Minutes of the Town of Hamden Planning Board 07/28/2026
Meeting called to order at 7:33pm
Members Present: Ben VanDusen (Chair), Rachelle Rogers (Secretary), Planning Board members: Dennis Aikens and Sue Hoyt.
Other Officials Present: Bret Sage Town Board Liaison and Sean Leddy County Representative
Minutes from the June meeting were read. Dennis moves to approve the minutes as read, seconded by Rachelle, all in favor, motion carried.
Old Business: Bret shared that the Town Board has moved the Wind Energy Facilities Law, onto the Town attorney for updates and revisions. It will come back to the planning board for review once complete.
New Business: Fraser Battery Energy Storage system update, EDF is not in attendance. They are still finalizing parts of their application with the consultants and whom is reviewing which portions. The different areas being looked at is road usage, PILOT, fire, sound, etc. Its a very large application and it will take a lot of consultants to review. Gay Merrill from the public asked about EDF and the private equity firm that acquired them. Sean shared that he does not know who the company is. Gay asked who selects the consultants? Ben and Sean shared that the town hired Lamont engineering, they are acquiring other consultants to help with the review. Also, the town’s attorney Young & Sommer have taken the lead in selecting consultants. Ben shared that the town has a link to EDF’s information on the towns website about the proposed project. Rachelle showed Gay on her laptop where to find the link on the towns website. Gay asked who is funding this company and project? Sean stated that he is not aware where they get their funding from.
Sean applied for a SMIP (Stream Managements Implement Program) for Hamden through Soil and Water for Bagley Brook off of Scobie Road. SMIP provides reimbursement based grants for water quality protection, stream stewardship, and flood mitigation projects.
Dennis moves to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Sue, all in favor, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:16pm.
Rachelle Rogers (Secretary) Ben VanDusen (Chair)
