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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,January 26,2015 <br /> Page 22 <br /> Mr. Culver noted that the systems were not secured to the roof, and no holes were <br /> drilled, but just ballasted down on aluminum girders or cross beams, making the <br /> system much easier to move if and when needed. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that newer roofs were being chosen for the solar arrays, con- <br /> firmed by Mr. Culver and Mr. Schwartz. <br /> Councilmember McGehee questioned if the grant applications were being submit- <br /> ted separately based on the outlined options, and questioned why staff was not <br /> recommending submitting more applications at this time to improve the odds of <br /> award. <br /> Mr. Schwartz responded that the Made in Minnesota applications were limited to <br /> systems of 40Kw in size; with staff reserving roofs on the larger buildings (e.g. <br /> Public Works and Skating Center) for potential larger systems with another pro- <br /> gram, allowing the City to take advantage of future opportunities. <br /> At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Schwartz advised that there had <br /> been some meetings with residents at the PWETC level with some interest ex- <br /> pressed in the community solar garden concept. Mr. Schwartz advised that staff <br /> was retaining an el-mail list of those interested as further research was conducted <br /> on the viability of a community solar system, with only preliminary discussions <br /> held to-date with potential developers, and a need to refine subscription rates pay- <br /> back to determine savings for residents. <br /> Mr. Schwartz noted, as part of staff's additional research, an upcoming meeting of <br /> State energy offices by prequalified contractors to talk about larger systems, with <br /> approximately one dozen prequalified contractors currently on the State's list: <br /> At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Mr. Culver advised that any future <br /> power purchase agreement would address various components, including lease <br /> payments, ownership of the system, location of the system, and other issues. Mr. <br /> Culver advised that staff's next step would be to meet further with CERT's repre- <br /> sentatives on reasonable market rate rooftop lease payments and necessary re- <br /> quirements to make things work from the tax equity side. <br /> Etten moved, Willmus seconded, directing staff to enter into a Letter of Intent <br /> with TruNorth Solar to apply for two (2) 40kW PC Solar Installations through the <br /> Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program, and to continue to explore a larger <br /> solar installation for the Skating Center roof. <br /> Councilmember Willmus thanked the PWETC and staff for their work, and to res- <br /> idents for their participation as well. <br /> Roll Call <br />