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Mr. Johnson stated the City did not pay anything for the solar yet. He explained <br />the agreement the City entered into with the manufacturer. He noted the expected <br />payback is not determined; it depends on when the system is purchased by the City. <br />Chair Cihacek stated the City will start seeing a positive profit within year two <br />because the first year is a wash. <br />Member Hammer asked if there is commercial property in the City that has solar <br />like the City does on the buildings. <br />Mr. Johnson stated there are probably more churches in the City that have solar <br />then businesses. He stated he did not want to say there are not any businesses <br />because the City does not gather any information from businesses. He would <br />imagine City wide there are some businesses that have solar. <br />Member Hammer wondered if this would be something beneficial in the future for <br />businesses if the businesses learn about the benefits of solar power. <br />Mr. Johnson reviewed the solar installation on City buildings. <br />Member Spencer asked if there are any companies out there that will do an upgrade <br />process as solar becomes more efficient at what the company does. <br />Mr. Johnson stated the way it was explained to the City staff was these panels will <br />still be working in thirty years but may not be as efficient as newer technology. <br />These will still be highly functional, and the City will get some value from them. <br />Chair Cihacek stated the panels degrade about one percent per year. These panels <br />will continue to perform well past the payoff period on the one hand, but no <br />company can afford to come back and replace panels at their cost if there is better <br />technology. The modeling does not allow it to happen. He stated it is a long-term <br />commitment for the City. <br />Mr. Johnson stated on the City website there is a link to show a kiosk view of what <br />is currently being produced for solar energy. He reviewed with the Commission <br />what the City can do moving forward to get to the next step. <br />Chair Cihacek thought this was something the Commission should look ahead to <br />discuss further. He did think it would be helpful for the Commission to make <br />recommendations on fleet management based upon what the City currently has, <br />what is in the market and what would make sense. He thought it would be a good <br />idea to review the B3 generally. What is it doing, what is in there now, what the <br />expansion programs would be. He thought it was a good idea to review the program <br />due to new Commissioners. He also thought the Commission needed to start <br />planning joint meetings with the Parks Commission and Planning Commission to <br />come up with a joint process for many of these areas. <br />Page 6 of 8 <br />