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<br /> 1 Rich Kirkland: Good evening. Again, my name is Rick Kirkland. I am a commercial general
<br /> 2 certified appraiser in North Carolina. I've been working the Triangle as an appraiser for 19
<br /> 3 years. Focus is commercial, but a big focus of what I do is land. I do a lot of land appraisals,
<br /> 4 subdivisions and things of that nature. I was hired by Strata Solar to look at the question of
<br /> 5 whether or not there is going to be an impact on the property value of the adjoining properties to
<br /> 6 the solar farm. To that end, I have visited a number of solar farms across the state. I have
<br /> 7 done research through the appraisal institute's loan library. I have gone out and looked at raw
<br /> 8 data. I have gone out and looked at solar farms; looked at - for what we call matched pairs. The
<br /> 9 textbook answer for whether or not a property is going to be impacted —the way you look for
<br /> 10 that, the appraisal institute teaches, is you look for what's called a paired sale analysis, or a
<br /> 11 matched pair. Essentially, you are basically looking for two properties that are identical in every
<br /> 12 way, except for one difference, and that is what you are measuring for. In this case we are
<br /> 13 measuring for, adjacent to a solar farm. The best example I was able to find was in Goldsboro.
<br /> 14 There is a solar farm that Strata Solar built, called the AM Best Solar Farm, and there is a new
<br /> 15 subdivision being built adjoining this solar farm. They have lots that back up to the solar farm,
<br /> 16 and they have lots that don't. They are all being marketed the same. They are all being sold.
<br /> 17 There are a number of sales that have happened; I believe there are five that have happened in
<br /> 18 2013, of homes that back up to the solar farm. These are selling for the same houses, for the
<br /> 19 same floor plans as the ones that are across the street or down the street away from the solar
<br /> 20 farm. I talked to the brokers. They said the solar farm is a non-factor as far as things go. 1
<br /> 21 walked down the street. I knocked on doors. I talked to the folks who bought these homes that
<br /> 22 live next to the solar farm. No one expressed any concern about it. Some of the property
<br /> 23 owners were aware that the solar farm was under construction when they bought, and some
<br /> 24 were not. Regardless of whether they knew or didn't know, they were paying the same prices.
<br /> 25 So, this really is a strong indication that there is really no impact on these adjoining property
<br /> 26 values. Homes in this subdivision are selling in the $240,000 to $260,000 price range. And so,
<br /> 27 that is the textbook way you look for this. This is — as far as it goes, there is nothing else to
<br /> 28 adjust for. These are identical uses. Since then, it's not actually in my report, but I've actually
<br /> 29 found a couple of other matched pairs that I would just briefly discuss. Specifically, the White
<br /> 30 Cross - the tract of land —the parent tract that that solar farm was built on —They sold off that
<br /> 31 piece in 2013, and it sold for a price — I can reference it here— I'll tell you the right amount— It's
<br /> 32 selling for $7,500 an acre. Again, I've done a lot of work in that area lately for the local
<br /> 33 environmental groups. Looking at the recent sales, there was a sale—very similar size tract of
<br /> 34 land —27 acres sold for $7,900 an acre, slightly more - the comp that's not next to the solar
<br /> 35 farm, but that one also had mature timber on it, which is the difference that I saw there. So, that
<br /> 36 again showed that, for residential agriculture land, no impact adjacent to the solar farm. I've
<br /> 37 also identified property that I reference in my report as the Zebulon Solar Farm. It's in Zebulon,
<br /> 38 North Carolina. Some of the information there is actually dated. Since I wrote this report last
<br /> 39 month, I've identified since then that a tract of 25 lots — a package of 25 lots —that are
<br /> 40 referenced in there as "The Meadows of Duke's Lake." Those sold to a builder. A builder
<br /> 41 picked up all of those lots — paid $25,000 a lot for those. Again, that's a package deal where
<br /> 42 you buy 20 some odd lots. You don't— it's like when you buy a can of coke. If you buy a case,
<br /> 43 you're going to pay a lot less per can than you would if you just bought one can. Same thing
<br /> 44 with builders when they buy lots; when they buy a big package, they get a discount of 30 to 50
<br /> 45 percent off of sort of market value. But I compare those to some other bulk sales that have
<br /> 46 happened in that Wendell/Zebulon area in 2013, and there were two other sales of similar
<br /> 47 packaged lots that were selling for $15,000 a lot and $12,000 a lot. So, again, this one that was
<br /> 48 next to this proposed solar plant actually was selling stronger than other similar developments in
<br /> 49 that area. So, all the matched pairs are really showing strong information that there is no impact
<br /> 50 from the solar farm adjacency—that it's not really affecting property values in any way. And that
<br /> 51 goes in well with how you normally look for what would cause a problem, or a discount, or a
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