed tank, so it could be hidden as much as possible. Johnson also said the tank would be painted green.

“We definitely want to make it as low impact as possible for you and everybody in the neighborhood,” Johnson said.