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Phillip Post: I think that's true. I think it's an advantage for folks to know about what's <br /> happening in the County. <br /> Rich Kirland: My name is Rich Kirkland, I've been duly sworn in. I've been appraising in the <br /> Triangle area for the last 16 years and grew up in the area. What I have found is that there is <br /> no information out there that suggests any kind of negative impact. The standard criteria would <br /> be any kind of noise, site detriment, any kind of odor, and there's nothing along those lines on <br /> any of these properties associated with solar power. As far as the site goes, even if you could <br /> see it, it looks remarkably similar to greenhouse type of uses, which don't have a negative <br /> impact. To that end, around this property the uses are either agricultural, vacant land, and a <br /> mobile home park. <br /> Andrea Rohrbacher: I'm not sure if this is the appropriate time to ask this question, but the <br /> plan talks about the power generator being sold to Duke Power. What if there were a future <br /> purchase or acquisition with respect to Duke Power company and the new owner was no longer <br /> interested in purchasing this power?What would happen? <br /> Beth Trehos: One of the reasons that green energy like solar power is so attractive in this area <br /> is that there are state law requirements that the energy companies contract with providers, so <br /> there is an incentive for a company that would buy Duke Power to continue on. Also, we are <br /> actively involved in the negotiations of a contract which would bind that. <br /> Lance Williams: Hi, my name is Lance Williams, I'm in site development for Strata Solar. We <br /> have a regulated power industry. There are regulations that require power companies to buy <br /> power. We sell our power at a competitive rate of other sources of power. This model is to sign <br /> a power purchase agreement for a 15-year term. <br /> The construction process, I'll just tell you a little bit about that. We look for sites that don't have <br /> more than a 7% grade. So basically, we come into the site and we install fence posts. They go <br /> six to ten feet in the ground. Then we attach the solar panels. Then the wires run together and <br /> we attach them into the power grid. So it is a very nonintrusive piece of the land. We're not <br /> normally reshaping the way that the work goes off the property. Many people find this a very <br /> compatible use to rural agricultural land. As mentioned before, they don't create a lot of noise. <br /> There is not a lot of traffic. If there is a problem with the array, then we send someone to check <br /> it out, so the amount of traffic we're creating is less than what would be created for a single <br /> house. It is encouraged by the Comprehensive Plan and it is also considered a public good by <br /> both the state and the federal government. This site creates enough energy for about 748 <br /> houses. This equates to about the same as 2.8 million miles of vehicular traffic the amount of <br /> savings in greenhouse emissions that is created by one solar panel. <br /> Construction takes about 14 weeks, so, we're not intrusive to neighbors other than during the <br /> construction period. Once again, we're not causing a large increase in cost to the County. <br /> Thank you very much. We look forward to building a solar farm in Orange County. Since <br /> Orange County is our home, we have strong ties to the site and I think this use fits very well into <br /> the surrounding community. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs: What is the life of one of these panels? <br /> Lance Williams: Well, we haven't quite lived that long yet. The best guess is 50 to 60 years. <br /> At the end of 25 years, the panel is at 85% capacity. The panels do not have moving parts, they <br />