Laserfiche WebLink
310 <br />311 Mr. Ross advised that the program had submitted their grant application, and <br />312 interviews were held last week. Mr. Ross clarified that this particular program <br />313 referenced by Ms. Barsel was an $800,000 grant that the State wanted to create a <br />314 program called "Solar Energy Ready Communities" and certify cities as they took <br />315 certain steps. If the grant is received and becomes operational, Mr. Ross advised <br />316 that it worked with Solar Challenge to provide assistance to communities to <br />317 become solar ready, working hand in hand with them. Mr. Ross advised that <br />318 other programs would handle the financial aspects and certification process for <br />319 the Phase II portion of the program. At the request of Ms. Barsel, Mr. Ross <br />320 anticipated knowing the status of the grant application by October of 2014. <br />321 <br />322 If the City wanted to be part of that, Ms. Barsel asked what steps it needed to take, <br />323 and what should it be doing in the interim to be in place or phased in for when the <br />324 grant comes through or not. <br />325 <br />326 Chair Stenlund further asked for clarification of which of the five steps or items in <br />327 the list of priorities were found by Mr. Ross to be the biggest bottleneck or most <br />328 difficult to rectify. <br />329 <br />330 Mr. Ross stated his original thought had been that the comprehensive plan and <br />331 zoning step would prove most difficult, since they required City Council signoff., <br />332 however, he advised that step had turned out to be easier. Mr. Ross advised that <br />333 he was finding the most difficult step at this time was the permitting issue, as <br />334 there was not formalized process, and because of not process in place, projects <br />335 had a tendency not to happen, creating a bit of a bottleneck. Mr. Ross noted that <br />336 the other concern was in financing for local governments who were finding their <br />337 roles uncertain, how to define their risk, and how to proceed, since the solar ready <br />338 community program was not yet funded, the first step in any program would be to <br />339 program the design of the process, and determine what exactly was needed. Mr. <br />340 Ross noted that the City of Roseville was already anticipating some of that <br />341 planning, and reacting to the process, and therefore fairly engaged in the process <br />342 already, with certification probably nine months from the start of a program. <br />343 <br />344 As to Ms. Barsel's question, Mr. Schwartz reiterated what the City should be <br />345 doing while waiting, in terms of determining their role in community solar or <br />346 using public buildings to become part of that solar development. <br />347 <br />348 Mr. Ross responded that if the City made a determination whether to have a <br />349 community solar system on public land or a public building that would be a check <br />350 in favor of Roseville becoming a solar ready community, with credit given as that <br />351 element is looked at. Mr. Ross reviewed the base materials needed and suggested <br />352 an analysis of existing policies with the comprehensive plan and zoning, whether <br />353 a permitting process was available that was transparent and if that formal permit <br />354 process was open for solar development that outlined the exact steps and <br />355 thresholds (e.g. a structural study of a roof intended for solar installation, what <br />Page 8 of 15 <br />