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