Minutes 09-12-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 Commissioner Price: With regard to the environment, I know it says —well, the Wildlife Resources Commission had recommend native species and all — and also, so my question is will you be using native species as they recommend? And also pesticide usage to maintain growth in weeds. Do you have a low pesticide maintenance plan? Brian Quinlan: We will not use pesticides. We don't use pesticides. Commissioner Price: Thank you. Brian Quinlan: We will remove the trees. There are small trees and shrubs in the vicinity of the leased area itself. The balance of the trees on the outside perimeter, we will not touch. And then for landscaping maintenance I would say we generally will have guys come in spring through fall, on a regular basis, kind of a rotating basis because it's pretty large facility to keep the weeds below the bottom level of the panels. And they'll just use mowers, and essentially, weed whackers to do that. Brian Quinlan: When we decommission it? We won't plant—we will do the landscape buffer, we'll plant indigenous species that are required to meet the buffer standards. And then in the decommissioning, we'll come in, we'll pull everything out, and then we will reseed with, you know, local seed as well. Commissioner Price: I was thinking mostly with the landscaping while it is in operation. This also gets to maintenance. I know I might sound like I'm going off track, and I know our attorney might reel me in, but who is the actual owner of the public utility that is going to be using this power? And it gets more to who's going to be responsible for maintaining this site? Is it who you're selling the energy? Brian Quinlan: I guess there are two components to that. So the actual solar panels themselves, up to the transformer, will be owned by up to the inverter will be owned by us, basically. Then it transitions the ownership—the transformer will be installed by the utility— by Duke. And then from that point on —which basically then hooks into their distribution line— that's all their responsibility. So downstream is us, upstream is them. Commissioner Price: Thank you. Commissioner Jacobs: And who is responsible for cleaning up the abandoned barrels, and things like that, that are on the site? Is that part of your due diligence, or is that outside the scope? Brian Quinlan: What abandoned barrels? Commissioner Jacobs: Did I not see photographs? Chair McKee: There were some photographs and some documents we have, of some trash and barrels, I think was on the property. Commissioner Jacobs: Some of the area where it had been logged. Brian Quinlan: It was on the entrance of the property, it wasn't in the leased area, I don't think. In any event, in the leased area it would be our responsibility to remove it, once we —we have the lease in place— so that's ours.