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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 15, 2013 Page 9 Further discussion ensued at the request of Councilmember McGehee on solar en- ergy eligibility for the City Hall campus and projected annual savings; review of the need for a third party partnership for tax credits; options for metering each fa- cility to understand operations and needs; extensive timeframe for payback on so- lar without a rebate program and reduced rebate without that third party partner- ship; clarification that, as a non taxpaying entity, the City could not qualify for federal credits for solar installations; and projections of the geothermal master plan program. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Schwartz advised that an annual evaluation of the City's partnership and cooperative efforts with other cities was performed to determine if those partnerships remained viable, including employee costs, engineering software, equipment, overhead for vehicles, etc.; and a cost multiplier of a percentage of the person's salary providing that service. Parks & Recreation Parks & Recreation Director Lonnie Brokke provided an outline of his presenta- tion as a bench handout. Overview Mr. Brokke advised that the Department consisted of five (5) areas: parks, recrea- tion, skating center, forestry (each tax-supported in addition to some fee- supported at 50-60%), and the golf course (an Enterprise Fund). Impacts Mr. Brokke noted that 2011 funds of $100,000 were allotted, but not used; and anticipated that $50,000 to $70,000 in funding would be remaining in the fund to go forward. Mr. Brokke noted that it was anticipated that currently eliminated positions (e.g. park supervisor and custodial person) would be reinstated when the overall econ- omy improved. However, Mr. Brokke noted that this continued to be deferred, and continued to stretch a lot of staff in a lot of directions. Mr. Brokke noted that his department had purchased some time from the Public Works' contractual maintenance firm; however, they were looking for a more consistent solution for take down/set up for various activities and events. Regarding concessions, Mr. Brokke advised that current staff or volunteers have taken on this task, as an out- side party had not yet been found, and he continued to work with affiliated groups to man concession stands to make them work; anticipating that this could eventu- ally become a revenue plus situation. Operational Challenges