2025-01-22 WS & CC Meeting Minutes - (Approved)

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City of Centerville City Council Work Session & Meeting Minutes January 22, 2025 cost with that tax credit. He stated that he had concerns as to whether those funds would still be available to the city. He stated that Section 7 says “terminating the new green deal, all agencies shall immediately pause the distribution of funds appropriated to the Inflation Reduction Act”. He also explained that these credits are from the Inflation Reduction Act and that the government will be pausing payment on that and that he did not know what that looks like long term. Administrator Statz stated that we entered into a contract with My Solar Pod, they make purchases and complete work the city will owe them for that and that it was his advice to pause the project and wait until everything gets sorted out to make sure that the $35,250 as part of grant. He stated that the State funding is there and not a part of the Inflation Reduction Act or federal funding as it only was the tax credits. Mr. Mouli Vaidyanathan, My Solar Pod-President/CEO, introduced himself to council and provided background of his company. He thanked the mayor and council for the opportunity to speak with them. He stated that Mr. Ivan Starenko, My Solar Pod-Snior Engineer, was also present. He reviewed the chronological events of the project stating that the project was kicked off in October of 2024 with the Public Works Director, Mr. Palzer. He stated that several documents were submitted to the state to obtain the grant, they received approval, signed the contract with the city, engineering has been completely completed, obtained approval from Xcel Energy and have not invoiced a penny to the city. He stated that My Solar Pod has purchase some essential equipment for the project, primarily because hedging on inflation and they have given a fixed cost on the project so they cannot cancel the project ad hoc. He stated that the equipment would generate 60,000 kw per year with roughly a $6,000 annual savings and that this would increase as the cost of electricity was increasing roughly at around 7-8%. Mr. Vaidyanathan stated that the tax credits have been there for the last 20 years with an extension to 2032 for all tax paying entities and that the 2022 Act was to add non-taxpaying entities to have the ability to participate in the program. He explained that the intent was that a city hall, school building, hospital or church do not change hands often, unlike businesses. He also explained that it takes 5-6 years for payback the intent was to go into these long-term buildings that will continuously still have electricity costs. Mr. Vaidyanathan stated that if the city were going to pause the project, My Solar Pod would have to invoice for the work that has been completed which is roughly $12,000 and they are unsure how long the pause would be as it could be one month, 10 years or 100 years and he felt that it would not be an appropriate legal way to sort this out as your counsel is present this evening, and he felt that an indefinite pause was not contractual. Council Member Kubat asked when the installation was scheduled to being under the current plan? Mr. Vaidyanathan stated in a week or two. Administrator Statz request the opportunity to follow up on several items and asked the question contractually how long can the project be paused and that is an open questions; he stated that as the contract is read, it certainly states that upon signing the agreement the City owes 10% of the project costs ($11,500) and roughly comes out to the costs that they have incurred at this time and that may be an obligation that the City has. He stated beyond that if the city were to cancel the project the city would be out $11,500 and pausing the contract would entail discussions with the contractor to determine their willingness to do that for a certain period of time such as a few months or weeks for these actions to play out a bit to ascertain what is factual in the Executive Order would be beneficial. He stated that what he did not want to do is see My Solar Pod purchase everything that needs to be purchased for the installation as he has not had an opportunity to ascertain what has been purchased and what has not been purchased. He did not want them to make purchases of tens of thousands of dollars. He stated that he was hopeful that things could be worked out and allows the city to continue to move forward with the contract at the contracted price. He stated that his recommendation was to pause the project and come back to the next meeting with additional Page 9 of 16