SW6200303_2020-06-05 Boykin Solar- Comment Response_20200605

29 May 20
Jim Farkas
Environmental Engineer
NCDEQ Stormwater Program
225 Green Street, Suite 714
Fayetteville, NC 28301
Subject: Boykin PV1 Solar Power Plant
Response to Request for Additional Information
BA Project # 114003.19
Jim,
Ballentine
Associates, P.A.
221 Providence Road
Eastowne Office Park
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919/929-0481 Chapel Hill
919/489-4789 Durham
919/489-2803 Fax
This letter is written to provide a point -by -point response to Request for Additional
Information comments, which we received following the review of the 1st Low Density
Stormwater Submission for the referenced project. Below are the comments received on the
8th of May 2020, each followed by our response in bold type.
NCDEQ Comments (Jim Farkas)
Please provide a lease agreement between the property owner "J. Duane heirs Gilliam"
and the Applicant, "Ecoplexus, Inc." (Section III, lc). It is noted that agreements are
provided for Mr. Beasley and Mr. White, however they are not the property owners.
Response: Lease agreements have been provided with this submittal.
2. Please leave Section IV, 11 blank or wite in "N/A" since Section IV, 10 does not list
any off -site drainage areas.
Response: Section IV, 11 has been revised accordingly.
Please provide an original, signed in pen, hard copy of the supplement form (Section V
& Section VI, 3). The State does not have a standard O&M Agreement for low -density
sites that do not have swales. Since, as written, most of the maintenance requirements
listed on page 4 of the supplement form do not apply to this project a site -specific O&M
Agreement should be provided. You may use the O&M EZ Form grassed swale
maintenance as a guide and enter the pertinent information in as a "User Defined BMP".
It is recommended to keep all of the grassed swale maintenance requirements (except
for the outlet device requirements). It is also recommended that these kept requirement
be reworded to remove the references to swales and replace them with references to the
vegetated areas (or whatever you would like calling it). It is further recommended that
solar farm specific requirements from Part E-6 (like minimizing use of herbicides &
fertilizers and avoiding the concentration of stormwater). The O&M Agreement form
will need to be re -notarized and the original, hard copy must be provided.
Response: A draft copy of the O&M agreement has been included for review
prior to signature. The original Signed Copy of the Low Density Supplement is
included with this submittal.
0 PLANNING 0 CIVIL ENGINEERING 0 SURVEYING

Boykin P V 1 Solar Power Plant pn;,
Response to Request for Additional Information
Ballentine
05 Jun 20 Associates, P.A.
4. Please provide initials, in pen, for each included item in Section VI.
Response: Section has been initialed where appropriate.
5. Please provide the original, signed in pen, hard copy of the Application (Section VI,1).
Response: Original signed copy has been provided with this submittal.
6. Please provide a more recent topographic map that clearly shows the project extents as
they actually are (Section VI, 6). The site appears to "spill over" onto the Vander, NC
map. It is important that the project boundary be clearly shown on the USGS
topographic maps since blue line streams are used to determine if surface water areas
(Section VI, 6) are located on site. It appears that the project site is bordered by blue
line streams. We would like to verify that these streams are not located within the
project area.
Response: Updated Topo Maps have been provided in the Stormwater Report.
7. If applicable, please show the surface waters on the plans (Section VI, 8h) and the
associated vegetated buffers (Section VI, 8p). These items should be shown on the plans
even if they are not located within the project area. If surface waters are located within
the project area, ensure Section IV, 6-8 get updated.
Response: Surface waters from GIS have been included in the plans. No buffers
required in Cape Fear River Basin. No surface waters located on the site.
8. Please provide the bearings and distances for the project area boundary on the plans.
(Section VI, 8i).
Response: Bearings and distances have been added. See Project Area Exhibit in
the Stormwater report.
9. Please identify and dimension BUA on the plans (Section VI, 8j). For example, the
detail for the concrete equipment pad is not provided and cannot be verified, a footing
detail for the rack/post assembly should be provided to verify the provided
measurements, and the gravel drive area used in the calculations should be verifiable
just by looking at the plans (You can label or dimension the roadway BUA).
Response: See details D1/C5204 & B1/C5202 respectively. There are not
footings for the racking system. Rack posts are driven directly into the ground.
No concrete footers are used.
10. The Applicant, "Roger Baele", is not listed on the Secretary of State information for
Ecoplexus, Inc. (Section VI, 11). Please provide official documentation of Mr. Baele's
title and position within Ecoplexus, Inc.
Response: Ecoplexus, INC is no longer the applicant. New Secretary State
information has been provided for the new applicant.
Page 2 of 3

Boykin P V 1 Solar Power Plant pn;,
Response to Request for Additional Information
Ballentine
05 Jun 20 Associates, P.A.
11. The person signing Section IX of the Application, "Mary Duane Gilliam Hale, Trustee",
does not match the Property Owner, "J. Duane Heirs Gilliam". Please correct this or
provide official documentation showing that they may sign on behalf of the Property
Owner.
Response: Official documentation has been provided with this submittal.
12. Please clarify if the Project Area (158.1 ac) or the Property Area (350.8 ac) is the area that
shall be permitted. For example, the Application implies that the Project Area is the area
that will be permitted while most of the maps in the stormwater management report show
the property area. This differentiation is especially important for Section IV, 4-8, Section
VI, 6, and Section VI, 8i. Either the Project Area or the Property Area can be used for all
of these items. One area must be picked and used throughout the project, you cannot use
both.
Response: The new project is the property Boundary of 285.30 AC. See Project Area
Map located in Appendix A of the Stormwater Report.
13. Please show on the plans that the horizontal distance between solar panels is at least as
wide as the solar panel width (Solar Farm Recommendation 2). I understand that the solar
panels follow the sun and that these distances are not fixed, but it should be shown on the
plans that this condition is being met.
Response: See detail B1/C5202.
14. Please provide a slopes map showing the proposed ground slope under the proposed solar
panels (Solar Farm Recommendation 2). This map does not need to go in the plan set, but
can be included in the stormwater management report. For places where the ground slope
exceeds 8%, please provide some method of maintaining sheet flow.
Response: See Existing Slope Exhibit located in appendix A of the Stormwater
Report.
15. Provide pdfs of all revisions, 2 hardcopies of revised plan sheets, and 1 hardcopy of other
documents. Pdfs must be uploaded using the form at:
https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/Fortns/SW_Project—Submittal
Response: All docs have been uploaded accordingly.
Please don't hesitate to call me should you have any questions or if you require additional
information.
Yours very truly,
BALLENTINE ASSOCIATES, PA
Lee Price, EI
Page 3 of 3