BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA — Town residents will have opportunities to offer their input during two public hearings during the town board’s Sept. 18 meeting, including 

Town officials will meet at 4:30 p.m., first hosting a public hearing to consider overriding the 2% tax cap as is required by state law. 

Town Supervisor Sue Bellor said the public hearing is a technicality that allows the town to exceed the tax cap, if necessary, but does not guarantee the town will actually exceed it. 

“We do this every year. That does not mean we will exceed the tax cap but this would give us the authority to do so, if we found it absolutely necessary,” she said. 

Bellor said during a recent meeting of town supervisors that state officials highly recommended passing the resolution to override the tax cap out of an abundance of caution. 

Following the tax cap public hearing, the board will then hold a second public hearing to potentially adopt a local law that would put in place regulations for crypto currency and data mining operations in the town.

The regulations have been in the works for literally years now, following multiple extensions of a moratorium that was put in place following numerous complaints related to operations in the town that utilized sea box shipping containers as opposed to proper, permanent structures as will be required under the new regulations. 

The public hearing will also allow the town board to extend the moratorium for an additional six months, if necessary. 

Town Attorney Eric Gustafson said the option would give the board options in the event something unexpected popped up during the public hearing. 

“I don’t think that will be necessary, but I don’t want us to be caught short,” he said. 

The passage of the regulations would bring an end to a six-year journey for the town following discussions of a moratorium in July 2018. 

One of the major sticking points has been language that one existing operation said could limit their expansion possibilities in the future. 

North Country Colocation Services CEO David Fogel has attended a number of town board meetings in recent months, advocating for clarification of language that would allow a large-scale operation like NCCS to expand operations in both existing and new structures if the operation is based in an industrial zone. 

NCCS is located in the former Alcoa East plant in an industrial zone. 

Fogel previously said the crypto operation will still go through proper channels when the time to expand occurs, including planning and zoning board reviews. 

“We will adhere to all existing regulations. Our intention is not to be grandfathered in to skip the entire process. We just wanted language included in potential regulations that would allow us to go to our potential investors, so we could show them that we could in fact expand our operation,” he previously said. 

Fogel said a $100 million expansion project was on hold due to the moratorium, something he and NCCS board members were keen to move forward with soon. 

“We support the efforts of the town of Massena to adopt cryptocurrency mining regulations that address the concerns of Massena residents involving small cryptocurrency mining operators that are causing visual and noise nuisances and that may not be following applicable safety rules and regulations,” Fogel said. 

Fogel said smaller operations operating in residential zones are the primary reason the regulations became necessary, something he said the town absolutely needed to move forward with. 

“NCCS is a large company, employing nearly 100 workers, and operates in an industrial zone with mining operations that do not present any of these same concerns. Our operations are inside buildings far away from residential areas and are run in a safe and fully compliant manner,” Fogel said. 

He said it has always been a priority for the operation to be “good neighbors.”

“We follow all regulations, all laws. We’re inspected by OSHA regularly. There is a lot of oversight for an operation like ours, in an industrial zone like the former Alcoa East plant. We’ve gone to great lengths to ensure everyone is safe, that we are following all regulations and are good neighbors,” Fogel previously said. 

But before that, the town board and various department heads will review budget requests for the 2025 budget. 

The review will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18 following weeks of preparation by departments. 

Bellor previously told department heads she hoped to see budget proposals submitted by July 31 so the town could begin work on the next budget. 

Bellor also welcomed department heads to meet with her individually before the meeting to discuss budget proposals if they felt it was necessary. 

Scheduled to be at the 2:30 p.m. budget session are  representatives from the Celine G. Philibert Cultural Centre and Museum,  dog control officer, Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce, Highway Department, Museum International Airport and Massena Public Library. 

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., the board will meet with the Massena Senior Citizens representatives, as well as Massena Meals on Wheels, town assessor, town clerk and tax office. 

All workshops are open to the public and will be held in room 30 at the town hall.