1 1 BEFORE THE OHIO POWER SITING BOARD 2 ________________________________ 3 In the Matter of the Application 4 of Mink Solar LLC for a Case No. 5 Certificate of Environmental 23-713-EL-VGN 6 Compatibility and Public Need to 7 Construct a Solar-Powered 8 Electric Generation Facility in 9 Defiance and Paulding Counties, 10 Ohio 11 ________________________________ 12 HEARING 13 DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 2024 14 TIME: 6:01 p.m. 15 BEFORE: Honorable Clint White 16 Honorable Ian Kieffer 17 LOCATION: Hicksville High School 18 958 East High Street 19 Hicksville, OH 43526 20 REPORTED BY: Michael Rennillo 21 JOB NO.: 6431827 22 23 24 25 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 ON BEHALF OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF OHIO: 3 CLINT WHITE, ESQUIRE 4 IAN KIEFFER, ESQUIRE 5 Public Utilities Commission of Ohio 6 180 East Broad Street, Floor 11 7 Columbus, OH 43215 8 clint.white@puco.ohio.gov 9 10 ON BEHALF OF MINK SOLAR LLC: 11 MATTHEW C. MCDONNELL, ESQUIRE 12 CHRISTINE PIKIK, ESQUIRE 13 Dickinson Wright, PLLC 14 180 East Broad Street, Suite 3400 15 Columbus, OH 43215 16 mmcdonnell@dickinson-wright.com 17 18 ALSO PRESENT: 19 David Kern, Defiance County Commissioner 20 Ben Kauser, Carryall Township Trustee 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 WITNESSES: DX CX RDX RCX 3 JEREMY WELCH 11 4 5 KIPTON SIESEL 14 6 7 DEANNA WISE 16 8 9 JAMES WISE 19 10 11 RYAN SANTA MARIA 21 12 13 MIKE SCHULTE 24 14 15 COLETTE BETTS 25 16 17 TIMOTHY COPSEY 29 18 19 KELLY TIMBROOK 32 20 21 KEITH BIRKHOLD 35 22 23 NICHOLAS BRAGG 41 24 25 THOMAS ZUBER 45 4 1 E X H I B I T S 2 NO. DESCRIPTION ID/EVD 3 (None marked.) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 MR. WHITE: Good evening. Good 3 evening, everyone. We're about to begin, so if you 4 could go ahead and take your seats. The Ohio Power 5 Siting Board has called a public hearing at this time 6 and place, Case Number 23-713-EL-VGN with this caption 7 in the matter of the application of Mink Solar LLC for 8 certificate of environmental compatibility and public 9 need to construct a solar-powered electric generation 10 facility in Defiance and Paulding Counties, Ohio. 11 My name is Clint White. With me is Ian 12 Kieffer. We're the administrative law judges assigned 13 by the board to hear this case. We also have two ad 14 hoc members of the Power Siting Board in attendance 15 today. I'd like to recognize them here at the onset. 16 David Kern. David is the Defiance County 17 Commissioner. And Ben Kauser. Ben Kauser is a 18 Carryall trustee representing Hicksville Township in 19 Defiance County and Carryall Township in Paulding 20 County. 21 If you have any questions about the 22 board's decision making or application processes or 23 the staffing board I'll discuss in a few minutes, 24 there are members of the board staff here today near 25 the entrance to this room. You can go to them after 6 1 the hearing and ask your questions then. If you have 2 any specific application questions, we have 3 representatives from Mink Solar, the applicant, here 4 in the room today, I think in the front row here. 5 Finally, if you have any written comments 6 you'd like to file on the docket, you can still do 7 that today or any time when this case is still 8 pending. If you don't know how to do that, see our 9 board staff and they can help you make that happen. 10 In a few minutes, I'll provide a brief 11 introduction to this case, and then explain the 12 process for tonight's hearing. After that, we'll take 13 witness testimony. But first, let's take appearances 14 from any counsel present on behalf of the parties. 15 MR. MCDONNELL: Thank you, Your Honor. 16 On behalf of the applicant Mink Solar LLC, the law 17 firm of Dickinson Wright at 180 East Broad Street, 18 Columbus, Ohio, Suite 3400, 43215 by Christine Pirik 19 and Matthew McDonnell. Thank you, Your Honor. 20 MR. WHITE: Thank you. 21 The subject of today's hearing is an 22 application filed by Milk Solar LLC for the purpose of 23 constructing, operating, and maintaining a solar- 24 powered generated facility in the village of 25 Hicksville and Hicksville Township in Defiance County 7 1 and Carryall Township in Paulding County. The project 2 will occupy 1,056 acres of an overall 1,813-acre 3 project footprint of private land, which the applicant 4 has secured through pending sales for executed 5 purchase options. 6 Included in the project are access 7 roads, underground electric collection lines, 35 8 inverters, and medium voltage transformers, a 9 collector substation and approximately 140-foot-long 10 138-kilowatt electric generation interconnection, also 11 known as gen-tie electric transmission line. When 12 completed, the project will generate 140 megawatts of 13 electricity that will connect to the grid for a future 14 point of interconnections switchyard substation to the 15 ADP South Hicksville's 138 kilovolt electric 16 transmission line. 17 For anyone who has not already studied 18 the specific project location, it can be found in Mink 19 Solar's legal notice announcing this hearing. Also, 20 it is in the material from the public information 21 sessions Mink Solar held here in July 20, 2023, and 22 Grants Reception Hall, August 24, 2023. This 23 information is also in Mink Solar's application, and 24 all these materials have been filed in this case in a 25 publicly available docket on the PUCO website. 8 1 On April 2, 2024, Power Siting Board 2 staff filed its report of investigation. In it, board 3 staff reviewed the project and ultimately recommends 4 if the board find the project complies with the 5 requirements in Ohio law to receive a certificate of 6 public need in environmental compatibility. However, 7 board staff recommend that the board include in its 8 certificate 50 additional conditions with which Mink 9 Solar must comply. The staff report is a 10 recommendation and does not necessarily reflect the 11 board's final determination in this case. If you have 12 any questions about the staff report, again, you can 13 direct those inquiries to the members of the board 14 staff that are here today. 15 The purpose of this public hearing is 16 to solicit feedback from the public about the proposed 17 solar-powered generation facility project. This is 18 the board's opportunity to hear any opinions, 19 thoughts, or concerns you have about the project. 20 Importantly, this public hearing is only one part of 21 the board's process in reviewing this application. An 22 in-person evidentiary hearing will convene in the 23 board's office in Columbus on May 6, 2024, at ten a.m. 24 The purpose of that hearing is for the parties in the 25 case, which currently includes Mink Solar and board 9 1 staff, to provide evidence, including witness 2 testimony about the project. The board will utilize 3 that evidence along with testimony from this public 4 hearing tonight in rendering its decision. 5 Tonight's hearing is being transcribed 6 by a court reporter. So I would just ask that anyone 7 testifying come up to the front here, use the 8 microphone, speak clearly and loudly enough so that he 9 can hear your testimony and accurately transcribe it. 10 If you've prepared a written statement or other 11 document that accompanies your testimony, you can 12 provide that either to the two of us or to the court 13 reporter, and we'll make sure that it's filed in this 14 case. 15 Now, after I finish this introduction, 16 I will call on those who are testifying, or who have 17 signed up to testify in the order in which they signed 18 up. Mr. Kieffer will ask that you take an oath 19 affirming that you will speak the truth and ask you're 20 free to state your name, its spelling, along with your 21 address and whether you live or work in the project 22 area. Following your testimony, counsel for the 23 parties or the administrative law judges may have 24 questions for you. So when you finish speaking, 25 before you leave the podium, give us a second just to 10 1 make sure whether we have any questions for you. Then 2 once you finish testifying, you can certainly stay and 3 observe the rest of the meeting. You're also free to 4 leave, of course. But if you do, we just ask that you 5 remain quiet so the rest of the meeting's not 6 disruptive. 7 If you signed up to testify, but then 8 decide you would rather pass on doing so, perhaps file 9 written comments in the docket instead, see a member 10 of the board staff and they'll help you figure out how 11 to do that. 12 Finally, the transcript of this hearing 13 will be available in the case docket on the Power 14 Siting Board's docketing information system website, 15 or DIS. You can access that through the public 16 utilities commission's web site, or by visiting the 17 Mink Solar Power project page on the Power Siting 18 Board's website. That's at opsb.ohio.gov. You can go 19 to that site and click "pending cases." 20 That instruction out of the way, we 21 will now begin hearing testimony from the witnesses. 22 MR. KIEFFER: First we have Jeremy 23 Welch. 24 Okay, Mr. Welch. Can you please raise 25 your right hand? 11 1 WHEREUPON, 2 JEREMY WELCH, 3 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 4 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 5 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 6 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Please state 7 and spell your name for the record. 8 THE WITNESS: Jeremy, J-E-R-E-M-Y 9 Welch, W-E-L-C-H 10 MR. KIEFFER: And your address 11 including the township, please. 12 THE WITNESS: 3331 East Augusta Drive, 13 McConnelsville, Ohio. And that's in Morgan Township 14 in Morgan County. 15 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or reside 16 in the project area? 17 THE WITNESS: I do not live in the 18 area, but I do work in the area. 19 MR. KIEFFER: Feel free to go ahead 20 whenever you're ready. 21 DIRECT STATEMENT 22 THE WITNESS: So I'm a renewal energy 23 worker coordinator for the carpenters union, the 24 carpenters for this project, Mink Solar Project. I 25 represent over a hundred members of the counties. 12 1 That includes the carpenters union. Project like this 2 provides an avenue for our members to work close to 3 home. A lot of times as a carpenter, you do a lot of 4 traveling. The area I that I live in southeastern 5 Ohio, there's very little work. They're not building 6 skyscrapers or hospitals or, you know, power plants 7 where we're at. So a lot of my guys have to travel 8 upwards of two hours to get to work. 9 And as a business rep, being able to 10 get close to home for a job, even if it's for a little 11 one, everybody talks about these solar fields provide 12 temporary jobs. Well, absolutely. They absolutely 13 do. We're carpenters. Every job we do is a temporary 14 job. You know, but these projects help provide us the 15 opportunity to work close to home. They can be home 16 to see their kids playing baseball, birthday parties, 17 dance recitals, whatever it is. It helps them build 18 their family relationships. 19 The other thing on these projects, 20 they're really for apprentices. This 140-megawatt 21 project, we're probably going to have about 140 22 carpenters out there and about half of them are going 23 to be apprentices. It's a great opportunity to bring 24 people in who live in this community into the trade. 25 And we're not just teaching them to be solar 13 1 installers. When they come into our apprenticeship, 2 we also teach them how to install drywall, how to 3 concrete form work, how to build a scaffold. We're 4 teaching them how to -- how to make a career. 5 And after 30 years of doing one project 6 after another after another, they get to retire. They 7 can walk to their mailbox and pick up a check and put 8 food on the table. I would say that anyone working 40 9 hours a week should not have to make a choice between 10 putting food on the table or taking their kids to the 11 -- to the hospital. That's not a choice anybody 12 should have to make. So we support this project. 13 It's a great opportunity to bring good, high paying to 14 this area. Thank you. 15 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Any 16 questions? 17 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 18 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. 19 Next we are calling on Kipton Siesel. 20 Good evening, sir. Could you please 21 raise your right hand. 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 14 1 WHEREUPON, 2 KIPTON SIESEL, 3 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 4 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 5 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 6 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 7 please state and spell your name for the record? 8 THE WITNESS: Kipton Siesel, K-I-P-T-O- 9 N S-I-E-S-E-L. 10 THE REPORTER: I'm sorry. Can you say 11 that again? I didn't hear you. 12 THE WITNESS: Kipton, K-I-P-T-O-N 13 Siesel, S-I-E-S-E-L. 14 THE REPORTER: Thank you. 15 MR. KIEFFER: Can you please provide 16 your address and township? 17 THE WITNESS: It's 2412 South Reynolds 18 Road, Toledo, Ohio 43604. Not sure what the township 19 is up there. I do not live in the project area, but 20 we do do work in the area. 21 MR. KIEFFER: Okay. Feel free to 22 elaborate. 23 DIRECT STATEMENT 24 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir. So on behalf 25 of the Operating Engineers, Local Union 18, I move to 15 1 support the approval of the Mink Solar project. The 2 operating engineers and the individuals who operate 3 heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and excavators. 4 The roads and bridges you drive on were most likely 5 built by members of the Local 18, along with fellow 6 tradesmen. 7 Although we might not agree with all of 8 the work associated with this project, we believe that 9 our local signatory contractor will secure this work, 10 thus providing our membership with numerous employment 11 opportunities. In turn, high pay wages, health care 12 benefits, and apprenticeship programs will continue to 13 grow because of this program. If approved, the Mink 14 Solar project will not only create jobs, but you can 15 expect economic impact, additional tax money, and 16 clean energy for Ohio as a result of the project. 17 We encourage the Ohio Power Siting 18 Board to approve -- or to support the jobs of Local 19 Union 18 by approving the Mink Solar Project. 20 MR. KIEFFER: Any questions? 21 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 22 Thank you. 23 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. 24 Next we have Deanna Wise. 25 // 16 1 WHEREUPON, 2 DEANNA WISE, 3 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 4 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 5 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 6 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 7 please state and spell your name for the record? 8 THE WITNESS: Deanna, D-E-A-N-N-A Wise, 9 W-I-S-E. 10 MR. KIEFFER: And can you please say 11 your address and township? 12 THE WITNESS: Yes. 11590 State Route 13 49, Hicksville, Ohio. And it is Hicksville Township. 14 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. And do you 15 reside or work in the project area? 16 THE WITNESS: I reside in the project 17 area. 18 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Go ahead when 19 you're ready. 20 DIRECT STATEMENT 21 THE WITNESS: Hello. My name is Deanna 22 Wise, and I'm a lifelong resident of Defiance County. 23 I'm a landowner, retired teacher, and farmer. I have 24 been invested in this community, its residents, and 25 lands my entire life. I am here today to oppose the 17 1 proposed Mink Solar project. 2 As a landowner whose land will directly 3 border this project, I am opposed. I am opposed for 4 my neighbors who live down the road. I am opposed for 5 my community. I am opposed for the loss of zoned 6 agricultural lands that are now going to have an 7 industrial wasteland on them. No longer will this 8 natural resource support the tall corn, golden wheat, 9 and flourishing soybeans that produce food and fuel 10 for the U.S. and the world. 11 I can not believe in the use of 12 agricultural lands and natural resource for the 13 industrial use of solar farms. From the year 2017 14 until 2022, according to the agricultural census, Ohio 15 lost 300,000 acres of farmland. Food security and the 16 affordability of our food supply has been threatened. 17 The need to put food on the table has not changed, and 18 we need Ohio farms and farmers to do that. 19 Leave agricultural lands alone. There 20 are better placements for these solar fields. Explore 21 non-farmland alternatives for utility industrial scale 22 solar development like Mink is proposing. Brown 23 fields, parking canopies, former landfills, rooftops 24 and old industrial area spray fields are better 25 options. Reusing land that is not farmland. Explore 18 1 these other options that don't use our precious 2 agricultural land. Focus on a better option that 3 doesn't exploit farmland. 4 When questioned, our elected officials 5 said to me, "We don't want to tell people what they 6 can and cannot do with their land." Well, what about 7 the right of those adjacent to the project? Those of 8 us who pay taxes? Where do property rights end for 9 those few leasing their land to Mink and begin for 10 those of us who border and live close to the project? 11 We have rights too. We live here too. Developers are 12 going to say whatever they need to to get the project 13 approved. 14 Do the honorable thing and protect the 15 rights of the many others who are not given a choice 16 and are being highly impacted by a few that made the 17 choice to lease their land for solar. Leave these 18 lands to agricultural use. Oppose the Mink Solar 19 project. Please vote no. 20 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you for your 21 testimony. 22 Are there any questions? 23 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 24 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, ma'am. 25 Next we'll be calling on James Wise. 19 1 James, could you please raise your 2 right hand? 3 WHEREUPON, 4 JAMES WISE, 5 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 6 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 7 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 8 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. Could 9 you please state and spell your name for the record? 10 THE WITNESS: James, J-A-M-E-S. Wise, 11 W-I-S-E. 12 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 13 please provide your address, including township? 14 THE WITNESS: My address is 11590 State 15 Route 49, Hicksville, Ohio. And it is Hicksville 16 Township. 17 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or reside 18 in the project -- 19 THE WITNESS: -- in the project area. 20 MR. KIEFFER: All right, sir. Go ahead 21 whenever you're ready. 22 DIRECT STATEMENT 23 THE WITNESS: All right. I am in 24 opposition to the Mink Solar project. I have land 25 that's adjacent to it, and I have some that is right 20 1 across the road from it. I do not think that we 2 should use agricultural land in the way that they're 3 going to be using it. It's not marginal land. It's 4 probably some of the better land in the state, and 5 they're going to take that out of production. There's 6 just got to be better use for agriculture land than 7 solar power. That's all I had. 8 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. 9 Any questions? 10 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 11 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. 12 Next we're going to be calling up Ryan 13 Morris [ph]. Not Morris [ph], I'm sorry. My 14 apologies. 15 Could you please raise your right hand? 16 WHEREUPON, 17 RYAN SANTA MARIA, 18 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 19 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 20 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 21 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 22 please state your name and spell it for the record? 23 THE WITNESS: Yes, it's Ryan R-Y-A-N S- 24 A-N-T-A -- 25 THE REPORTER: I'm sorry. Could you 21 1 say that again? I was getting some feedback. 2 THE WITNESS: Oh, yeah. R-Y-A-N S-A-N- 3 T-A M-A-R-I-A. 4 THE REPORTER: Thank you. 5 MR. KIEFFER: Again, my apologies. I'm 6 sorry. Could you provide your address, including 7 township? 8 THE WITNESS: Yes. It's 69 Oak Street, 9 Unit E, Columbus, Ohio. 10 MR. KIEFFER: And do you work or live 11 in the project area? 12 THE WITNESS: I do not. 13 MR. KIEFFER: Okay. Proceed whenever 14 you're ready. 15 DIRECT STATEMENT 16 THE WITNESS: So good evening. My name 17 is Ryan Santa Maria, and I am speaking on behalf of 18 the Ohio Land and Liberty Coalition. We are a 19 conservative nonprofit that promotes the property 20 rights for its members and advocates for renewable 21 energy across Ohio. Tonight I'm here to speak with 22 you all about how support for this project protects 23 the property rights of land owners. Not just in the 24 project area, but across Ohio. 25 There are times in America filled with 22 1 uncertainties about our futures. Every day I see 2 politicians in Washington call for our rights to be 3 taken away, whether they be our rights to bear arms or 4 our rights to free speech. All of our rights are 5 granted in the constitution and must be protected, 6 including our right to property. Our right to freely 7 acquire, use and dispose of property without 8 government interference. 9 I'm using my right to free speech 10 currently, just as everyone else that speaks today 11 will. There might be some people who disagree with 12 this project. I would never ask for their right to 13 speak up be taken away. 14 All of our rights are God-given and 15 granted by our founding fathers. It is essential that 16 we protect all of our rights now before we lose them. 17 A vote of approval for this project is a vote to 18 support private property rights. Someone who chooses 19 to develop their land within the law should not have 20 to answer to the government for why they choose to do 21 so. And a landowner should not be restricted in 22 utilizing their property by the government. 23 Again, this does not just affect this 24 project. This affects all of us. We must protect our 25 rights now. All of our rights that make this country 23 1 great and its citizens free. Support our property 2 rights and support this solar project. Thank you for 3 your time. 4 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, Mr. Santa 5 Maria. 6 Any questions? 7 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 8 Thank you. 9 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. 10 Next I have Mike Schulte. 11 Good evening. Could you please raise 12 your right hand? 13 WHEREUPON, 14 MIKE SCHULTE, 15 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 16 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 17 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 18 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 19 please say and spell your name for the record? 20 THE WITNESS: Mike Schulte, M-I-K-E S- 21 C-H-U-L-T-E. 22 MR. KIEFFER: And can you please 23 provide your address? 24 THE WITNESS: 15303 Ramga Road, 25 Wapakoneta, Ohio. Moulton Township. 24 1 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or work 2 in the project area? 3 THE WITNESS: I work in the area. 4 MR. KIEFFER: All right. Thank you. 5 Go ahead whenever you're ready. 6 DIRECT STATEMENT 7 THE WITNESS: I'm also a business rep 8 for the carpenters union. As Jeremy also stated, we 9 had several members who work out here, live out here, 10 and are looking for good pays, accessible jobs to stay 11 close to home. I just wanted to, excuse me, give our 12 support and just have it -- 13 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. 14 Any questions? 15 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 16 Thank you. 17 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you for your 18 testimony. 19 Next up, I believe, is -- 20 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Pass 21 MR. KIEFFER: Pass? Thank you. 22 And then next is Colette Betts. 23 Could you please raise your right hand? 24 // 25 // 25 1 WHEREUPON, 2 COLETTE BETTS, 3 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 4 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 5 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 6 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 7 please state and spell your name for the record? 8 THE WITNESS: Yes. My name is Colette, 9 C-O-L-E-T-T-E Betts, B-E-T-T-S. I live at 3819 10 Jericho Road, Hicksville, Ohio. Hicksville Township. 11 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or work 12 in the township area? 13 THE WITNESS: A hundred percent. 14 MR. KIEFFER: All right. Feel free to 15 go ahead whenever you're ready. 16 DIRECT STATEMENT 17 THE WITNESS: Hi. My name is Colette 18 Betts. I'm thrilled to stand before you today and 19 share my enthusiasm for Mink Solar, which I 20 voluntarily and whole-heartedly support by putting in 21 approximately 300 acres of land. 22 My late husband, Tim Betts, and myself 23 met with Mink Solar in 2019 and decided this was a 24 direction we wanted the farm to go. I would really 25 like to see his last wishes carried out. Betts Farm 26 1 dates back to the 1940s when it was acquired by my 2 husband's father, Robert Betts. For decades to come, 3 Robert and his two sons, Jared [ph] and Tim worked 4 this land relentlessly and tirelessly until the day 5 each passed. 6 Each year was very challenging, but the 7 biggest challenge being at the mercy of weather. It 8 is important to dispel the misconception that farming 9 equals wealth. The reality is far from it, with many 10 years ending in red. While most farmers are forced to 11 work second jobs, Tim worked nights at Goodrich and 12 farmed days with hardly any rest. The constant upkeep 13 of machinery, the high cost of seed, insurance, 14 fertilizer, chemicals, not to mention the drought and 15 extreme rains, force them to replant and some years 16 didn't plant at all because it became too late. 17 One more burden added to the farmer is 18 the high real estate taxes and the school taxes. 19 Small farms simply cannot make it in today's world. 20 This year alone my farm real estate tax reached the 21 $20,000 mark. With the burden of the expenses and 22 hardships a farmer faces, I believe it's a sole 23 decision of the landowner how to best care -- care 24 takers of their own properties. 25 Mink Solar program offers a welcome 27 1 relief by contributing to the farm income as well as 2 generating more revenue for Defiance County. It will 3 also bring jobs and revenues into the area. As my 4 property becomes enveloped in the solar fields, I 5 eagerly anticipate this transformation. Contrary to 6 the image of stark fences reminiscent of prisons, Mink 7 Solar plans to implement aesthetically pleasing wooden 8 posts, mesh fencing and will be elevated for the 9 migration of animals. 10 Furthermore, there will be animal 11 corridors that will facilitate movement of large 12 wildlife, while the incorporation of pollinating 13 plants and trees will be -- will enhance the 14 biodiversity. My house is a hundred percent 15 surrounded by solar panels. For me, this envision 16 environment is a sanctuary. As someone who has 17 fostered and cared for over 200 dogs, cats, and horses 18 for the humane society, the prospect of providing a 19 safe haven amidst the solar fields is deeply 20 fulfilling. 21 Gone be the days of toxic chemical 22 exposures: Pesticides, fertilizers, crop dusters 23 swirling clouds of dust during planting and harvest. 24 Solar fields will have no unpleasant smells or sounds 25 as do the mega farms or the wooden-powered fields. 28 1 Instead, my surroundings will be -- resemble the 2 tranquil park conducive to life in harmony with 3 nature. Additionally, I look forward to putting bee 4 colonies to complement the pollination of the efforts 5 within the fields. 6 I find it humorous when I pass signs 7 that state, "Prime Farmland. No Industrial Solar." 8 and the land is being eaten up by housing 9 developments, interstates, factories, mega farms, 10 industrial parks, never to be returned to farmland. 11 Mink Solar will remove the solar panels at the end of 12 our contract, returning them to farmland. I believe 13 that allowing land to rest and rejuvenate under the 14 solar program's care will enhance its fertility for 15 future agriculture endeavors. 16 Lastly, I'd like to extend my heartfelt 17 gratitude to the farmers who have diligently tended to 18 my land since my husband's passing. Their stewardship 19 has been exemplary. But I a hundred percent back Mink 20 Solar project, and would like to thank them for the 21 opportunity to ensure the family farm can continue to 22 survive for future generations. 23 MR. KIEFFER: Any questions? 24 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 25 MR. KIEFFER: Next up we have Ben 29 1 Flannery [ph]. Come on up whenever you're ready. 2 Ben? All right. We'll come back to him, then. 3 Next up is Tim Copsey. 4 Good evening. Could you please raise 5 your right hand? 6 WHEREUPON, 7 TIMOTHY COPSEY, 8 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 9 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 10 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 11 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 12 please state and spell your name for the record? 13 THE WITNESS: Timothy Copsey, T-I-M-O- 14 T-H-Y C-O-P-S-E-Y. 3111 Road 192, Antwerp, Ohio 45813. 15 MR. KIEFFER: And do you reside or work 16 in the project area? 17 THE WITNESS: Reside and work. 18 MR. KIEFFER: Okay. Go ahead whenever 19 you're ready, sir. 20 DIRECT STATEMENT 21 THE WITNESS: Thank you. My name is 22 Tim Copsey. I do reside in Carryall Township, 23 Paulding County, Ohio. I was born in the Paulding 24 County Hospital and then resided in the county my 25 entire life. I am the economic development director 30 1 for Paulding County. I started this position in 2 January 2020. At the time many of the green energy 3 projects in the county already existed. However, I 4 learned and then experienced firsthand how every 5 Paulding County resident has benefited and continues 6 to benefit from the increased tax income green energy 7 projects generated for the county, townships, and 8 schools. 9 The Paulding County Economic 10 Developmental office does support this project. The 11 addition of the megawatts will provide immediate 12 impact to our county and Carryall Township in the 13 Antwerp community. The investment into the project 14 infrastructure will allow added capacity to the 15 electric grid. Then throw in the added influx of many 16 project employees and everything they need daily just 17 the same. They will help local businesses with 18 additional tax flow and profits they would not 19 normally experience. All of this without putting the 20 additional strain on our already strained county 21 workforce. 22 In allowing this project to be 23 implemented, it will provide additional opportunity 24 for more tax payments and new monies for township, 25 school district, county library, county hospital, 31 1 county jail, senior center, MRDD, the 911 system, 2 mental health facilities, and the overall Paulding 3 County general fund. We thank you for taking the time 4 and interest in this historic Paulding County project 5 and considering keeping us Paulding County strong. 6 Thank you. 7 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you, sir. 8 Any questions? 9 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 10 Thank you. 11 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Next up, 12 Kelly Timbrook. 13 Could you please raise your right hand? 14 WHEREUPON, 15 KELLY TIMBROOK, 16 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 17 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 18 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 19 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 20 please state and spell your name? 21 THE WITNESS: Kelly Timbrook, K-E-L-L-Y 22 T-I-M-B-R-O-O-K. 23 MR. KIEFFER: And can you just provide 24 your address for the record, including the township? 25 THE WITNESS: 12732 State Route 49, 32 1 Hicksville, Ohio. Hicksville Township. 2 MR. KIEFFER: And do you reside or work 3 in the area? The project area? 4 THE WITNESS: Reside. 5 MS. KIEFER: All right. Thank you. Go 6 ahead when you're ready. 7 DIRECT STATEMENT 8 THE WITNESS: So as a lifelong resident 9 who loves the village of Hicksville, I'm very 10 concerned regarding the Mink Solar project. The 143- 11 page application online -- 12 THE REPORTER: Ma'am, can you speak 13 into the microphone? I'm having trouble hearing you. 14 I apologize. 15 THE WITNESS: That's okay. I'll start 16 over. 17 As a lifelong resident who loves the 18 village of Hicksville, I'm very concerned regarding 19 the Mink Solar project. The 143-page application 20 online leaves me with more questions than solid 21 answers, and I'm just tired and frustrated. Solar 22 energy is not a feasible source when one lives in an 23 area with only 78 wholly sunny days yearly, or the 24 weather is wildly unpredictable. It could easily be 25 damaged by hail, wind, and other severe weather. The 33 1 same instance just happened in Texas, and has been 2 quite a mess. 3 What's the plan here for cleanup and 4 remediation? Who foots these bills? Many families in 5 this area, including myself, rely on springs or wells 6 for their water source. Are there systemic ground 7 water contamination strategies in place? Did a 8 neutral third party complete the environmental survey? 9 Who paid for it? What's the breakdown of finances? 10 Where are the solar panels manufactured? Is the 11 community comfortable making money on solar panels 12 made by slaves in China? Short answer: No. 13 What does decommission look like? 14 Exactly. Well, there apparently is a bond for 15 decommission purposes. How will it be guaranteed? 16 Did the landowners get to see that bond? Is it 17 inflation-adjusted? If a current landowner's 18 grandchildren decide to end the relationship, are they 19 assured the funds are in place to remove the panels? 20 The frames? The foundations? The transmission lines? 21 The claim that property values will not 22 decline when we use solar farms seems preposterous. 23 In the light of great inflation, Minks claimed that 24 home prices rose one to two percent. That tells me it 25 did indeed decrease home values as it nowhere near 34 1 keeps up with inflation rates. 2 If this is approved, I can see a lot of 3 homeowners leaving, which will in turn strip tax 4 dollars from the community, and more importantly, take 5 away productive residents who love where they reside. 6 The panels are an eyesore. The reason one lives in 7 the country is to appreciate the beauty of nature. 8 The panels are ugly. It would ruin the countryside 9 with their appearance. Supposedly they'll be hidden 10 by greenery, but how is it possible to hide them when 11 it takes years to grow trees as large as one in the 12 picture in the Mink Solar web site? It's simply not 13 believable. By the time the trees -- the panels, the 14 30-year lease will be completed. 15 And I just want to note that it seems 16 like very few or none who support actually live 17 adjacent to the project area. And if they do, they 18 seem like they are receiving some kind of monetary 19 reward. 20 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. 21 Any questions? 22 MR. WHITE: No questions, Your Honor. 23 Thank you. 24 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you for your 25 testimony. 35 1 Next we have Jim Schmidt [ph]. 2 MR. SCHMIDT [PH]: I didn't sign up. 3 MR. KIEFFER: Oh, Okay. Pass then. 4 Keith Birkhold? Thank you, sir. Can 5 you please raise your right hand? 6 WHEREUPON, 7 KEITH BIRKHOLD, 8 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 9 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 10 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 11 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 12 please state and spell your name for the record? 13 THE WITNESS: Keith, K-E-I-T-H. Last 14 name Birkhold, B-I-R-K-H-O-L-D. 15 MR. KIEFFER: Can you please provide 16 your address including township? 17 THE WITNESS: I live at 12803 State 18 Route 49. Hicksville Township. Hicksville, Ohio. 19 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or work 20 in the project area? 21 THE WITNESS: I do. 22 MR. KIEFFER: Okay. Go ahead whenever 23 you're ready. 24 DIRECT STATEMENT 25 MR. BIRKHOLD: I don't do a lot of 36 1 public speaking, so maybe we'll just, instead of 2 reading a speech we'll just talk this through a little 3 bit. You know, listening to everybody that spoke, a 4 lot of people have done a lot of research and are very 5 passionate about this project. So it makes me very 6 proud to be a part of a community where people care 7 about their community and care about the environment 8 and want to see a sustainable and healthy community. 9 My family have been, you'd say legacy 10 farmers here. We farmed in Paulding and Defiance 11 Townships -- or Counties for roughly 150 years. So 12 we're -- I would consider ourselves a legacy farm 13 family. I have a son wanting to go into farming, and 14 I see some other farmers here too that have kids that 15 want to go into farming as well. So when my 16 productive ground is taken out of production and 17 competition comes in offering normal rates five times 18 the going rate of cash rent for crop production, it's 19 a little concerning. 20 But I also think that we live in an 21 environment that we want to try to use sustainable 22 energy if we can. And we need to look not only to our 23 own individual interests, but we have to enjoy a 24 society that gives up some of those individual 25 freedoms, and we really have to look out as well for 37 1 the best interest of our community and our society. 2 So I wrote down a few facts, because I am 3 rolling along this learning curve. According to the 4 UN, the world population is slated to grow by 1.4 5 billion people in the next 20 years to 9.2 billion. 6 Over 40 years that grows to 10.6 billion, a growth 7 rate of 2.8 billion over the life of this project. So 8 as farmers that are trying to keep up with population 9 growth rate in the world, it's not in tax to continue 10 to grow more crops with the existing land. And the 11 EPA's not going to let us take out more forest, and we 12 can't create more land, so it creates a challenge. 13 I'm also superintendent of a school in 14 Toledo that's a STEM school that teaches 15 sustainability to our students. And our students 16 study 17 sustainable development goals for the UN. I 17 pointed -- I want to point out a couple of numbers. 18 Number 2 goal is zero hunger goal. End hunger, 19 achieve food security, and improved nutrition and 20 promote sustainable agriculture. Currently, they 21 estimated 600 people in the world are facing fits of 22 hunger right now. And not all that is due to 23 production. Part of it's due to their economics, just 24 things like that, but we are going to run into a 25 period where food production is a challenge. 38 1 Number 7, affordable and clean energy 2 is also a sustainable development goal. To ensure 3 access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and 4 modern energy for all. Currently, 28.2 percent of 5 electricity is produced through renewables, and solar 6 energy is one of the most fast-growing areas with 22 7 percent of the growth in the U.S. coming from solar 8 energy. 9 There's another -- there's another 10 sustainable goal. It's called sustainable cities and 11 communities. It talks about making cities and human 12 settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and 13 sustainable. And I know for -- for myself and future 14 generations I want our community to be a safe place. 15 A place where we have whole sustainable energy and we 16 have sustainable food. And, as you can see from the 17 different testimonies, we have quite a bit of conflict 18 over how we are going to do that, and you guys have a 19 choice -- a tough choice to make. 20 And we started to explore different 21 avenues called agrivoltaics. We've been talking the 22 first solar to lead a solar without transparent panels 23 that allow light to pass through those panels, where 24 it can go across underneath. And one of those 25 partners put me on to another project that was 39 1 recently passed called the Oak Run Project. That 2 involved Bill Gates and I think -- anyhow, they're 3 looking at taking this farmland and putting 70 percent 4 of it -- having 70 percent of it in the next few years 5 in agrivoltaics. That means 70 percent of the 6 farmland will be used both for agriculture and for 7 solar. 8 So I hate to see this conflict in the 9 community with people who all care about each other. 10 And I think maybe the way this project is positioned 11 right now is to either take solar energy or you take 12 agriculture. I think we're at a point in the solar 13 energy development where you don't always have -- we 14 don't have to take one or the other. Right now Ohio 15 is experimenting with the largest solar agrivoltaics 16 project in the U.S. 6,500 acres create 800 megawatts 17 of energy. Now there are some extra small projects in 18 some other states of, you know, small acreage, but 19 nothing to this scale. And from what I have been 20 reading, this project's going to start next year. 21 So I guess my position is to take 22 either side. I'd like to see the project halted for a 23 couple of years. I'd like to see the challenges that 24 come out of the run project evaluated. I would like 25 to see us benefit from their mistakes so when we do 40 1 this project -- when we do this project, we do it the 2 right way. We do it sustainable. And we do it so, 3 you know, we have a good place to work. 4 MR. KIEFFER: Any questions? 5 MR. WHITE: No questions. Thank you. 6 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. 7 Next we have Nick Bragg. 8 Good evening. Could you please raise 9 your right hand? 10 WHEREUPON, 11 NICHOLAS BRAGG, 12 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 13 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 14 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 15 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 16 please state and spell your name for the record? 17 THE WITNESS: My name is Nicholas 18 Bragg, N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S Bragg, B-R-A-G-G. 19 MR. KIEFFER: Could you please provide 20 your address including the township? 21 THE WITNESS: 4379 Road 220, Antwerp, 22 Ohio 45813. Carryall Township. 23 MR. KIEFFER: And do you work or live 24 in the project area? 25 THE WITNESS: I live here. 41 1 MR. KIEFFER: Great. Go ahead when 2 you're ready. 3 DIRECT STATEMENT 4 THE WITNESS: First of all, I'd like to 5 say that Keith said a lot of good things. A lot of 6 things I actually would have said. I've lived here 7 for all 29 years of my life. I'm not that old, but 8 I've lived here, I grew up -- I love this area. I 9 desperately hate to see this massive solar panel 10 fields go in. Having said that, I'm not all opposed 11 to green energy, I do think it is a thing of the 12 future. I just don't think we make it over the hill 13 to where we are officially making and officially 14 putting out the energy that these are supposed to 15 produce. 16 Having said that, I'd like to talk a 17 little bit about the sunshine days here in northwest 18 Ohio. As Ms. Timbrook said, we have roughly 73 fully 19 sunny days and 107 days -- partly sunny days for a 20 total 180 days of sunshine. Whereas opposed to 21 Nevada, it averages 292 days of sun each year. As 22 well as the sunshine in Nevada, there are also -- 23 let's see here. Sorry about that. I lost my page. 24 There are millions of acres, I think it's about 30.3 25 million acres owned federally in Nevada that the 42 1 government owns. 2 Instead of offering new subsidies to 3 the solar companies such as GenX and every solar 4 company out there, why don't they offer free land? 5 It's vacant land. It's not used for anything. So why 6 don't they put the solar panels there, if they choose 7 to put solid solar panels? 8 I also agree with Keith on 9 agrivoltaics. I think it probably would work in 10 certain situations. I do not believe for one minute 11 that the decommission process that GenX promises is 12 going to happen after the 30-year period is up. It's 13 not going to work. The reason I say that is we live 14 in a unique area of Ohio. Probably a unique area of 15 the world actually as far as soils. Our soils are 16 basically clay content and the process of construction 17 and decommission is very, very evasive on our soil. 18 When it's wet, it is very soft and it compacts. 19 There's nothing we can use to get that back, so 20 therefore that soil will never be the same. 21 As far as drains goes, all drainage 22 will be ruined and have to be redone and I don't know 23 who's dollar that's going to be redone on. We as 24 Paulding County have seen hundreds of windmills show 25 up in the county since probably 2007-ish, 8, somewhere 43 1 around there. And I think that is a decent thing 2 because our average wind speed for the summer was 3 around seven, eight miles an hour, which was well 4 within the wind breakers to make the windmills work 5 properly, and in the winter time it's really windy, 6 and an average 13.1 miles an hour. 7 The taxes, let's say the pilot program 8 that they've put out is decent money if you look at 9 the number as a whole. But you break that down over a 10 30-year period and you divide that by the acres it's 11 taken in this project. I alone and many other people 12 in the area probably pay more per acre in property 13 taxes than what they are paying on the revenue 14 generated, which is in my opinion not right. 15 They talk briefly about the fences 16 that's going to be around this project. They claim it 17 to be a mesh fence. I've seen pictures of these mesh 18 fences. It's basically a square versus a diamond- 19 shaped chain-link fence. I don't see how that looks 20 much different. Yeah, they do put wooden posts around 21 when they plant trees every so many feet. I don't 22 think it's really going to help that much. 23 So my closing statement for this is I 24 think that we need to slow this process of all these 25 solar farmlands across the United States, specifically 44 1 this one, and kind of sit back and see what 2 agrivoltaics has to bring to us so we can live as a 3 agricultural community as well as a green energy 4 community. That's all I have. Thank you. 5 MR. KIEFFER: Any questions? 6 MR. WHITE: No questions. 7 MR. KIEFFER: And next is Thomas Zuber. 8 Good evening. Can you please raise 9 your right hand? 10 WHEREUPON, 11 THOMAS ZUBER, 12 called as a witness and having been first duly sworn 13 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 14 the truth, was examined and testified as follows: 15 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Could you 16 provide your name and can you spell it as well? 17 THE WITNESS: Thomas, T-H-O-M-A-S 18 Zuber, Z-U-B-E-R. 19 MR. KIEFFER: And could you provide 20 your address including the township? 21 THE WITNESS: 6574 Road 192, Antwerp, 22 Ohio. 23 MR. KIEFFER: And do you live or work 24 in the project area? 25 THE WITNESS: I live here. 45 1 MR. KIEFFER: All right. Go ahead 2 whenever you're ready, sir. 3 DIRECT STATEMENT 4 THE WITNESS: Hi. My name is Tom 5 Zuber. I live and work in the project area. I own a 6 small business as well in the area. We're -- most of 7 our customers are farmers and landowners. I see both 8 sides of the story, and am a little bit conflicted on 9 it. I understand that as a landowner you should have 10 a right to do what you want with your land. I believe 11 also, as long as it's not affecting your neighbors. 12 Part of my business, we travel all over the 13 Midwest. I have an employee that just got home from 14 New York. And so I can see why solar projects 15 throughout -- maybe we'll have one that's 16 aesthetically pleasing. I've not seen any. Alls I 17 see is chain and hard wire. 18 But the main point that I wanted to 19 touch on, in my previous life I traveled all over the 20 United States working in power plants, power-generated 21 stations. Not to be confused with farms or anything 22 else, because that's not what this is. It's a power- 23 generated station. Okay? My biggest concern, or what 24 I don't like the most is the acreage that it covers 25 compared to the megawatts that is produces. I believe 46 1 this project was a hundred -- eleven hundred acres, 2 somewhere around that was finished. 3 So one power plant I used to work at, 4 called Gibson Generating Station, it's down by 5 Princeton, Indiana. I believe it covers around 150, 6 160 acres. It has five units on it. Each unit 7 produces 560 megawatts. They employ laborers, 8 engineers, union workers, non-union workers. So 9 that's my biggest concern is the acreage that we're 10 getting, the megawatts that would be incurred is 11 raising a lot of acreage for what I consider very 12 little megawatts. 13 I would implore the Power Siting Board 14 to consider that and I know that our coal fire 15 facilities as well as our -- facilities are upgraded 16 passively with scrubbers and SVR units. Cleaning the 17 air, doing a much better job than 20 or 30 years ago. 18 And so based on what I know and the industry that I've 19 been in, I would have to voice my opposition for this 20 project. Thank you. 21 MR. KIEFFER: Thank you. Any 22 questions? 23 MR. WHITE: No questions. Thank you. 24 MR. KIEFFER: And is there anyone else 25 who would like to provide a testimony at this time? 47 1 All right. Looks like we have no hands up. 2 MR. WHITE: Is there anyone who did not 3 sign up that would like to testify? Okay. I'm not 4 seeing any hands. So thank you everyone for your 5 participation tonight. I'd like to thank the folks 6 here at Hicksville High School for allowing us to use 7 their facilities, and for allowing us to be here 8 tonight here at this building. The hearing is now 9 concluded. The hearing transcript will be submitted 10 on the record for the board's consideration in this 11 case. Thank you all again and have a great evening. 12 THE REPORTER: Going off the record at 13 6:55 p.m. 14 (Whereupon, at 6:55 p.m., the 15 proceeding was concluded.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 48 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I, MICHAEL RENNILLO, the officer before whom 3 the foregoing proceedings were taken, do hereby 4 certify that any witness(es) in the foregoing 5 proceedings, prior to testifying, were duly sworn; 6 that the proceedings were recorded by me and 7 thereafter reduced to typewriting by a qualified 8 transcriptionist; that said digital audio recording of 9 said proceedings are a true and accurate record to the 10 best of my knowledge, skills, and ability; that I am 11 neither counsel for, related to, nor employed by any 12 of the parties to the action in which this was taken; 13 and, further, that I am not a relative or employee of 14 any counsel or attorney employed by the parties 15 hereto, nor financially or otherwise interested in the 16 outcome of this action. 17 <%21018,Signature%> 18 MICHAEL RENNILLO 19 Notary Public in and for the 20 State of Ohio 21 22 23 24 25 49 1 CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIBER 2 I, FOSTER MOSEDALE, do hereby certify that 3 this transcript was prepared from the digital audio 4 recording of the foregoing proceeding, that said 5 transcript is a true and accurate record of the 6 proceedings to the best of my knowledge, skills, and 7 ability; that I am neither counsel for, related to, 8 nor employed by any of the parties to the action in 9 which this was taken; and, further, that I am not a 10 relative or employee of any counsel or attorney 11 employed by the parties hereto, nor financially or 12 otherwise interested in the outcome of this action. 13 14 <%33017,Signature%> 15 FOSTER MOSEDALE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25