The Town of Albion board voted unanimously to adopt three local laws calling for moratoria on wind energy facilities, commercial solar projects and battery energy storage systems, according to the town's draft minutes of its October 5 meeting.
The votes followed a public hearing on the three measures. The draft describes the moratoria as an opportunity for the board to revise the town code as more information becomes available.
The measures were Local Law 6, concerning Chapter 104 on wind energy facilities; Local Law 7, concerning Chapter 105 on solar power farms and commercial power projects; and Local Law 8, concerning Chapter 106 on battery energy storage systems. They were adopted through Resolutions 12, 13 and 14 of 2026, respectively, the draft records.
All five board members are listed as voting yes on each measure. The draft records the hearing's opening and closing and says discussion followed, but does not provide a detailed account of public testimony.
These are reported adoption votes in a draft meeting record. The minutes do not supply the full local-law texts, moratorium lengths, exemptions or effective dates. They therefore do not establish when restrictions took legal effect or how a particular application would be treated.
For residents following the town's land-use rules, the record distinguishes board votes on the measures from their detailed legal terms. The full adopted laws remain necessary to establish those terms.
Source: the Town of Albion's October 5, 2026 draft minutes. This report describes the draft as posted; it does not represent those minutes as approved.
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●The Town of Albion board voted in July to adopt Local Law 5 of 2026 for a moratorium on commercial data centers, after a June decision to schedule a hearing on a proposed 12-month pause. The July 13 minutes record four affirmative votes and say no data-center applications had been received at the time of the hearing.
●The discussion began in May, when town officials raised concerns about data centers’ water and electricity demands, heat and noise after an Association of Towns meeting. In June, attorney James Bell presented a proposed 12-month moratorium and the board scheduled the July hearing. The July minutes then record adoption. That establishes a board vote, rather than independently establishing the law’s filing, effective date, exemptions or full text; those details require the enacted original.
●The town also halted Union Cemetery plot sales while it sorted out its records and fees. On June 8, the board approved a 60-day moratorium on plot sales, subject to review at the July meeting. The minutes described a $40 plot price and burial-preparation charges of $325 for a full burial and $175 for cremation, while officials were still determining how many plots remained available.
Town’s September draft set energy-moratorium hearings and left cemetery fees for another vote
●Albion’s town board moved toward proposed pauses on wind, commercial solar and battery-storage projects in September, according to draft minutes posted by the Town of Albion in Orleans County. The draft records votes to schedule three public hearings for October 5; it does not establish that any moratorium became law.
●The hearings concerned Chapters 104, 105 and 106 of the town code: Wind Energy Facilities, Solar Power Farms/Commercial Power Projects and Battery Energy Storage Systems. The four members listed present voted in favor of each hearing. In August, the board had asked members to review the existing energy codes; the September draft describes moving ahead through the local-law process. It does not supply the proposed laws, their duration or any final adoption vote.
●October 5 has now passed. The September record also says the board moved its regular October meeting from October 12 to October 5 because of the holiday. This is a historical account of what the draft scheduled, rather than a current invitation to attend or confirmation that the hearings took place.
Town’s 2026 records changed clerk access, assessor and historian appointments
●The Town of Albion’s January organizational vote changed the clerk’s office schedule to 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday through Thursday without a lunch closure, and designated the Lake Country Pennysave and Orleans Hub for public notices. Those were changes recorded at the January 12 meeting, rather than independent confirmation of today’s office hours or every notice’s publication.
●The board also appointed Alexis Penna-Swan as town assessor for the remainder of the term ending September 30, 2031. The January minutes place the appointment within the town’s assessment-services contract with Orleans County. In August, the board approved continuation of joint assessment services with the county and Gaines.
●The historian position changed during the year. The board accepted Ian Mowatt’s resignation in February and appointed Sue Starkweather Miller in June, recording that the position is appointed annually. These records establish the board actions without supplying a current contact directory.
Town adopted higher water-use rates in April after winter discussions
●The Town of Albion in Orleans County approved higher water-use rates in April, following discussions in February and March about the town’s costs and the prices paid by neighboring towns.
●The April 13 minutes say the charge for resident usage above 500 gallons would increase from $4.88 to $5.59 per 1,000 gallons. All five board members voted to adopt the water-rate resolution. The record does not give an effective billing date or a complete rate schedule, so it cannot by itself establish the total on a household’s next bill.
●Wholesale rates changed as well. The minutes record increases from $3.75 to $4.46 per 1,000 gallons for Gaines and Ridgeway; from $3.62 to $4.28 for Barre; and from $3.39 to $4.28 for Murray. Supervisor F. Richard Remley had letters ready to inform those towns. These are the Town of Albion’s rates as described in its record, not the retail rates every customer of those towns necessarily pays.
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