MASSENA — The town board will hold an organizational meeting on Tuesday at 5:30 pm, including a public hearing on the extension of the current cryptocurrency mining moratorium.
Debra A. Willer and Francis J. Carvel will also be sworn in for one year indefinite terms.
“We have a hearing scheduled next Tuesday to have an organizational meeting. After we have both Frances and Debra in place, we will be at the hearing on that,” said town supervisor Susan J. Beller. said.
Mrs. Willer had been appointed to fill Mrs. Beller’s term as a board member after she was elected town supervisor last year. Her term as director will expire in 2023.
Mr. Carvel will succeed Thomas C. Miller, who did not seek another term. He has been on the village board for his 14 years and is running for town board this year. He has two years left on his four-year village board term, and the Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Bellor said he is considering extending the current cryptocurrency moratorium until local laws governing such facilities are established. She recently attended a webinar on how others are handling cryptocurrency operations in the community.
“It was nice to hear a panel of speakers talk about their strengths and weaknesses and how they would like to implement those regulations,” she said.
She said the public is welcome to come and voice their opinions on Tuesday.
“Some people will show up, some will email, some will send regular email. Anything will work,” said Mrs. Beller.
The town board extended the moratorium until January 31 at its November meeting, but resident David Fenton said the moratorium should be skipped and operations banned entirely until state regulations are in place. .
Without regulation, investors cannot be protected if the company goes bankrupt, he said. You are now taking risks in the absence of government regulation. You are perpetuating an unprotected industry. They can go bankrupt very easily. you support it I don’t think it’s a very good idea. ”
During the meeting, town attorney Eric J. Gustafsson said he was close to getting local regulations.
“I think we are just there. We have some work to do. We have it, it’s not ready yet, but it’s coming, the January timeframe is to finalize the regulation, have it reviewed by the committee, and have it heard and adopted in December or January. I think we’ll give them enough time to do so,” he said.
Governor Kathleen C. Hochul recently signed into law a limited moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations in the state for two years.
A state moratorium applies to new permits for cryptocurrency mining companies that utilize fossil fuels and use proof-of-work authentication methods to verify transaction data. The Bitcoin network relies on proof of work authentication.
Under the new bill, the Environmental Protection Agency will also be required to investigate the environmental impact of the crypto industry.
New York is the first state to impose such a ban.
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