Crypto regulations under review in Massena, nearing finish line

MASSENA
—
Plans
to
adopt
crypto
mining
regulations
in
the
town
of
Massena
have
been
delayed
another
month
after
town
officials
agreed
to
review
proposed
changes
submitted
by
county
officials.  

According
to
town
of
Massena
attorney
Eric
Gustafason,
county
officials
recently
weighed
in
on
the
proposed
regulations
and
offered
a
few
tweaks,
some
of
which
he
liked
and
others
he
said
“were
not
to
his
liking.”

“Let’s
see
what
we
can
do
with
the
language.
I
didn’t
necessarily
agree
with
their
plans
but
I
thought
maybe
there’s
a
way
we
can
make
the
law
a
little
more
streamlined
and
effective,”
he
said.

“I
think
there’s
some
opportunities
to
make
some
improvements
to
it
and
we’re
working
on
that
currently,”
he
continued.

Following
the
county
review,
Gustafson
suggested
the
town
“hold
tight
for
another
month”
while
he
added
revisions
to
the
proposed
regulations.

Once
complete,
Gustafson
said
a
public
hearing
would
be
required
prior
to
adopting
the
regulations.

The
current
moratorium
will
expire
Sept.
30
but
town
officials
can
opt
to
end
the
moratorium
sooner
if
regulations
are
approved.

“The
St.
Lawrence
county
Planning
Board
came
back
with
recommendations.
You
will
receive
copies
of
these
recommendations.
I
guess,
basically
considering
the
amount
of
people
that
spoke
at
the
county
on
this,
there
were
just
some
minor
things
that
they
had
recommended,”
Town
Supervisor
Sue
Bellor
said.

According
to
county
officials,
seven
changes
were
recommended
to
the
town
of
Massena.

The
first
is
to
strike
the
word
“solely”
from
section
4.1.b.
to
eliminate
confusion
as
to
the
legality
of
using
shipping
containers
for
“containment
structures.”

The
next
was
to
add
the
phrasing
“Site
Plan
Review”
to
section
5.1
or
remove
the
reference
to
Article
XIII
of
the
Massena
Town
Code,
which
encompasses
site
plan
review.

County
officials
also
said
language
to
clarify
if
the
town
intends
to
exempt
existing
expansions
of
crypto
mining
operations
should
be
added
as
well,
including
perpetual
expansions
that
would
not
be
reviewable.

Another
recommendation
offered
was
to
remove
the
reference
that
would
outlaw
crypto
operations
that
utilize
storage
containers
outside
of
a
building
since
such
use
of
a
container
was
already
prohibited
under
section
4.1.

Three
additional,
non-binding
recommendations
were
also
offered,
including
the
creation
of
a
local
law
that
specific
standards
based
on
the
size
of
the
operation.
The
propose
law
could
that
would
apply
to
smaller
operations
could
be
enacted
now
while
further
regulations
could
be
applied
in
the
future
for
larger
operations.

County
officials
also
recommended
creating
a
definition
for
shipping
containers
and
suggested
paginating
the
local
law
for
easier
reference.

While
the
county
suggested
some
regulations
that
would
differentiate
between
larger
or
smaller
operations,
Gustafson
shot
down
the
ideas
saying
they
would
cause
“a
lot
of
unnecessary
confusion.”

““I
didn’t
like
that
particular
resolution
at
all.
But,
there
are
certain
items
that
were
particularly
important
to
the
town,
and
certain
items
that
I
think
can
be
covered
by
other
legislation
that’s
out
there,”
he
said.

Gustafson
said
there
was
“an
opportunity
to
take
the
draft
regulations
and
streamline
them
a
bit”
to
have
something
more
consistent
and
defensible
in
the
future.

Gustafson
and
town
officials
have
been
working
in
recent
months
to
address
a
number
of
concerns
raised
by
North
Country
Colocation
Services
CEO
David
Fogel,
who
previously
said
language
needed
to
be
included
that
would
allow
NCCS
to
expand.

Fogel
previously
said
the
$100
million
expansion
NCCS
was
planning
hinged
on
the
language
offered
in
the
regulations,
saying
investors
would
be
hesitant
to
commit
their
funds
if
the
expansion
could
be
jeopardized
by
the
regulations.

Fogel
previously
reiterated
that
NCCS
is
not
seeking
special
treatment
or
to
circumvent
the
planning
committee
and
environmental
review
processes
that
take
place
in
industrial
sites.

“We
simply
want
clarification
of
the
language
so
that
we
can
confidently
move
forward
with
our
expansion
project
and
to
tell
our
investors
that
we
can
do
this,”
he
told
board
members.

If
the
expansion
were
to
go
through,
Fogel
said
the
operation
could
expand
from
the
current
84
employees
to
160
or
so.

Once
complete,
the
expansion
could
bring
millions
of
dollars
in
tax
revenue
to
the
county
and
town,
he
previously
said.