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Mr. Drake outlined phases of the project, with the City of Roseville having the <br />ability to sign a Non -Binding Letter of Intent by July 24, 2015 to participate. Phases <br />are as listed below: <br />1) Non -Binding Letter of Intent (LOI) and Optional Joint Powers Agreement <br />(JPA) Participation; <br />2) Developer selection through a lottery process for the first -right -of -refusal on a <br />garden, at which time a subscription agreement would be executed, and then <br />would become binding; <br />3) Solar garden(s) approved by Neel Energy, garden construction, energy <br />production, bill credits received. <br />Additional information available at: mncerts.org/solargardens/collaborative <br />Discussion included the payback period for a subscription; credits as soon as <br />constructed lowering energy costs versus an asset to pay off, no money upfront to <br />purchase solar panels; other financing options available versus this pay-as-you-go <br />option for the developer to be paid the dollar amount for each kilowatt hour for <br />each garden subscription seen as a credit on the Neel Energy billing, with the City <br />not owning the garden, just subscribing. Mr. Drake noted that the City would pay <br />a set amount with an escalator increasing that percentage to developers as part of <br />this standard subscription agreement, and developers would not increase that <br />amount as established. <br />With the cost of solar continuing to come down, Mr. Drake advised that solar <br />industry experts predict that incentives will have some effect on prices, but the soft <br />cost of solar may actually get better over time and as technologies continue to <br />improve, even though the whole solar garden (not solar rooftop panel) process <br />remains brand new in Minnesota. <br />Mr. Culver thanked Mr. Drake for his summary, and reviewed the PWETC's <br />recommendation to and subsequent action by the City Council to explore the <br />possibilities and requirements of hosting a community solar installation. Due to <br />size and administration costs, Mr. Culver stated that the consensus was that it would <br />benefit all Roseville residents and spread reduced energy and operating costs to <br />consider the City purchasing community garden shares. Mr. Culver noted that only <br />so much can be done on a given roof, and energy consumption for City buildings <br />is higher than could be produced, therefore, staff is recommending further <br />discussion by the PWETC and City Council to purchase community garden shares <br />to further offset operating costs for the City and benefit taxpayers. <br />Mr. Culver advised that proposals would be going out in a few days to solar <br />developers for that rooftop system and future PW ETC meetings (potentially in July) <br />would finalize a recommendation to the City Council in August to move toward <br />awarding a developer or entering into a developer agreement with a solar developer. <br />Page 5 of 16 <br />