[0:03] did you read all both of these word

[0:15] [Music] for boy got quiet we got a few

[0:28] seconds

[0:33] all right there it is six o'clock so we'll call this order meeting to order

[0:38] for the April 1st 2024 Scotland County Board of Commissioners meeting and we'll

[0:42] start with an invocation with in our gathering tonight we thank you for the

[0:46] many blessings that you give us each and every day Lord we thank you for

[0:50] sometimes even the trials and tribulations you PR present before us

[0:53] Lord so might we might learn from your grace and increase our faith father God

[0:59] we ask that you be with us as we consider all the concerns of the people

[1:02] of this County this County Lord we thank you for those who are present tonight

[1:06] Lord because their pres makes us better in your name we pray amen amen amen

[1:12] stand

[1:19] for we got an additional item added in and and we wanted to recognize that uh

[1:25] today is Sandy callen's birthday happy birthday

[1:30] everybody

[1:33] [Applause] happy all right good enough um so next

[1:38] we'll talk about the approval of the agenda if everybody's had time to review

[1:42] that and offer motion for approval of of the agenda have a motion all right this

[1:49] carries we'll move on to our public forum um we have a three minute time

[1:54] limit on the public forum I do need to make a little special disclosure tonight

[1:59] on our public forum that if you're here to talk about the item which is the

[2:05] public uh hearing that we're having on the other solar Farms later we you need

[2:10] to be we we can't hear that right now because we'll be going into a sworn

[2:15] testimony at that time so just but you're free to talk about whatever else

[2:20] you would like to in your three minutes uh Nash

[2:24] Hardy No Melissa Creed I didn't see her or Dr will

[2:31] seeing none here well he's here oh there he is hiding behind Jerry

[2:39] I don't talk about these specific uh projects okay I

[2:46] didn't understand his question till I reread that first meeting but anyway one

[2:50] he asked me said well would I rather um sell my land then lease it for a lot

[2:57] more and of course I missed what he was his intent was if I were a seller I

[3:03] would certainly rather lease it for 10 times what I could sell it for my

[3:08] question is why are they buying it or why are they leasing it for 10

[3:13] times what they can can purchase the land answer that question um that's a

[3:20] concern anyway at the meeting two months ago I gave each of you a few pages of

[3:24] information and ask eight questions that I would like for either you or the solar

[3:28] panel companies to answer and so far I've not received an answer

[3:32] to any of them I see where the solar companies

[3:35] have already begun work on one of these tracks even before you have voted and

[3:39] I'm told your attorney has told you you have to vote in favor of the solar

[3:43] panels the Native Americans traded their land for shiny objects

[3:48] also history here I understand y'all have a difficult task providing services

[3:55] for an economically distressed County with a decline in tax base

[4:01] but do you think putting solar panels on land which could easily be de I sort of

[4:06] overheard was selling water to H county is selling water to H County so that H

[4:12] County continue to grow rather than biting the growth to come to Scotland

[4:17] County is that a good idea I mean I I know y'all got to balance this year's

[4:21] budget you got to balance budgets until you get reelected Etc but you got to

[4:25] look further down the road and to me like I draw drew y'all that map that's

[4:32] just not a good use of the land benefits the land owner and solar F companies it

[4:39] doesn't benefit Scotland County I understand that yeah they're they're

[4:43] taxed but taxed at 20% because of State statutes and that's

[4:48] none none of y'all's do um I feel an obligation to my ancestors who cleared

[4:54] this land with shovels and mules and to my descendants who I fear will inherit

[4:58] environmental damage these solar farmers will leave us with just like pink energy

[5:04] and Kevin Chapel that talked to y'all last moment there's no no nothing going

[5:10] on there this fight will not in end here

[5:14] you have members on this board with conflicts of interest and members on

[5:17] this board who have violated your own rules whose votes will be

[5:20] challenged you have been told you have to vote for these rules by your attorney

[5:25] who may feel like he's doing his job but my opinion is giving you bad advice

[5:30] that's so Mark let me let me just make one very end it's not it's from a source

[5:36] that we don't currently use using anything it's not even producing any

[5:39] water right now um so it's just an opportunity that we could take that

[5:43] asset and turn it into to to making money because either way if we you know

[5:50] and I'm with you invite that well again is development I know subdivisions

[5:57] require Services you got to build in schools you got to have water maybe even

[6:01] sewer so they're going to fill up Poke County they're going to fill up more

[6:04] County it's all right coming to Richmond County I get a client at least I I think

[6:11] that's our future um between military housing and people spread from fille and

[6:17] more County both Richmond and Scot well the good thing is if we do that with

[6:22] that facility for what they're requesting in the amount wise the

[6:26] facility has more potential than just what the amount that they would want

[6:32] so right yeah I get it I just it's C I asked him a question thank you sir none

[6:39] we'll move on to our consent agenda if we all had a chance to look at that take

[6:44] a motion on that move to approve the consent

[6:48] agenda have a motion in a second any questions all in favor inequality in

[6:56] ownership and generational wealth

[7:01] good evening uh my name is Genesis Davis and I am a senior at St Andrews

[7:08] University graduating this year uh 2024 um who does the slides oh we can go

[7:16] the next well we I have to do it this

[7:20] way so I just wanted to preface by saying a little bit more about me again

[7:25] like I've said before I'm a St Andrew senior um and I'm actually and and age

[7:29] 450 talk by uh taught by Dr Tim uh it was required that we decided

[7:36] to do a global project and we relate it to my my issue I chose race and home

[7:44] ownership and through that project that's when I saw that their and the

[7:49] state of North Carolina as a whole and one of the requirements for that project

[7:54] was to find a solution for it and hopefully make uh implement it in

[7:59] Scotland County we can go to the next slide so this is taken from the 2020

[8:06] compared to the state of North Carolina however in contrast when compared to the

[8:11] state of North Carolina which is 12.8% and even though it's not up there the

[8:15] United States is at 12.6% owner occupied housing rate is

[8:21] 59.8% meaning that if the owner is on property they live in that property so

[8:27] they're not renters um compared to the owner occupied housing rate

[8:32] 66.7% comes to higher education bachelor's degree are higher in

[8:37] individuals that are over the age of 25 in Scotland County is

[8:42] 14.5% as of 2022 compared to the entirety of North Carolina which is

[8:48] 35.9% um again in 2022 I wanted to say that this is very

[8:53] many different benefits of home ownership there's to put more time and

[8:57] effort into somewhere they actually live more people people are more likely to

[9:00] watch out for their neighbors if they know they're not just going to up and

[9:03] leave the next month and then fan are in schools and they perform better

[9:09] socially was mentioning financial literacy means that you can budget

[9:13] properly where all surprises and how a credit card works if you understand how

[9:19] Bank notices work you are less likely to be um vulnerable to scams pyramid

[9:25] schemes getrich quick schemes and essentially just make your mental health

[9:30] your mental and physical emotional well-being a lot healthier so how can we

[9:37] increase financial literacy and in term home ownership in nor uh

[9:42] County well I found a nonprofit uh it was backed by Bank of America it is a

[9:48] national nonprofit started in the United States nacka the neighborhood Assistance

[9:53] Corporation of America this uh Corporation makes economic Justice and

[9:58] economic stability a um a priority for all of its members

[10:03] so again it is free for all members you don't pay anything if you go through

[10:07] this program they have a no down payment no PMI or private mortgage insurance um

[10:13] and they do character-based lending which I think is one of the most

[10:16] important things they don't look at credit score they understand that there

[10:20] are things that go on in your life that you cannot necessarily control so

[10:24] they'll look at your credit history and they'll see that oh my gosh you paid

[10:28] $55,000 why why did you pay $5,000 because I lost my job because my mom got

[10:33] sick and I had to pay hospital bills you write a letter of explanation and then

[10:37] they will understand that and they will forward that to the bank you can also

[10:40] Finance rehabs and repairs through uh the neighborhood Assistance Corporation

[10:44] of America um so if you find a old decrepit house and you want to buy that

[10:49] house and the land that it's on you can spend that money that uh goes underneath

[10:54] your mortgage you can use that to re and repair that house and then you have the

[10:59] section Section 8 housing vouchers which can actually go towards your

[11:08] mortgage are there any questions for the neighborhood Assistance Corporation of

[11:12] America it is again a nonprofit and I did have her look over the slides to

[11:16] make sure that all of this uh information is up to date and

[11:22] accurate I'll ask um as Commissioners what can we do to help this nonprofit

[11:29] move forward in our community so that we can close that gap of the inequality of

[11:34] home ownership at St Andrews University have already been in contact with NAA we

[11:39] have had again the meeting that you attended um earlier uh well I should say

[11:43] last month and we're essentially ready we are um willing to host the they call

[11:49] it a homeowners Workshop or a home buyer Workshop uh we will um host that at St

[11:54] Andrews University and we are currently working with them right now and we just

[11:58] wanted to let you guys know help spread the word that this uh nonprofit is

[12:03] coming to Scotland County and um hopefully just get you guys excited

[12:07] about this Prospect well being in that business for

[12:12] 30 years and neck has been around a while um and and some other ones out

[12:18] there that kind of do the same thing um and this is just personal advice to

[12:23] anybody be really careful when you're looking at a as well just because about

[12:30] and all of a sudden you need to sell it to Mo what you pay the realtor and the

[12:34] closing cost um you're going to lose so um I'm not saying never do it that's for

[12:41] sure but just be really careful and no going in that's what you're getting into

[12:44] but there are um so but there's some options out there so thank you though

[12:50] and let me ask you so if if somebody who is living in a rental house and they

[12:56] want they find something they want to fix up they're going to who do they

[13:00] apply to for that loan so you are going to go through the nacka program so they

[13:06] have a numerous steps that you take to ensure that you as a renter are ready to

[13:11] go and want to fix up or if it's just an already pre-built house you all start at

[13:15] the same place they're G they're gonna they're gonna make a decision as to

[13:19] whether or not I have the ability because of my job or something else

[13:22] whether I can manage a mortgage yes they don't want you to get into a situation

[13:27] where you are buying a house that you will not be from Bank of America this is

[13:31] a Bank of America backed program they act as a nonprofit mortgage broker to to

[13:37] to simplify it is the way it

[13:42] works now your personal question where are you from where am I from uh I'm from

[13:47] the Charlotte area Mount Holly Gastonia Gaston County to be specific okay so do

[13:53] you know what you're going to do when you leave here um I would I'm going to

[13:56] be taking a gap year and uh hopefully apply to vet school and get

[14:01] into vet school at North Carolina State University you don't want to come out

[14:04] and be a mortgage broker or anything like that no no no okay you have a

[14:10] couple of gentlemen here with you who are they oh yes this is uh my professor

[14:14] Dr Tim Verge he was the one that taught the sage 450 class and then we also have

[14:19] um Mr Jeff Robertson he is the vice president at um St Andrews University

[14:24] that's also been helping me with this project I thought that's who that was

[14:27] right there

[14:30] anybody else anything thank you for coming and and I think everybody also

[14:35] got your booklet too so right again if you need any more information you can go

[14:40] to naa.com or you can um contact me or someone else uh at the school and I can

[14:45] help you get that information thank you Mr sounds great thank

[14:49] you all right moving on to our next item is Emer emergency communication National

[14:54] telecommunicator Proclamation Samantha there she is

[15:03] good evening um so in preparation of coming before you to ask for your

[15:09] support for this Proclamation um I did gather some rough data U from 2023 that

[15:16] I wanted to highlight um so our emergency telecommunicators our 911

[15:21] operators um each year or in 2023 answered

[15:27] 35,6 N9 911 calls in Scotland County they answered

[15:34] 81,9 60 non-emergency calls in Scotland County entered 4

[15:55] 48,900 uh radio trans missions in

[16:04] 2023 aot it's a

[16:10] lot so uh each year uh the second week of April is National Public Safety

[16:16] telecommunicators week that week is set aside to highlight the importance of the

[16:21] job that these professionals do these can occur at any time that require

[16:26] police fire or Emergency Medical Services

[16:29] and where an emergency occurs The Prompt response of police officers sheriffs

[16:34] deputies firefighters and paramedics the safety of our police officers

[16:38] firefighters sheriffs deputies and paramedics are dependent upon the

[16:41] quality and accuracy of information of citizens who telephone the Scotland

[16:46] County emergency communic and whereas Public Safety telecommunicators are the

[16:51] first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency

[16:56] services and whereas Public Safety telecommunicators are their activities

[17:02] By Radio providing them information and ensuring their

[17:06] safety and whereas Public Safety telecommunicators of the Scotland cation

[17:11] Center have contributed sub substantially to the apprehension of

[17:15] criminals suppression of fires and treatment of

[17:18] patients and whereas each has exhibited compassion understanding and

[17:24] professionalism during the performance of their job in the past

[17:27] year now therefore be it proclaimed by the

[17:31] Scotland County Board of Commissioners that the week of April 14th through the

[17:35] 20th is to be National Public Safety telecommunicators Week in Scotland

[17:38] County in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep

[17:43] our County and citizens

[17:48] safe does anybody have any questions about any of the statistics I gave

[17:54] anything any question Mr chairman I would move to approve approve the

[17:59] proclamation and ask that the chairman sign second motion and a second any

[18:03] other discussion all in favor anyos thank you ma'am thank you all

[18:10] right moving right along Scotland County DSS uh Kim McCrae got you listed first

[18:15] here that

[18:23] right greetings to everyone thank you for having me I'm Kimberly McCrae with

[18:28] the SC County Department of Social Services April for us is a very exciting

[18:34] month it is National Child Abuse Prevention month and on April Friday

[18:41] April the 5th is National we blue day and that is to show support and aware

[18:49] bring awareness to Child Abuse Prevention also during the month of

[18:55] April on April the 24th we will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony on um at

[19:02] Cynthia's place at DSS and that place it is being remodeled and renovated and

[19:09] that is a a place where families and children can feel safe and feel at home

[19:15] so we would like um present our staff who have come today from CPS as well as

[19:23] from our leadership development team so if you would stand please

[19:30] these are the people who work diligently every day uh to for the prevention of

[19:35] child abuse and [Applause]

[19:42] now now the program administrator Miss Wendy Stanton will

[19:48] come to read the

[19:53] proclamation good evening in recognition of of April is

[19:59] Child Abuse Prevention month I have the proclamation that I would like to read

[20:04] whereas children are vital to our state and County's future success prosperity

[20:10] and quality of life as well as being the most vulnerable assets and whereas all

[20:16] children deserve to have the safe stable nurturing homes and communities they

[20:22] need to Foster their healthy growth and development and whereas child abuse and

[20:28] neglect is a community responsibility affecting both the current and future

[20:33] quality of life of a community and whereas communities that provide parents

[20:38] with the social support knowledge of parenting and Child Development and

[20:43] concrete resources they need to cope with stress and nurture their own

[20:47] children Ure our children grow to their full

[20:50] potential and whereas effective Child Abuse Prevention strategies succeed

[20:56] because of Partnerships created among among citizens Human Services schools

[21:02] Faith communities Health Care Providers Civic organizations law enforcement

[21:07] agencies and the business Community now therefore it be proclaimed by the

[21:13] Scotland County Board of Commissioners that April 2024 is Child Abuse

[21:18] Prevention month in Scotland County and urge all Citizens Community agencies

[21:24] Faith group medical facilities elected leaders and businessmen and businesses

[21:30] to increase their participation in efforts to support families thereby

[21:35] preventing child abuse and strengthening the communities in which we

[21:39] live thank you okay we'll break the because I think you

[21:44] have another one also we um so let's go ahead and look for the first

[21:49] Proclamation and second okay a motion in a second any

[21:53] questions or discussion all right all in favor all right any opposed

[21:59] all right next thank you all April is a very exciting month for us over at DSS

[22:06] and April is re-entry Second Chance month and we have re-entry day coming up

[22:12] on April the 17th from 10: a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 2:31 Crawley Street here in

[22:20] laberg and the purpose of re-entry program uh they like to raise awareness

[22:27] educate and give opportunity unities to Justice involved citizens and we are

[22:32] honored tonight to have our very own Miss Linda Ross who is the chairman of

[22:38] Scotland County's re-entry board to come and read our

[22:43] Proclamation good evening good evening good even good evening evening

[22:50] okay proclamation in recogn recognition of April as Second Chance month whereas

[22:57] a great majority ity of the incarcerated individual in North Carolina will

[23:02] eventually return to communities and whereas formerly incarcerated

[23:07] individuals face many hurdles upon their release in securing employment housing

[23:13] transportation and health care and to develop programs and

[23:20] policy here for these individual to live healthier healthy as well as successful

[23:26] lives and where where as Scotland County re-entry Council and re-entry Prof Prof

[23:34] professionals are identifying ways to better serve and assist the formerly

[23:39] incarcerated with their transition and whereas providing resources for the

[23:45] formally incarcerated is a CommunityWide effort among the re-entry Council

[23:50] re-entry Professional faith-based Organization volunteers and the state of

[23:56] North Carolina and where is all these efforts by policy makers re-entry

[24:02] professionals and volunteers helped to reduce the stigma of incarceration and

[24:08] provide just as involved people with increased opportunity and a better

[24:12] chance of a successful re-entry into the community now therefore be it proclaimed

[24:20] by Scotland County Board of Commissioners that April be proclaimed

[24:25] as Second Chance month in Scotland County

[24:28] proclaimed this first day of April 2024 okay thank

[24:35] you all right any questions on that motion offer motion that we also

[24:42] approve the proclamation for Second Chance Mo second Motion in a second any

[24:48] other discussion or questions all in favor I any opposed thank you ma'am

[24:54] thank you for your time next Mr McMillan is here planning

[25:00] we had presented to us uh at our last board meeting

[25:05] presentation by wnc for an application special use permit to

[25:12] add to an existing Tower new equipment for their

[25:16] transmission um we check special use permit met all of the

[25:23] requirement five requirements for that we found that all the paperwork all the

[25:27] documentation was in order and upon voting on this proposed collocation the

[25:32] board approved it unanimously um to send to you the County

[25:37] Commissioners for your consideration any questions where's that

[25:42] Tower I'm just trying to get in my go out to the crossroads at John's hang

[25:47] right John station uhu hanging right and it's out there on the left half mile

[25:53] somewhere way okay I thought thought maybe it was at one near the Landfield

[25:57] yeah there's there's already tower out there and you can see it if you drive

[26:00] down John's Road it's just going to be extra equipment there extra equipment

[26:04] there'll be a small structure there for uh

[26:08] digital technical stuff and I can't tell you what it is but beond me I wouldn't

[26:13] know if you did to me any anything

[26:19] questions no I offer a motion for approval we have a motion I'll second we

[26:24] have a second all in favor any opposed thank you sir I like it when it take com

[26:32] sweet all right moving on to the next item on the agenda is the Cyprus Creek

[26:37] solo Farm applications and the

[26:42] uh hearing that we will have to have around revolving around that there's a

[26:48] couple of statements that I need to read first and and after that then we can

[26:53] move into that hearing um

[27:00] this is uh a disclosure call basically the parties in this case are entitled to

[27:06] an impartial board a board member may not participate in this hearing if she

[27:11] or he has a fixed opinion about the matter a financial interest in the

[27:16] outcome of the matter or a close relationship with an affected person

[27:20] does any board member have any partiality dis to disclose or recusal to

[27:25] offer yes Mr commissioner I do okay uh I have uh business dealings with

[27:33] probably everyone involved okay oh I ask to recluse myself from the

[27:38] vote be up to the board to take a vote on that U to approve the recusal if it's

[27:44] the Bo's desire to do that okay anybody else before

[27:48] we I just do we need to make a motion on that or yes okay just I know that one of

[27:54] the applicants in this is um I think Lee Howell and Lee how and I serve on two

[27:59] different other boards but I know him as a another member of the

[28:05] community yeah well I think everying

[28:10] yourself that's not that's not gonna impact my decision but I agree just need

[28:15] people to know

[28:19] that all right so we need a a motion for commissioner forelle to recuse himself

[28:25] from the vote with with this caveat in this and this even goes into saying he

[28:30] has to leave but let's don't yeah yeah yeah I mean but um you can't participate

[28:37] in the discussions or questions or whatever so

[28:43] okay it's up to you guys we have to approve that recusal if you're going to

[28:52] approve I mean you need one of us you I'll make a motion to allow to

[28:58] okay a second all right we have a motion in a second any other

[29:02] questions then all in favor all right any opposed you're

[29:08] accused offici okay

[29:13] um the next thing this uh opening statement of the

[29:19] hearing is is a quasi judicial evidentiary hearing that means it's like

[29:24] a court hearing state law sets specific procedures and rules concerning how the

[29:29] board must take make its decision these rules are different from other types of

[29:33] land use decisions like resoning cases the board's discretion is limited the

[29:38] board must base its decision upon comp competent relevant and substantial

[29:43] evidence in the record record a quasi judicial decision is not a popularity

[29:48] contest it is a decision constrained by the standards in the ordinance and based

[29:54] on the facts presented if you will be speaking as a witness please focus on

[29:58] the facts and standard not on per personal preference or op opinion

[30:04] participation is limited the meeting is open to the public everyone is welcome

[30:08] to watch parties with standing have rights to participate fully parties may

[30:12] present evidence call witness and make legal arguments parties are unlimited to

[30:17] the applicant local government and individuals who can show they will

[30:20] suffer special damages other individuals may serve as Witnesses when called by

[30:27] the forward General Witnesses testimony is limited to facts not opinions for

[30:32] certain topics this Board needs to hear opinion testimony from expert W

[30:37] Witnesses these topics include project individuals providing expert opinion

[30:42] must be qualified as experts and provide the factual evidence upon which they

[30:46] base their expert opinion Witnesses must swear or affirm to their

[30:51] testimony and at this time we were administer the oath to any aveng in all

[30:58] individuals who intend to provide sworn testimony just stand right up here

[31:16] you do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth in

[31:21] this case and

[31:26] all all right so I guess we'll start with

[31:31] um you want to begin with your yeah thank you Mr chairman my name is Tom

[31:37] Terell I'm with the law firm Fox Rothchild in the Greensboro office of

[31:42] the firm U you have at your desk two notebooks one of them is for the first

[31:47] hearing and one notebook is for the second hearing I offer these right now

[31:52] as evidence on both of these hearings you will see that we took your standard

[31:58] for a special use permit very seriously the evidence in there not only is

[32:03] competent and not only is material but it is quite substantial um I like and Mr

[32:10] chairman if with your permission I think we can go through a little bit quicker

[32:15] tonight because some of the evidence in the first one and some of our comments

[32:20] are going to be taken in the second if we could just accept combine them into

[32:24] one just combine in a little bit one I think technically we have to have two

[32:28] hearings but we can if you'll allow me I will get my witnesses to basically adopt

[32:34] their testimony okay and that can speed things along and get you out of here uh

[32:40] quickly um it's good to be back here in Scotland County I think laurenburg I

[32:45] enjoy working with one of the best County attorneys that I get to uh work

[32:49] with as I travel across the state we have if you would take out the Laurel

[32:55] Crest notebook this is the one that has the butterscotch cover and I'm just

[33:00] going to take about two minutes and just quickly walk you through what we have

[33:06] tab by tab um the first is the special use permit standards this comes out of

[33:12] your ordinance you already have approved several solar farms under these

[33:19] standards you have already found that solar does not harm health and safety

[33:24] we've already found it doesn't uh harm um the uh property values of joining

[33:30] property you found them uh consistent with your comprehensive plan nonetheless

[33:35] we still provide to you the same evidence uh there is what call Race

[33:40] judicata um you've already made these decisions but we still want you to see

[33:47] how serious we are the first tab after that is our application narrative it has

[33:53] all those standards as applied to Laurel Crest after that there is some

[33:59] frequently asked questions about solar uh this is something we hand out often

[34:05] at neighborhood meetings uh or send out uh in letters to neighbors before we

[34:11] have a meeting um so people can you know get an idea uh of what this is all about

[34:19] if you want to see the site plan we have two pullouts at the next uh Tab and then

[34:27] behind that that and this is probably one of the most important tabs in here

[34:32] Paul Miller will speak after me and show you more than that we are showing you

[34:37] the landscape plan these landscape plans are done uh uh and sealed by Landscape

[34:44] Architects but basically you won't be able to see these panels and that's

[34:50] number one number two we go above and beyond in many places what your

[34:57] ordinance requires on that the next tab is health and safety when Mr sandord

[35:02] gets up here these are his materials he will give you his credentials as to uh

[35:08] why he is an expert uh and chairman Obby will ask you at that time to recognize

[35:13] him as an expert we have um at the next many people for some reason think that

[35:20] solar Farms are exempt from the Clean Water Act they are not uh every buffer

[35:27] to a weap into a stream has to be met uh in fact companies that do those um go

[35:34] out and they delineate you know where the boundaries are um the next tab is

[35:40] the market impact study it is the thickest thing in here Kirkland uh again

[35:46] he will also present his credentials uh his company by the way has done more of

[35:51] these studies than any company in the United States they are deemed by many

[35:55] people to be the country's leading experts on this subject because of the

[36:00] data uh that they have compiled uh the next tab um is harmony with the area uh

[36:07] we take that uh and with uh and show you some photographs to kind of basically

[36:15] say you've got these uh 90 foot transmit lines already over here you won't see

[36:20] the panels but you see the transmission line nobody ever complains about that um

[36:25] you're going to see a very quick power point in a second and then there's a tab

[36:30] in here on decommissioning and Miss Miller will explain that we meet 100% of

[36:39] decommission requirements from removing it and that includes 100% of bonding the

[36:45] removal of this uh so if we could move along I'm G to ask Miss Miller if she

[36:51] would introduce herself and just go you through a quick powerpint

[36:56] okay good evening everyone and happy Easter Monday for those of you who uh

[37:01] maybe were also dying Easter eggs this weekend um so my name's Nicole Miller as

[37:05] Tom said um part of s cre Renewables uh my address is 5310 South Alon AB durm

[37:12] North Carolina I am going to be presenting both of these sites tonight

[37:16] um so lural Crest and Scott's Grove I want to note before we start what

[37:21] happens with these projects so both of these projects are right now prospects

[37:25] they would ultimately have to be selected by Duke Energy in order to

[37:29] become full you know shovel ready projects that we actually connect to the

[37:34] grid U so if chosen these projects are then included in the long-term

[37:39] generation for Duke Energy uh and would start construction about three to four

[37:42] years the reason that we're here tonight is because we want to be able to be sure

[37:47] to say to Duke Energy yes we're ready to start you can definitely depend on us if

[37:51] we are indeed chosen so I did want to emphasize you know I'm going to walk

[37:54] through both of these projects tonight um both our Pros

[37:57] both do depend on selection by Duke Energy before being fully built so that

[38:02] being said Cypress Creek Renewables um we are uh you know we've been around

[38:08] since 2014 we've done a lot of work uh particularly in the Southeast and and

[38:12] ultimately developed about 12 gws uh you can go over to the next

[38:17] slide so as you can tell from the previous slide we have a lot of history

[38:21] particularly in North Carolina so we've developed in over 67 counties um and

[38:26] invested about two and a half million in the state which does not include an

[38:29] additional 3 million that we pay every year to local taxes uh in in the

[38:34] counties in which we serve um I will note as well so we have offices in

[38:38] Durham and Asheville and our office in Durham also houses our 247 control

[38:43] center uh and that takes care of and and really monitors their sites across the

[38:47] entire nation so why Scotland County this is a

[38:52] question that I think we got during the planning board um and appreciate Jim for

[38:57] proposing this so why Scotland County and and why now so essentially we need

[39:02] sites that are going to be flat dry and a long transmission lines these end up

[39:06] being lowest cost for Ray payers like us and until recently Scotland County had

[39:11] fly flat dry land but the transmission lines didn't have capacity so Duke

[39:17] Energy has recently said that they're going to expand the transmission lines

[39:20] um they're essentially going to add more capacity which means that sites weren't

[39:24] previously feasible are now feasible that being said this doesn't mean you're

[39:29] GNA see a 100 solar sites in Scotland County you're only going to see uh

[39:34] enough that or rather the ones that are lowest cost kind of best operating so

[39:40] that's why we're here tonight we believe that we have two of them we want to act

[39:42] quickly while there is this capacity um and and we do believe given uh the the

[39:47] capacity that it can be two really good additions to Scotland

[39:52] County okay so getting actually into this specific site this is an Mega solar

[39:58] facility located along Old Wire Road um for this one it is about 460 acres and

[40:05] has a $4.6 million decommissioning Bond associated with it uh so that is

[40:10] essentially to return the project to the original use after we're done um again

[40:15] as I said electricity will be sold to Duke Energy uh and the site includes 30

[40:20] foot setbacks 20 foot to all property lines and then dative buffer um I do

[40:26] want to note that this particular particular site has a a neighbor to if

[40:30] you kind of look in this should have brought a a laser pointer but if you

[40:34] look yeah to to the lower area so there's a neighbor um that we worked

[40:38] with we had a meeting on October 26 and actually only one neighbor came out we

[40:44] had a really good conversation with him he stayed the whole time we talked um

[40:48] and we ended up being able to agree to building out essentially a 4 acre buffer

[40:52] between his land and our property to ensure that he has still the good views

[40:57] that has now he still has access to his land um and he's ultimately able to to

[41:01] retain that um one other note that I'll I'll add so during the planning board

[41:06] meeting we did additionally commit to voluntary voluntary third party

[41:11] monitoring um during construction to to ensure that all of our storm water uh is

[41:17] is up to date this also go next oh perfect okay so uh as Tom mentioned we

[41:23] did work with a landscape architect um and they helped put together these

[41:28] designs so this design in particular let me see if I got

[41:32] the oh it's just the laser pointer okay oh so this is going to be the main one

[41:38] this is if you're along Old Wire Road this is an example of what this

[41:42] particular vegetative buffer would look like so this is a person who's about six

[41:46] feet um this vegetative buffer would hit about 10 feet uh per the ordinance

[41:51] within three years again this is this is kind of what it would look like uh just

[41:56] wanted to provide that visual representation go to the next

[42:02] slide this is just highlighting some of the diligence we've done um to the site

[42:06] thus far we did want to make sure that this is again one of the best sites that

[42:10] we can provide both for Scotland County and for Cypress Greek um so we we've

[42:14] done a number of studies to ensure that the endanger species and wetlands will

[42:18] not be uh impacted additionally we we've got a health and safety report that we

[42:23] can speak to in a little bit um and we did do a decommissioning plan in full

[42:29] nextend so Laurel Crest would provide about $5 million uh in tax revenue over

[42:34] the the sit's 40-year operational life um additionally we would have about 100

[42:40] jobs and uh be enough to power about 15,000

[42:46] homes um one thing I did want to mention is so I I previously talked about

[42:50] decommissioning and and the bond that we have associated with that I did want to

[42:54] point out that North Carolina is actually one of the first states to have

[42:57] a Statewide decommissioning Bill uh this essentially provides or it ensures that

[43:03] every site that's going to be um in in operation has a decommissioning plan and

[43:09] a a bond to go with it um Additionally you know our leases actually absolve the

[43:14] land owner from responsibility um and ultimately um make sure that the land is

[43:19] returned to the ormal site uh I've also concluded here uh this is a website um

[43:25] for YouTube just to see how The decommissioning Works particularly for

[43:29] how solar recycling works there's a uh solar recycling facility that's actually

[43:35] opening up in Salsbury North Carolina so um you've probably seen us

[43:41] around Scotland County recently um we've we've enjoyed being around in the in the

[43:45] county um we've been in a lot of vents uh I'd be remiss if I didn't notice or

[43:50] didn't mention that we also had par me a a scholarship program that we've enjoyed

[43:56] um sponsoring is is one of 27 counties Nationwide um we've partnered with St

[44:02] Andrews and beta box learning um and are looking forward to continuing to to work

[44:07] in stotland County um with that so the next slide is just another another yeah

[44:12] picture um and I'm happy to pass it off to Chris sander

[44:17] to um or answer any questions if

[44:21] that's okay cool

[44:26] yeah

[44:32] good evening board thank you for hearing us uh Monday my name is Chris sanifer

[44:37] I've testified for this board on several occasions

[44:40] um I'll present some of my credentials I have other ones if you if if the issues

[44:46] arise but I am a licensed engineer in 15 states across the South

[44:52] Midwest uh I'm a licensed electrical contractor in North Carolina

[44:57] of unlimited classification that we have installed and

[45:02] removed so form facilities

[45:07] um I grew up on a farm live on a farm got 100 acres of panel on my farm I

[45:15] just signed a lease for 30 more acres to go under uh panel so

[45:21] um I've installed them and removed them I've lived with them so I I'm I'm I'm

[45:27] fairly prili with them um I worked for Duke Energy for 30 years and the last

[45:33] five years of that or so ending in 2012 I guess 2011 2012 it was my job to

[45:40] interconnect um utility scale Sol forms and so I'll present that to you if if

[45:47] you want to know any other licenses I think what we need is just the board's

[45:53] uh asent that he is an expert in health and safety of Sol forms right um and and

[45:58] is there any questions on that uh there is a in the back of that tab uh for the

[46:05] lack of a better word I'll call it a resume I don't know if it's a full

[46:08] resume but it it of and and ask that uh I I think we can certify him as an

[46:16] expert in health and safety on solar Farms unless there's any other

[46:19] discussion on

[46:23] it all right thank you thank you and and I would say also compatibility I serve

[46:28] on the planning board in in Nash County and we've approved 37 so far utility

[46:34] scale Sol forms and so we find them highly compatible uh with in our County

[46:40] and so I first I think I just put some boundaries I'm an engineer I work from

[46:45] boundary conditions and you guys have 16 solar forms already

[46:52] util 133 megawatts if both of these forms are approved I'm not here on right

[46:58] now on behalf of Laur Crest but if both of them were approved with the ones that

[47:04] you already have you would still be using less than 1% of the land surface

[47:09] area in in the county it's it's it's it's I know that you say well 600 acres

[47:15] it's true but and then other one's 400 Acres but totally it it's less than 1%

[47:21] of the count and uh so I think that's important for some folks to kind of get

[47:27] in get in perspective U the other thing I wanted to say is there are no harsh

[47:32] chemicals there's nothing that can leech out of these panels there's nothing

[47:35] going to store to groundwater fact is these actually recharge the groundw

[47:40] because they don't use any water it's not like a farm where you pump them

[47:44] water out of the ground and irrigating corn soy beans whatever these solar pels

[47:50] I mean they used to rain because it washes them off when it gets dust and so

[47:54] in this part of the country we don't have to wash them because the rain

[47:56] watches off that water goes right into the ground and recharges the aqu and so

[48:02] the fact that they're safe there's very little traffic associated with typically

[48:07] the one of these Farms would have less traffic than one residential U dwelling

[48:13] place and there's no odor there's no noise there not at the boundary with no

[48:19] noise there's a little fan on the inverter but you can't hear it at the

[48:23] boundary and they don't run at night so they make no noise at night and so there

[48:28] will be a substation most likely it'll have some light security lighting at the

[48:32] substation just like Duke would have they're going to have to put their

[48:35] substation in connect with and I'm sure they gonna have light on theirs too and

[48:39] so uh but but that's in a sequestered area so so that that should not be an

[48:44] impact so in my professional opinion uh lqu if installed and operated way the

[48:53] way it's planned would not materially impact the health and safety

[48:57] folks in in Scotland County and and I can talk for 30 minutes or I can just

[49:03] ask you if you have any questions and and save your

[49:09] time do that okay well and and since we have you

[49:14] certified now if you want to go ahead and address the other one as well um you

[49:21] can do that I'll be glad to that uh my my opinion on the one down the road from

[49:27] is the same it's the same topography and I've already told you about the total

[49:31] land mass and so they're using the same equipment the same procedures same

[49:38] um all the both of these project would have to comply with the North Carolina

[49:43] Department of V quality gonna have to get uh erosion control

[49:47] sedimentation U plans approved they're gonna have to have Wetlands approved

[49:52] before they before they can impact those they're going to have to have have

[49:58] um I don't have have glare stures on this one but they're they're going to

[50:02] have if if there's driveways going to have to get dot permits for the

[50:05] driveways any this is just a start I mean I mean they have a many more

[50:13] uh hurdles that they have to get to to to ever get this thing installed

[50:18] including getting Duke to to to purchase the energy

[50:23] right okay does anybody have any question question yeah I'd be glad to

[50:28] entertain question on either one of

[50:32] these oh you don't have I thought you said you had one okay all right thank

[50:37] you sir very much

[50:40] and all right this is

[50:44] the hi my name is Nick Kirkland with Kirkland appraisals I'm the property

[50:49] impact study property impact okay trying to get to the right page here it's the

[50:55] really big one course marke marke impact Market is what it's called

[51:01] okay all right we'll all right tell us about your qualification

[51:07] sure I'm a State Certified General appraiser in North Carolina Kentucky

[51:12] Indiana in Virginia I'm a candidate for designation through the appraisal

[51:15] Institute I've been accepted as an expert in property value impacts uh in

[51:20] hundreds of hearings um from boards as small as planning boards up to um state

[51:26] citing boards and uh I've been an appraiser for over nine

[51:33] years okay um and again if you want to turn to the back of that tab there is a

[51:39] list of stop calling it I won't call it a resume but it qualifications is

[51:44] qualifications for for the other appraiser that signed this my

[51:47] qualifications are not attached I'm happy to go not yours that is correct

[51:52] okay there's two appraisers who have signed this me and another one all right

[51:55] mine are not go through mine again if you'd like um

[52:00] no I no no no it's fine it's okay it's similar in format it's just right

[52:06] slightly different courses on different years okay any objection to him being

[52:11] recognized as a expert witness all right thank you we certify

[52:18] your expertise thank you so at Kirkland appraisals we've looked at uh well over

[52:23] a thousand solar farms uh the vast majority of which have been located

[52:27] within the southeast and all of those that we're talking about are ground

[52:31] mounted utility scale just like is proposed here so what we've done for uh

[52:35] the proposed Laurel Crest is we've looked at okay well out of a thousand

[52:40] plus solar Farms where are they normally located what's the most common adjoining

[52:44] uses are they normally found in industrial areas or they found in rural

[52:48] areas or where are they normally found and additionally what are the most

[52:52] common adjoining uses uh what we found is that almost all

[52:57] solar facilities are located in rural to Suburban areas and predominantly are

[53:02] located on agricultural or uh residential land uh the common

[53:07] misconception is that they're cited on Industrial tracks but that's just

[53:11] typically not something that occurs um part of something that could lead to

[53:16] that misconception is oftentimes after they've been rezoned or put a

[53:19] conditional use the land underneath gets reson to Industrial which can often lead

[53:23] to that uh but this proposed site is very similar to what we typically see

[53:27] for solar facilities with most of the adjoining uses being agricultural or

[53:31] residential in nature uh therefore it's my professional opinion that the

[53:34] proposed use will be in Harmony in the areas in which it is to be located

[53:39] additionally in order to determine whether or not this use would have an

[53:43] impact on adjoining property values we've done what's called a matched pair

[53:47] or paired sales analysis this involves comparing homes that have sold adjacent

[53:50] to solar facilities next to other similar nearby homes that do not adjoin

[53:55] these facilities in order to measure for any difference the idea is if there's

[53:59] two homes that are very similar except one is next to the solar facility and

[54:03] one is not what impact does the solar far Facility have on the value of the

[54:08] adjoining one would be the impact that the solar facility would typically have

[54:13] uh so we've got 90 plus examples that show that houses next to solar

[54:17] facilities do not sell for less than other nearby houses uh additionally this

[54:21] is supported by multiple university studies which show that in rural areas

[54:26] solar facilities do not impact adjoining property values and finally the last

[54:31] thing that we've done is we've reached out to tax assessors and appraisers in

[54:35] the tax departments in 188 counties across 10 States including Scotland

[54:40] County U of those the respondents have indicated 90% of them said they make no

[54:45] adjustments to the negative for adjoining properties that are next to

[54:48] solar facilities so these are for counties that already have solar farms

[54:52] in them and sighted in the ground uh 90% said nope we make no adjustments there's

[54:57] no basis for adjusting anything any house next to a solar facility downwards

[55:02] 10% said they had no comment 0% of those 188 counties said they make any

[55:07] adjustment to the negative for joining properties uh based on these factors

[55:12] it's my professional opinion that the proposed solar facility will not impact

[55:15] the adjoining property values and I'm happy to answer any questions you may

[55:19] have okay anyone have any questions on is that your opinion as to each of these

[55:24] projects is that it is my opinion into both of these based on that that data

[55:28] yes sir okay all right no no questions from anyone on on Mr Kirkland okay thank

[55:35] you perfect thank

[55:41] you I I actually do have a question if I may okay was is was there in any of your

[55:48] findings did you ever find a case where the property where the solar farm was

[55:55] going to was was not harmonious with the surrounding area and if so

[56:01] why so let me understand the question I have we ever found whether or not a

[56:06] solar facility would be not harmonious where it would be located right uh there

[56:11] are solar facilities that we see that people ask us to do impact studies on

[56:17] that we indicate hey the there isn't a vegetative buffer here that not every

[56:23] County requires one or there appears to be some is 50 feet away we're not going

[56:29] to be able to make an impact study that says no impact unless these factors can

[56:33] be addressed and oftentimes that helps as a pre a preliminary measure for uh

[56:39] adjustments to be made in order for us to make a report

[56:44] that would conform to the data that we've seen or we are not hired to

[56:49] continue to make an impact study um but the the projects that we show up and

[56:54] testify to have been been harmonious and a lot of that is due to in part if a

[57:00] developer brings forward a project we're not going to sign something just saying

[57:05] it's harmonious if it's not harmonious based on all the data that we've seen in

[57:09] other facilities can you give me an example of of what it would be near that

[57:14] you would consider it non hormon it it has less to do with what it would be

[57:19] located near and More in how it is cited within a community this goes into so

[57:26] there's a concept in appraising called externalities it's essentially what what

[57:31] are what is a characteristic of a property that could cause it to impact

[57:35] an adjoining property examples of this especially in eastern North Carolina

[57:39] would be odor like a hog facility uh poultry facility um things

[57:45] like that or traffic noise hazardous materials things of that nature that

[57:49] could have an impact well for a solar facility like this the only real concern

[57:55] is appearance that is the most common one so when they're not utilizing some

[57:59] sort of extended setback they're not using vegetative buffer or a landscaping

[58:04] screen within the fencing that helps those all ameliorate the concerns of uh

[58:10] the appearance for projects that have not had

[58:14] that in the initial uh request for us to do an impact study we're replying with

[58:21] we are not able to furnish you an an impact study that says this would not

[58:25] have an impact if you do not provide things to actually mitigate any

[58:31] potential concerns than sir thank

[58:38] you can keeping this moving quickly I think we can do the second application

[58:45] if you'd like to do that and get all the evidence in and then have public speak

[58:50] would that be the okay that would be the yes

[58:54] okay um we um have a more yellow mustard colored

[59:00] notebook that is on your desk this notebook is identical in all respects

[59:09] with the exception of the um site plan is

[59:13] different at that tab it shows the one for Scotch cve solar the buffer exhibits

[59:20] are a little bit different uh it shows where the applicant is going above and

[59:27] beyond and having uh even more thicker taller uh Landscaping buffers would it

[59:33] be visible I'm sorry will it be visible no it will not it will not and that's

[59:39] and that is the whole point uh of this uh and the only other difference is

[59:45] there's some information on battery storage it is possible that Duke Energy

[59:50] may uh uh elect to put some batteries at the uh point of interconnection that's

[59:56] not something we know right now so we put something uh in there on that uh um

[1:00:01] and uh commissioner Gibson if I could address Harmony uh also while I'm

[1:00:05] standing here uh the North Carolina Supreme Court on many occasions has said

[1:00:12] that when you list a use as allowable in a certain zoning district there is a

[1:00:18] legal presumption that it's harmonious with other uses and uh so we all we love

[1:00:25] putting those cases in it's in we've actually put it into the notebook and

[1:00:29] there has to be evidence to the contrary but in this case you won't be able to

[1:00:35] see it smell it hear it there won't be traffic that you can feel um and

[1:00:40] especially uh commissioner Williams as us requested if you can't see it uh the

[1:00:45] harmony uh is pretty uh clear because uh the transmission lines historically have

[1:00:51] been there everybody knows they're there and you you just don't see you know in

[1:00:55] your in your mind um that conclud I'm sorry we have six

[1:01:00] slides that are unique to this we would just like to very quickly introduced

[1:01:05] okay you're up again thank you long time to see all right so so as Tom mentioned

[1:01:11] uh this project also located in Scotland County obviously this is another 80

[1:01:16] megawatt solar facility this one has the option to add a 32 megawatt battery

[1:01:21] again that's up to the discretion of Duke Energy uh this one is a little bit

[1:01:25] larger on 750 acres and ultimately uh is along

[1:01:32] 15501 so similar to Laurel Crest we had a a neighbors meeting we talked to to

[1:01:37] folks and we sent out mailers to everyone who is surrounding the site um

[1:01:42] after that meeting we had a lot of good discussion additionally at the planning

[1:01:45] board we had a lot of really good discussion there about some changes that

[1:01:49] could be made to the site um so again a lot of this is is familiar but what I do

[1:01:54] want to focus on are the changes to this site uh that we've made to to address

[1:01:58] the concerns of the planning board and uh the neighbors so if you go to the

[1:02:01] next one along um along

[1:02:06] 15501 and monrroe road which is to the north we've increased our setback so uh

[1:02:12] increase them from increase them 20 times to 200 feet to account for

[1:02:16] Neighbors to the north um and 10 times uh along 15501 to account for that road

[1:02:23] we know that that's the road that you use coming in and out of Scotland County

[1:02:27] uh driven it myself a number of times now and we want to make sure that that

[1:02:31] stays to your point harmonious uh with the remainder of the area um on this

[1:02:36] site we also add an additional 10 feet to to Wetland setbacks for a total of

[1:02:40] four feet 40 feet just to add uh it that reassurance because this is a larger

[1:02:46] site um and we we have some existing Wildlife corridors we've actually added

[1:02:52] and put some self-imposed restrictions on additional wildlife corridors so what

[1:02:57] that means is essentially our fences won't block this so the areas that the

[1:03:01] wildlife already used to navigate um from east to west and north to south

[1:03:06] they will still be able to get to you so um we're going to build around those

[1:03:10] areas to make sure that Wildlife still have the opportunity to to move

[1:03:15] freely um we've additionally moved some some site entrances uh our after

[1:03:22] construction our folks will only be out a couple times a month uh but that being

[1:03:25] said we didn't want to have site entrances next to residences so we've

[1:03:30] moved them around and kind of redesigned the site to make sure that that uh is

[1:03:34] better for folks additionally and I think this is

[1:03:38] the one that we're most well I don't want to say most excited about but we're

[1:03:42] very excited about is we've also increased the vegetative buffer so again

[1:03:47] um North along Monroe Road as well as everywhere that you could see the site

[1:03:52] um when driving along 15501 we've actually increased the vegetative buffer

[1:03:56] considerably to 25 ft deep um similarly if you go to the next site we did work

[1:04:02] with the landscape um the landscape design on this one as well just to show

[1:04:07] like what is this going to look like um and and what is it actually gonna gonna

[1:04:13] what are you actually going to see and so to your question um you can see

[1:04:17] you're not going to see at at eye level the solar panels you know if you're

[1:04:21] flying over it you'll see it um but ey level you won't see it go next

[1:04:27] site again this is just everything we've done for the site um and then last thing

[1:04:31] I want to touch on um for the the next slide is again this site has economic

[1:04:38] benefits uh to Scotland County the biggest difference here is that if we

[1:04:43] add in the battery system because that has an increased amount of capital that

[1:04:48] would actually add an additional $2 million in tax benefits um so I didn't

[1:04:53] want to highlight that there's a range uh from to seven million and and what

[1:04:57] ultimately impacts that is the decision of whether or not Duke would elect to

[1:05:01] add battery storage um and then yeah everything else everything else is

[1:05:07] same I have a question I got a question for her

[1:05:11] too as it relates to the buffers and the the Shrubbery that would be planted what

[1:05:17] would be the plan for maintaining as it dies because of course over time some of

[1:05:22] those trees die and they don't look good is there a plan for Main yes and that's

[1:05:26] absolutely so we've been in this industry again 10 years and we've been

[1:05:32] in North Carolina during that time uh I think we'll say frankly we've learned a

[1:05:37] hard lesson on that where at first we didn't understand how to how to take

[1:05:41] care of them as maybe you should um so that's one of the reasons that we're

[1:05:45] actually involving landscape architect early now to make sure that we're

[1:05:48] planting the right things uh that being said if there are things that that are

[1:05:52] ultimately you know not sustained um we would we would replace those

[1:05:58] that's that's part of the ongoing operations and maintenance that that we

[1:06:01] do for the sites um but yeah I I recognize even driving in today I think

[1:06:05] there are some sites that not I don't I don't think our sites but um some sites

[1:06:09] that that don't look great and again this is a lesson that we've learned over

[1:06:14] the last 10 years and one of the reasons we've engaged a landscape architect

[1:06:17] early on the the Laura chrest solar site you

[1:06:22] say would generate 15,000 enough energy 15,000 hom right how many with this s

[1:06:28] 15,000 15,000 yep all right I know you guys in the business of you know setting

[1:06:33] up solar farms and they create energy for Duke

[1:06:36] Energy one of my concerns is when will the citizens directly be able to benefit

[1:06:41] from some of this energy yeah when when when would the citizens of Scotland

[1:06:46] County can say that they're not you guys are not just sending our energy to the

[1:06:51] Metro areas and our citizens here have to look at the solar

[1:06:58] yeah maybe well I just stood up Mr sanifer might be the better one you

[1:07:03] already are taking advantage of solar Farms that are in other counties plus

[1:07:09] this County that are keeping your rates constant what solar does is a it's a

[1:07:16] it's the cheapest form of energy energy production out there has actually gotten

[1:07:22] a lot more efficient so that when other cost might make your energy bills go up

[1:07:31] those other cost don't affect solar so what solar does is to to Pro uh create

[1:07:39] an a cost through Cost Containment they keep rates flatter than

[1:07:47] they otherwise would be this company will enter into what is called a

[1:07:52] purchase uh Power purchase agreement with Duke and that power purchase

[1:07:57] agreement is flat for several years and then it goes

[1:08:02] up by a certain amount but then it's flat so Duke Energy knows that it's um

[1:08:09] cost of getting energy from this facility remains flat and that is a Cost

[1:08:16] Containment for you and your citizens now again you've already been benefiting

[1:08:20] from solar in this region and that are being put on this transmission line

[1:08:26] I Chris you could probably do a better job than I would you want to add to that

[1:08:29] I think you help stabilize the cost because is

[1:08:33] because the sunshine cost does not go up so once you get the capital investment

[1:08:38] in the maintenance is very low it's not like a a plant that uses fuel that you

[1:08:44] constantly have to worry about what the price of fuel's going to be because

[1:08:47] that's not that's not a concern and the maintenance is very low so it's just

[1:08:51] really a capital investment just kind of sits out there very just and does what

[1:08:56] it does these these panels that we're putting in are very efficient U I'd say

[1:09:02] they're they're 60 times more efficient than photo photo synthesis so if you're

[1:09:09] putting trying to to make energy with corn these these would displace 60 Acres

[1:09:15] for every acre you trying to make with corn one acre of solar panel would equal

[1:09:19] 60 Acres that you were trying to make fuel corn so if you if you're going if

[1:09:23] you're going to use it for fuel the other thing I was going to say is step

[1:09:26] step on over people watching it live so they can

[1:09:30] hear you're right at I need to repeat it no no go ahead okay uh I was gonna say

[1:09:35] there's one thing and that's from the Department of energy um but the EPA has

[1:09:40] also done studies and so you want to know what the benefit is in this County

[1:09:45] yeah there there's two parts those that stay in the county on Lumby River or

[1:09:51] other electric those in the CI on the cities electric city which buys energy

[1:09:57] from duke so you know the see the Alber benefit

[1:10:03] from it this region is in Scotland County so some of that cost savings can

[1:10:07] be passed on to the city in any way well that's that's what I'm saying they if

[1:10:11] they're purchasing their energy electricities is uh laurberg is a part

[1:10:15] of electricities yes I can't remember which there's two groups but there're

[1:10:19] they're one of the groups electricities but electricities purchases their power

[1:10:23] from wherever they can get it to cheap that's the the whole point electricities

[1:10:26] let's find the cheapest power we can buy well if Duke can provide that with solar

[1:10:31] then that's how they going to buy it that's electricity is gonna buy the

[1:10:33] cheapest power they if it ain't D they'll buy it from Dominion if not them

[1:10:38] they'll they're gonna buy it wherever they can that's that's the whole purpose

[1:10:41] of that organization is to is to bring a bunch of municipalities together to buy

[1:10:47] yes in bulk and they buy us power as cheap as he can so yes they're Duke will

[1:10:52] be able to provide them power at a lower rate because because of solar that's one

[1:10:57] that comes from Department of energy solar Standalone is they produce

[1:11:02] electricity deeper in gas cheaper nuclear cheaper in Coal cheaper in Wind

[1:11:06] cheaper in Hydro although those options aren't available anymore I mean there's

[1:11:10] no more rivers to Dam up so we got citizens looking and I just wanted to

[1:11:15] ask that question but there is another important for every kilowatt hour that's

[1:11:19] produced here they're probably paying du Duke's probably paying them I don't know

[1:11:23] it's not my business I don't know how good a negotiator Cypress Creek is but

[1:11:27] that's they have negotiated uh that price but half of that money comes back

[1:11:34] to the to the county in the form of um reduced Health cost because now for

[1:11:41] every uh megawatt hour this here is there's like 30 uh tons of coal ash that

[1:11:48] doesn't have to be disposed of there's not the carbon monoxide there not the

[1:11:52] carbon dioxide it's not the nitric oxide it's not snog all the stuff that emits

[1:11:58] out of those Stacks you're not having to bring that anymore according to the EPA

[1:12:03] that improves your health by Health cost by about 2.75 cents a kilowatt hour

[1:12:11] which is almost what these guys are getting paid to produce it and your

[1:12:16] health costs are going down that much because I think that's a real

[1:12:20] impact so I mean and that that's worth a lot I got a question when would the

[1:12:25] first check be written sir when would the first check be written to the county

[1:12:30] as a form of tax revenue and all that when

[1:12:34] would okay I I heard somebody say they were talking about putting development

[1:12:39] here I'm on planning board no no no that's I'm trying to say was the revenue

[1:12:45] for tax revenue the money wise oh you're talking about for the taxes yeah it

[1:12:49] would be it would be in the first year of its construction which anticipated

[1:12:54] 2027 okay I'm sorry I misunderstood you okay okay I thought we get to

[1:13:02] but MoneyWise yeah that's what concerned of course so depending on on how long uh

[1:13:09] it takes to get built part of that again

[1:13:14] is

[1:13:17] okay yeah did you did you ever cover the decommissioning bond on the scotch gr or

[1:13:22] or was it was on there yeah so it is 7 .6 million um and I I should note that

[1:13:28] both of those are well above we did decommissioning estimates for for both

[1:13:32] sites and both are well above the I just didn't see

[1:13:37] it a couple slides it's it's all right on the on the scotch gr one up a couple

[1:13:43] more the first one there you go yep so it's gonna be at least seven 7.5 more

[1:13:49] likely 7.6 million um to to get it back to uh the original state and and that's

[1:13:55] in accordance with your current coordinance there's a lot of text on

[1:14:01] there okay right Mr chairman that concludes

[1:14:06] the presentation on both Laurel Crest and Scotch gr solar I think that the

[1:14:11] board will will find that the evidence we presented on both is competent

[1:14:16] material and substantial we're glad to be here and to further ask questions if

[1:14:22] anyone from the public speaks to prevent to present something that's contrary

[1:14:27] okay thank you sir is there anyone else needing to be

[1:14:34] sworn and testify in this matter uh we lost Mr mcfa he com back he's com back

[1:14:39] okay um hearing and seeing none then we can

[1:14:45] close the hearing first and we'll do that now we'll close the hearing on both

[1:14:49] of these and then we'll open it up for board

[1:14:54] discussion

[1:14:58] Mr chairman this I I do want to ask for clarification and I maybe you should

[1:15:01] have done it during the actual hearing yes on page eight of your the very first

[1:15:07] section where you got you site the court cases and then you go to the

[1:15:13] objectives this is in both yeah I'm if you go down three lines it

[1:15:20] should be noted that there will be a few hundred created I assume that means job

[1:15:27] um yes jobs thank you well I was wondering

[1:15:31] if we could insert what we wanted like few hundred, in additional tax

[1:15:35] revenue I think it actually said jobs on the

[1:15:39] slide right that it's that way in both of those in both of your books I

[1:15:43] appreciate you catching that well I I just wanted you to know that somebody

[1:15:46] that that we actually do read this stuff actually I'm very impressed and thank

[1:15:51] you for that I ask it for that reason I just wanted want

[1:15:57] clarification okay any other discussions there he is

[1:16:03] uh all right um if there's no other questions and no other discussion about

[1:16:08] it this time we would need to do two separate motions here correct I think so

[1:16:14] and the actual order if the board or to approve these

[1:16:20] is going to be submitted for my review that's the way we normally do these the

[1:16:27] applicant would submit a proposed order for your eventual signature gotcha all

[1:16:32] right so we'll take them one at a time Laurel qu Laurel Crest first and then

[1:16:36] we'll do Scott scove application Mr chairman I will uh

[1:16:43] make the motion that we approve the application from La Chris off for a

[1:16:48] second all right we have a motion in a second any other questions

[1:16:52] discussion all in favor I I any opposed all right now we'll offer up Scotch

[1:16:58] Grove solar's uh application keeping in mind that his

[1:17:03] conditions of the order provided and that kind of thing I'd like to offer a

[1:17:06] motion that we approve the scotch Grove application pending attorney appr okay

[1:17:12] we have a motion in a second any other discussion all right all in favor any

[1:17:17] opposed all right thank you all thank

[1:17:23] you don't feel like you have to stay if you need to go I know you got to get

[1:17:27] back to Ry so we wouldn't hold that against you um all right moving on to

[1:17:33] the next item on the agenda solar form solar farm ordinance

[1:17:39] amendment that that we discussed um at our budget session last week

[1:17:49] uh I I we didn't do it at that time just because we wanted to uh make sure there

[1:17:56] was uh everybody had time to read it so um but they did do a presentation and we

[1:18:02] did hold our public hearing on the ordinance change at that time so uh did

[1:18:08] did everybody have a chance to look over it or have any to offer to say on it or

[1:18:13] Mr chairman while it was very extensive and a lot of changes I think it covered

[1:18:17] a lot of things that needed to be covered um and so I was I was pleased

[1:18:23] okay I I agree um I think that there was so much information and I think that

[1:18:30] there were four of us at the meeting at the time and I think we thought this was

[1:18:33] a better uh better something that the the group as a whole should decide

[1:18:38] instead of perhaps just just four I I'll speak for myself I was a little bit

[1:18:43] hesitant um because I felt like the we had talked about uh different things

[1:18:50] that we felt need to be included some of these were conversations that uh either

[1:18:54] we had with the Planning and Zoning Board

[1:18:57] or they reported to us or at least in a couple of cases maybe we saw when they

[1:19:02] were having different discussions on different types different topics what

[1:19:07] they had brought up I was particularly

[1:19:12] um maybe troubled at the time because there were four or five lines in there

[1:19:17] that gave a lot of discretion to the making decisions and I felt like that I

[1:19:24] maybe maybe maybe that we were looking for something a little more definitive

[1:19:27] as to what we would base our decisions on the more I thought about it I think

[1:19:31] that latitude and those um that discretion was kind of what we were

[1:19:36] looking for in there so I I would make the motion at this time that we adopt

[1:19:40] the ordinances as they were proposed to us I'll second motion all right we have

[1:19:44] a motion in a second any other discussion uh we do have enough Duke

[1:19:50] Duke went to the bathroom but we have enough here to make that um so all in

[1:19:54] favor I I any opposed all right thank you moving on to uh Mr Gibson Vice chair

[1:20:02] on some board and committee appointments yes sir thank you I'm going to work my

[1:20:06] way from the bottom up last members of the Zoning Board of

[1:20:13] adjustments those persons were Jimmy Bennett Debbie Evans Frank Evans John

[1:20:19] Ferguson and Don Norton additionally we approved three

[1:20:25] alternates Daniel doery William Joe Graves and joy

[1:20:29] hind after which we found that we are not able to appoint but two alternates I

[1:20:37] am recommending that we appoint theod doy and joy Hind and let me explain that

[1:20:44] in the last meeting I said that we would do the last to apply Joy hind was we

[1:20:49] would drop the last to apply which would be Joy Hine however Miss Hine is not not

[1:20:54] presently serving on any board or committee Daniel dri does serve on

[1:20:59] zoning uh board and William grave serves on parts and

[1:21:03] wreck and uh one other board ABC Board um and so to give Miss Hine an

[1:21:09] opportunity to serve my recommendation is that we appoint Daniel and joy

[1:21:15] additionally um in that same thing we have to provide alternate uh or

[1:21:21] staggered um years of service John Ferguson Don Norton and jimmmy Bennett

[1:21:26] have served on this board previously for a number of years so I want to recommend

[1:21:30] that we do them at two years Debbie Evans and Frank Evans are new to the

[1:21:35] board I want to recommend that we do them at three years and the same for joy

[1:21:40] hin and Daniel docky Daniel at two years and joy Hine at three years and I want

[1:21:45] to offer this as a motion okay Mr clerk you have it you got okay got it a second

[1:21:54] motion Motion in a second for that any other questions discussion all in favor

[1:21:59] all any opposed all right all right my next is Planning and Zoning Board Mr

[1:22:04] Cleo Graham has served a number of years and certainly appreciative of his

[1:22:08] service and he has had to come off the board because he's reached term we have

[1:22:12] two applicants for this vacancy Jeff mey and Billy Thomas I want to offer a

[1:22:19] motion that we appoint Billy Thomas to the Planning and Zoning Board okay we

[1:22:24] have a motion we have a second second any

[1:22:27] discussion all right all in favor any opposed all right third we have the

[1:22:33] Board of Equalization and review uh there are two applicants for this board

[1:22:38] Miss Mary Helen Norton Miss Alexis Tyson um these ladies do presently serve or

[1:22:45] plan to serve again uh additionally we have to point a chairman because the

[1:22:49] chairman has had to come off of this board so I want to offer a motion that

[1:22:52] we appoint both Miss Mary Helen Norton and Miss Alexis Tyson and that miss m

[1:22:57] Helen Norton be appointed as chair of the board of

[1:23:00] enr exactly all right Motion in a second any other questions all in favor all all

[1:23:07] any opposed and finally the ABC Board want to offer a motion that we reappoint

[1:23:13] chairman Ivy back to serve on that board we also have two vacancies or two

[1:23:19] reappointments applicants that we have received are Mike Edge Jeff mey Larry MC

[1:23:25] I want to recommend Jeff me and Larry MC to serve on the board of ab on the ABC

[1:23:30] Board along with chairman I okay motion we have a motion we have a second second

[1:23:37] okay any other discussion all in favor just discuss that that's including are

[1:23:43] we do we do we have to nominate Tim iy he's in included he's included okay yeah

[1:23:48] Tim Avy and Jeff M lar MC and just to say just so you know Larry McGill is the

[1:23:53] current chairman that board so all right any other discussion all in favor I I

[1:24:00] any opposed all right thank you sir moving on County Manager report okay

[1:24:06] I'll go through these not a lot of Updates this month but I'll what I have

[1:24:10] so far still waiting on the laurberg Maxton airport no change there uh

[1:24:16] Monarch Mr or attorney Johnston is working with monart to finalize that

[1:24:22] agreement and the terms in that agreement

[1:24:25] North turn waterline after we met last week we are still somewhat undecided on

[1:24:31] Ace and meral drive and if we will extend those water

[1:24:36] lines two roads that would cost an additional

[1:24:40] $400,000 to extend those water lines to to your original project price so to to

[1:24:45] determine if there is interest we uh are setting up two um informational sessions

[1:24:53] out there in that area and so we are working with the church out there in

[1:24:57] that area and um yes sir are we GNA be prepared next month to decide one way or

[1:25:03] another I hope that you are um I hope that you are because definitely after

[1:25:09] these informational sessions that will be this month before the end of April

[1:25:13] walking into may you will certainly I hope have information you need to make a

[1:25:17] decision on that we can go ahead to some degree with the engineering firm um move

[1:25:23] forward with the scope of work because we can always add air drivein because

[1:25:28] they've they've already differentiated between the original project and adding

[1:25:32] those in will you be sure as you all are planning to make sure that we are

[1:25:35] included so that we can be present absolutely we're we are tying down the

[1:25:39] dates with that church but right now we are thinking April 22nd and then turn

[1:25:44] around and have another one April 30th and I believe those are both Tuesdays in

[1:25:49] April uh but we will get that out once the church has finalized those I will be

[1:25:54] out um Miss Dorothy is is summon is telling

[1:25:57] me it's April 23rd but so we'll make sure everybody

[1:26:02] knows those and um we hope to finalize that this week so we'll get those out

[1:26:07] there um moving along I'm going to move over some of

[1:26:12] these because there's really not a lot of update I'm just not taking them off

[1:26:15] so they don't slip through the cracks anywhere um our Scotland County IT

[1:26:22] services so I feel like a broken record but it is

[1:26:26] true every month we make progress right now the biggest progress we've made I

[1:26:32] would say from last month to this month are a few things where we've implemented

[1:26:35] something called CIS Mitch March and those are um what you would say best

[1:26:41] practice standards for your it and your cyber security and that is something

[1:26:44] that the National Guard absolutely recommended that we do and so those have

[1:26:49] been rolled out for a lack of better words and those are things like um

[1:26:55] setting up multiactor authentication we're in the process of doing that

[1:27:00] setting up where where we used to could have almost any old password now it's

[1:27:05] this 16 digit all these mix so things like that best practice that we have to

[1:27:11] roll out do we still have people using laptops we do have people using laptops

[1:27:17] what I was going to report however and I checked in with DSS and health today

[1:27:21] because those are our two largest um departments and the

[1:27:28] ones that probably have had the least rate resources if you looked at the

[1:27:32] number of people to the number of laptops we could give them and right now

[1:27:35] every person has one on their desk as of last week so I checked in with those

[1:27:40] directors this morning to make sure of that vc3 sent a team down last week to

[1:27:45] give a big push to get that done some now those will not most likely not be

[1:27:50] their everyday operating computer comp but it got a

[1:27:55] computer on a desk so everybody has one to work on so what what what what do we

[1:28:02] do have up where there not what departments so the network so I can

[1:28:07] describe it like this the network is standing up and so we have several

[1:28:12] departments that are on the network and working pretty close to normal at this

[1:28:18] point so we like have Finance on the network some of admin Sheriff's

[1:28:22] Department um some of DSs and health are on the network and so it's it's almost

[1:28:28] like a mix throughout the county and that that doesn't sound like an

[1:28:31] organized way to go about that but there's the main reason behind that for

[1:28:36] health and DSs is the state for any employee that needs to use a state

[1:28:43] maintained website they have to approve the IP address that we are logging on

[1:28:48] from and so our original IP address sitting on eight will require to get

[1:28:53] that approved once that happens all those computers at

[1:28:57] health and DSs can go on the network and we're very close to normal again um well

[1:29:05] the question I would ask the last discussion well not the last discussion

[1:29:08] I had with the sheriff but he mentioned to me that they were pretty much back up

[1:29:11] on everything with exception of the cad and the cars do that come up or it's not

[1:29:16] still so they still don't we one saying yes and one saying no so is

[1:29:23] it

[1:29:28] okay right another another piece of of this this puzzle is that a lot of our

[1:29:35] equipment was basically end of life um it it just wasn't replaced although it

[1:29:40] needed to be replaced so we've taken the time now Scotland County knows every

[1:29:44] piece of of equipment in this County where it is when it was purchased and

[1:29:49] when it's going to be an end of life and honestly that was a massive project and

[1:29:53] so are we working on a rotation plan exactly and so that is part of the

[1:29:57] project and it worked out rather well and that half the equipment can be

[1:30:01] replaced between now and next fiscal year and then going into future fiscal

[1:30:07] years the other half can be replaced and then we stay on a rotation we're also

[1:30:11] doing things like um staff would have a desktop computer and a laptop almost

[1:30:18] every staff having two computers no need for that you're going to have a laptop

[1:30:21] with a docking station and when you leave pick it up up and go with it and

[1:30:25] so trying to consolidate some things uh make things more efficient and reduce

[1:30:30] the cost of even if it's just equipment to the county um I could probably keep

[1:30:37] talking about it for a long time but that is the biggest that's the

[1:30:42] overall um The Wave project at the courthouse that has been completed if

[1:30:48] you remember that was a project through AOC where all the county had to do was

[1:30:53] run the cat 6 lines and then AOC came in and put up all the the boxes that get

[1:31:00] WiFi throughout the entire courthouse and that really something we didn't have

[1:31:04] a choice but to do and then finally we um you can see on the right side we're

[1:31:10] doing some different things with our Printing and copying assessments uh and

[1:31:14] service consolidation things that we're identifying a a as I've been here for a

[1:31:20] few months and as we're making the budget what we are paying for

[1:31:24] duplicative services and we don't need to do that and so we we're seeing that

[1:31:29] now across C across departments and we shouldn't be doing that and so once

[1:31:35] contracts run out we can end them with certain vendors because the county

[1:31:39] already has access to that so that is my report unless there's something

[1:31:44] particular you all want to ask is there any progress on the uh East laberg

[1:31:48] recycling center there is not and um really I I told myself by next month if

[1:31:55] if I can't get an answer about um still waiting on the survey the last

[1:32:01] thing I heard was waiting on a survey right

[1:32:06] so i' I've contacted the surveyor and the land

[1:32:11] owner um and I'm just not sure where we are with that as far as if the interest

[1:32:16] is still there to

[1:32:21] sell so by so by the next meeting we make have a different conversation about

[1:32:25] that all right thank you ma'am next item is uh commissioner news we'll start with

[1:32:31] Mr forel I ain't got nothing F Mr Williams Mr Gibson go

[1:32:43] wolfa I'm okay witha yeah yeah I will give it to them they played

[1:32:49] a good game last I will give but anyway all right well without hearing anything

[1:32:54] else we'll recess this meeting until next Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. at the

[1:33:00] street when Morgan Center next Wednesday the 10th the 10th yes sorry U okay all

[1:33:09] in favor we'll see you then thank you all for

[1:33:12] coming beat them join them for don't [Music]

[1:33:21] forget hey dude at least I will say it at least it was Duke that they

[1:33:29] buat okay I am going to be out of

[1:33:33] town can't beat John look we got somebody got there

[1:33:39] was several people run into him I mean he didn't move IAL well yeah but

[1:33:44] either last week he going up to his daughter house so we got to figure

[1:33:50] something out I'mma just leave I don't

[1:34:00] Jason

[1:34:05] resched CU I don't know what

April 1, 2024 Regular Meeting of the County Commissioners

Transcript