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<br /> 1 And so, I do have a couple of questions for the Board members. One is who is going to
<br /> 2 pay for this assessment. Two - Who would pay for whatever prevention measures would be
<br /> 3 necessary for us to protect our property? Three - Who would pay for damages, should the
<br /> 4 flooding occur? Whether you believe in climate change or not, it looks like storms are getting
<br /> 5 worse, and even without that fact, the history of this area is Hurricane Fran. You know it is not a
<br /> 6 maybe, it's an eventuality. And also, who would be responsible for paying for other unforeseen
<br /> 7 damage and problems that might result from this project.
<br /> 8
<br /> 9 So that's my first point. The second point is— oh and also I just want to refer to the
<br /> 10 photos. The first two photos that you have show the back of our house from the field, facing our
<br /> 11 house, and if you look over to the right at the air conditioner—Oh, thank you. So, over here,
<br /> 12 this is the area where the flooding occurs, and then the second photo is a closer shot of that
<br /> 13 area. So you can see this here is where the flooding occurs. Over here is a drain that I put in
<br /> 14 and some barriers to prevent the water from running into the crawl space. And this is where we
<br /> 15 get the 2 to 6 inches of standing water.
<br /> 16
<br /> 17 So the second point that I want to make is about property value decline. And no I am
<br /> 18 not an expert, so I am not an appraiser. But I do— I am a property owner, and I have some
<br /> 19 common sense. At least I think I do. And so, according to the scale drawings on the
<br /> 20 application, the chain link fence topped with barbed wire or razor wire that hasn't been
<br /> 21 mentioned, but if you look at installations, they all have that, is going to be less than 50 feet from
<br /> 22 our property boundary; and the nearest solar panel here would be 70 feet from our property line.
<br /> 23 In his testimony as an expert witness regarding the impact of solar farms on adjacent property
<br /> 24 values, which is attachment c of the application, Mr. David Massey states that the solar farms
<br /> 25 with the proposed landscaping buffers and natural buffers will not create a negative externality
<br /> 26 for the surrounding properties. And I —well - It's clear from the other two photos. The third
<br /> 27 photo is the view from our house. Now Mr. Fox keeps repeating and asking questions to make
<br /> 28 the point that, well, when these trees grow to 30 feet, are you going to be able to see the solar
<br /> 29 array." Well if they grow to 30 feet, maybe not. However, I am 64 years old. I really seriously
<br /> 30 question whether I am still going to be walking around on the planet when trees grow from 8 to
<br /> 31 30 feet. In the meantime, this would all be solar panels, and the fence would be right here.
<br /> 32 That's about 50 feet, and so you put an eight foot fence and eight foot trees, or evergreen trees
<br /> 33 - That by the way if you notice on the drawing, they're spaced apart. So they are not grown
<br /> 34 together, and then the second row of trees —The point being that from our house, on the
<br /> 35 second story, which is what this view is, you will see over that fence, and you will see over those
<br /> 36 trees until they grow to 30 feet. And so, until that time it is obviously an externality that has a
<br /> 37 negative impact. I can't imagine what this is going to look like when it is covered with solar
<br /> 38 panels. Even the prettiest views that the applicant showed today of all the shiny blue and green
<br /> 39 grass and all that, compared to this; if that's what was out there when we looked at this
<br /> 40 neighborhood 25 years ago, I wouldn't have bought this house.
<br /> 41
<br /> 42 So that's the view from the house. This is the view from the yard. You can see - if it's
<br /> 43 not easy to see on this, it's a little easier on the photos you've got—that there is a porch swing
<br /> 44 right here facing this. So, because you are at ground level now, what is going to dominate this
<br /> 45 view right now is not so much the solar panels, but the 8 foot high chain link fence topped with
<br /> 46 razor wire. Again, those 8 foot trees are going to be spaced far enough apart that we may not
<br /> 47 see over them, but we are going to see between them. And again, until that vegetation grows
<br /> 48 up to the level of the fence and the thickness to totally block the fence, we are going to see that
<br /> 49 stuff, and it ain't going to be pretty.
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