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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, June 9, 2008 Page 12 Councilmember Pust questioned the timing of the certificate issue, if needed im- mediately in order to not delay the project, or if it could be done within the course of the project. Councilmember Pust further questioned if Mr. Miller saw any eco- nomic factors that would bear on interest rates and provide a reason to wait on the issue. Mr. Miller advised that the City could bankroll the project for some time, up to several years, which may allow some flexibility. Mr. Miller advised that he saw nothing on the economic front that would indicate waiting would be prudent, and recommended that the issue be done sooner, rather than later. Councilmember Ihlan noted previous conversations with staff regarding waiting a year to decide on the geothermal project, with the possibility of keeping the skat- ing center open and operating, with the possible risk of repair costs of $50,000 or less, with those funds available in the Building Fund. Councilmember Ihlan, given the magnitude to fund this project properly, opined that waiting to fund it had merit, and would not require that the City be committed to the full geothermal project until further costlbenefit analyses had been completed. Councilmember Pust noted that the cost of going the next step was included in previous staff reports; and opined that the costs would be incurred, whether con- • ventional or geothermal, and by moving forward now it could keep taxpayer costs as low as possible, while providing along-term strategy to move away from envi- ronmentally and costly attributes (Freon systems). Councilmember Roe provided clarification from that previous referenced report, noting that the estimated costs for the overall project for the Public Works and City Hall facilities without geothermal was $1.1 million, and the full geothermal cost was estimated at $2.2 million. Councilmember Roe opined that, if the project were to proceed without issuing equipment certificates, the City would need to borrow from its current reserves, and pay themselves back with the certificates when issued, but would require going against recently established policies on re- serve balances. Councilmember Ihlan advocated for waiting until 2009 to start the process while additional analysis was being done to ensure that the payback numbers and long- term positive environmental affects were evident and that rationale could be pro- vided to citizens. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the entire project may be a great idea; however, cautioned going forward at this time without a more exhaus- tive analysis in place. Councilmember Pust noted that the actual taxpayer cost of $10/year, or an overall ten year cost of $100 was what taxpayers were being asked to support with this action.