►
Description
Minneapolis Health, Environment & Community Engagement Committee Meeting
A
Good
afternoon,
I
think
we're
ready
to
start
I'll
call.
The
meeting
to
order
is
the
meeting
of
the
health
environment
community
engagement
committee,
I'm
chair,
the
committee
kamcord
I
am
joined
today
by
Andrew
Johnson,
Jacob,
Frye
and
Elizabeth
wooden
or
a
quorum
of
the
committee.
So
we
can
convict
the
committee's
business.
We
have
four
items
before
us
today
to
discussion
items
and
to
consent
items.
First,
I'll
move
forward
with
the
consent
items
any
committee
member
can
pull
something
off
if
they
want
to
discuss
it.
A
First
item
is
accepting
a
grant
from
the
Kresge
Foundation
in
the
amount
of
hundred
and
twenty-five
thousand
dollars
to
complete
the
emerging
leaders
in
public
health
initiative,
and
the
second
item
is
passage
of
the
resolution
establishing
the
Southside,
Green
Zone
task
force
and
approving
the
list
of
Southside
task
force.
Members
will
begin
this
September
and
end
august.
2018
I,
don't
think
I'll
read
through
the
list,
but
it's
available
to
everybody
who
wants
to
see
it
on
the
committee
agenda
and
congratulations
on
establishing
the
green
zones
task
force.
A
B
B
A
A
So
then
see
no
further
questions
on
that
I
will
move
both
items
all
those
in
favor,
please
say
aye
any
opposed,
say
no,
in
abstentions,
those
motions
carry
them
and
now
we'll
move
on
to
our
discussion
items.
The
first
is
a
Minneapolis
tree,
Advisory
Commission
annual
report
and
I
believe
we'll
have
the
co-chair
of
the
tree.
Advisory
Committee
Peggy
booth,
to
make
the
presentation
welcome.
Thank.
C
We
have
a
series
of
goals
and
the
last
one
listed
here
is
actually
a
new
goal:
we're
working
with
the
park
board
to
look
at
our
Charter
if
you
will
to
see
how
we're
organized
and
what
our
goals
are,
and
one
of
the
things
that
we
have
increasing
interest
in
is
to
assist
in
volunteer
opportunities
and
in
educating
Minneapolis
communities
and
residents
to
be
engaged
in
tree
planting
and
care.
So
this
is
a
list
of
our
members
on
co-chair,
along
with
Lauri
Strom
and
Don
Willick.
C
He
is
our
secretary
and
we
have
citizen
members
as
well
for
representative
of
the
mayor,
the
park
board,
a
city
council,
designee,
Robin
Garwood,
which
who
serves
me
well
as
well
as
representatives
from
public
or
the
school
board.
The
report
topics
I
will
talk
about
today
are
accomplishments
and
then
four
different
categories
in
which
we
have
some
commentary
and
recommendations,
managing
emerald,
ash
for
planting,
more
trees,
keeping
trees,
healthy
and
minimizing
loss
from
construction
and,
as
I
indicated,
we'll
have
recommendations
on
those
four
topics.
C
So,
first
regarding
the
accomplishments,
this
has
been
really
a
banner
year
for
the
Minneapolis
Park
and
Recreation
Board.
At
the
time
we
put
this
together,
we
thought
there
was
9,500
trees
planted
and,
if
you
count
all
trees
planted
on
part,
one
of
things
it's
well
over
10,000
this
year
and
a
particular
importance
is
the
great
diversity
in
different
genus
and
species
of
these
trees,
and
this
includes
planting
with
children
as
well
as
on
our
boulevards
and
parks
and
so
forth,
and
regardless
of
which
number
we
use.
This
is
the
most
trees
planted
a
single
season.
C
The
tree
preservation
coordinator
position
was
funded
in
2007
and
through
this
position,
being
funded,
trees
are
being
saved
through
plan
review
and
field
oversight
and
cooperation
between
the
Minneapolis
Park
and
Recreation
Board
and
the
city.
So
we
faced
the
city
in
the
park
board
very
much
for
putting
that
position
in
place.
Another
accomplishment
that
you
should
be
proud
of
is
the
Minneapolis
forest
policy,
which
was
fully
updated
in
2016
and
again
the
Park
Board
and
Public
Works
collaborated
very
well
together
on
this
project.
There
are
references.
C
Another
accomplishment
has
to
do
with
Dutch
elm
disease
control,
only
1200
Elms
needed
to
be
removed
in
2016,
and
this
demonstrates
each
year
we're
having
to
remove
fewer
and
fewer
Elms
from
Dutch
elm
disease,
and
this
really
demonstrates
the
success
of
prompt
removals
and
preserving
those
trees
that
are
left
with
an
estimate
that
Minneapolis
still
has
about
25,000,
Elms
and
I
would
say.
These
are
the
bigger
Elms,
not
little
seedlings
in
someone's
garden.
C
So
it
really
is
paying
off
in
preserving
the
values
of
our
tree.
Canopy
also,
the
city
and
the
park
board
are
are
being
are
benefiting
from
the
implementation
of
the
ash,
canopy
replacement
plan.
We
are
now
in
the
fourth
of
an
eight-year
program,
which
was
provided
some
extra
funding
by
the
citizens
of
Minneapolis
and
it
successfully
diversifying
our
urban
for
us
by
replacing
ash
trees
with
a
greater
diversity
of
trees,
and
we
really
think
that's
looking
ahead
for
the
city,
so
that
leads
directly
into
managing
emerald
ash
borer.
C
As
the
first
topic
we'll
talk
about
with
some
recommendations,
our
losses
are
accelerating
emerald
ash
borer
is
now
affecting
most
parts
of
Minneapolis
and
I'll
just
walk
you
through.
So
you
can
see
year
by
year
since
2010
how
the
this
insect
problem
has
spread
throughout
the
city.
So
here
we
are
in
2017,
with
a
large
number
of
neighborhoods
that
haven't
been
affected
by
it
before
now,
having
definite
trees
that
have
been
diagnosed
with
emerald
ash
borer
we
so
we
are
again
slowing
the
spread
by
detecting
and
removing
infested
trees.
C
And
if
you
look
at
this
chart
that
was
developed
for
cities
further
east
from
us,
you
can
see
that
after
so
many
years,
the
declines
start
accelerating
significantly
and
we
are
at
the
bottom
of
that
curve.
But
there's
some
studies
that
are
being
done
by
the
Department
of
Agriculture
and
others
that
lead
us
to
hope
that
that
our
mortality
from
emerald
ash
borer
will
be
lower
because
we
are
actually
reducing
the
population
of
ash
trees.
C
So
this
informed
management
plan,
the
park
board
collaborates
with
experts
to
refine
its
approach
and
does
ask
replacement
based
on
an
infestation
level
switch.
So
in
this
map
on
the
darker
areas
have
more
replacement
of
the
existing
ash
happening
and
then
the
couple
neighborhoods
that
are
still
green
without
documented
cases
of
emerald
ash
borer
are
not
yet
as
as
involved
in
that
patch
replacement
project
or
sort
of
strategy.
C
20,000
of
these
public
ash
will
be
removed
in
order
to
replant
and
those
are
being
replanted
with
the
diversity
of
trees.
So
I
think
one
of
the
wake-up
calls
for
us
now
is
that
most
ash
trees
are
in
private
yards
and
the
responsibility
for
removing
those
does
fall
to
residents
and
all
green
ash
and
white
ash
and
black
ash
are
susceptible
to
emerald
ash
borer,
and
if
the
tree
becomes
infested,
its
removal
is
man
or
in
a
big
tree
like
this
candy
and
expense,
as
well
as
the
real
loss.
C
The
people
who
have
them
in
their
yards,
so
there's
private
trees
are
starting
to
be
marked
and
removed.
One
on
the
left
side
here,
just
down
the
alley
for
me
and
it
was
removed
earlier
this
year.
But
it
concerns
me
because,
right
across
from
the
alley
is
it
even
a
bigger,
more
beautiful,
a
stone
in
the
middle
of
this
picture
here
and
I
am
concerned
that
residents
all
over
the
city
were
emerald.
Ash
borers
need
to
be
aware,
is
my
tree
and
ash
or
not,
and
what
is
going
to
be
my
strategy
to
address
that.
C
So
our
first
recommendation
to
the
city
is
that
the
city
work
in
cooperation
with
the
park
board,
to
create
a
communications
plan
to
create
increased
property
owner
awareness
and
action
and
property
owners
should
know
if
the
tree
is.
An
ash
should
know
that
emerald
ash
borer
is
likely
to
kill
it
soon
and
if
it
size,
they
will
be
responsible
to
have
it
removed,
and
they
should
make
a
plan
whether
they
want
to
proactively,
remove
it
and
replace
it,
whether
they
want
to
treat
it
or
whether
they
want
to
just
have
that
immediate
responsibility.
A
C
D
Just
like
diseased
elm
trees
when
an
ash
or
any
tree
reaches
the
point
of
being
just
dead
and
hazardous.
Those
trees
fall
under
the
city,
housing
inspections,
program
and
infest
tree,
though
on
private
property
is
just
like
an
assistant
sir
in
diseased
elm
tree,
where
we
can
also
condemn
that
and
have
it
remove
and
in
each
case,
being
beyond
property
taxes
to
be
assessed.
Okay,.
A
C
Our
aspiration
is
to
try
to
achieve
forty
percent
tree
canopy
cover
by
year,
2040
and
as
I
have
talked
about
in
previous
year.
Reports.
There's
a
lot
of
scientific
evidence
that
the
benefits
of
trees,
the
way
they
help
reduce
air
pollution,
keep
us
cooler
in
the
summer.
Shelter
us
from
the
winter
winds
and
reduce
stormwater
runoff
is
all
directly
related
to
the
amount
of
leads
that
there
are
in
that
urban
forest,
which
can
be
measured
or
is
indicated
by
the
tree.
C
Canopy
cover
so
the
higher
our
tree
canopy
cover
the
more
benefits
right
at
the
stormwater
air
quality,
energy
use
and
so
forth.
So
our
specific
recommendation
to
the
city
is
to
increase
funding
for
the
city
trees
program,
that
it
is
a
very
successful,
City,
supportive
program
providing
economical
trees
to
city
residents.
C
The
the
commercial
tree
planting
program,
that's
under
the
city's
jurisdiction
with
the
city
tree
residential
program
and
call
them
City
tree
residential
and
city
tree
commercial,
because
it's
only
by
planting
on
both
residential
and
commercial
properties
that
we'll
be
able
to
adequately
increase
our
tree
canopy
cover,
and
we
also
encourage
the
city
for
the
very
same
reasons
to
emphasize
large
canopy
trees.
The
bigger
a
tree
will
ultimately
get
if
it's
in
the
right
place
and
can
be
sustained
here.
The
more
benefits
it
will
provide.
C
Another
specific
recommendation
is
that
the
park
order
City
work
to
update
the
tree,
canopy
inventory
that
was
done
a
few
years
ago
in
order
to
identify
tree
planting
priorities
for
tree
vacancies.
This
can
involve
updating
satellite
tree
canopy
assessments
and
processing
the
data
and
identifying
planting
sites
and
integrating
that
into
the
asset
management
system
of
park
board
forestry
and
I
would
also
say
this
is
a
tool
that
neighborhood
groups
should
be
encouraged
to
use
so
that
they
can
encourage
tree
pausing
in
their
own
local
areas
where
it
would
where
it
is
most
needed.
C
Another
recommendation
that
we
have
this
one
to
the
park
board
is
to
find
a
community
outreach
coordinator,
and
there
are
a
lot
of
events
that
just
sort
of
either
don't
get
done
or
get
done
by
adding
it
to
someone's
already
busy
schedule.
So
that
would
include
organizing
Arbor
Day
events
overseeing
and
expanding
the
citizen
pruner
program,
which
I'll
talk
about
in
a
moment:
increasing
neighbor
and
community
care
of
young
trees
working
on
the
fruit
and
nut
tree
project.
C
C
But
the
law
of
survival
is
when
the
weather
is
harsh
and
if
it's
a
bald
and
burlap
planting
or
it's
a
fall
planting
with
a
dry
winter
or
when
it's
being
planted
in
commercial
and
multi-family
areas.
So
this
is
preliminary
findings
based
on
just
three
years
of
data,
so
we're
looking
forward
to
the
full
five-year
study
and
seeing
what
we
can
learn
from
that
to
help
improve
the
success
rate
of
our
trees.
Public
tree
plantings.
C
We
made
a
recommendation
to
the
park
board
that
they
expand
the
citizen.
Pruner
program,
these
are
trained
volunteers,
that
trim
suckers
and
small,
broken
branches
and
so
forth,
and
it
safely
supplements
the
forest,
trees,
pruning
budget
and
schedules.
So
you
can
see
the
two
right
hand
slides
some
suckers
on
this
tree
were
obscuring
a
stop
sign
and
after
the
citizen,
pruner
work
was
done.
C
The
stop
sign
was
no
longer
scared,
I
would
just
say
I
volunteered
as
a
citizen
pruner
last
Saturday
in
the
Hou
neighborhood,
and
we
spent
three
hours
about
a
dozen
of
us
doing
it.
It's
a
very
worthwhile
program,
and
if
anybody
is
interested
in
volunteering
in
this
way
the
park
where
it's
going
to
be
training,
another
class
of
citizen
pruners,
this
fall.
So
you
could
contact
the
Park
and
Recreation
Board
to
be
involved
in
this
fun
way
of
getting
good
exercise
and
helping
our
urban
forests.
C
Another
recommendation
to
the
city
is
the
very
electric
wires
during
road
construction
projects
and
to
work
on
the
best
ways
to
fund
this.
We
know
that
the
City
Council
members
of
staff
has
been
looking
at
different
ways
of
doing
this
in
conjunction
with
utility
companies,
and
we
just
encourage
more
work
on
this.
Then.
C
The
final
category
of
recommendations
is
to
minimize
loss
from
construction,
and
we
really
think
it's
important
for
the
city
and
the
park
board
to
continue
the
success
of
the
urban
forestry
preservation
coordinator,
who
works
side
by
side
with
staff
and
contractors
and
plan
reviewers
to
make
sure
that
projects
are
not
unnecessarily
hurting
trees.
And
in
addition
to
that,
we
think
that
that
the
planners
checklist
for
park
construction
projects
should
more
specifically
give
value
to
preserving
large
trees
and
I.
C
Guess
we
made
this
recommendation
to
the
park
board,
but
for
city
construction
projects
it
could
be
an
important
step
as
well.
So
to
recap,
our
recommendations
under
managed
emerald
ash
borer
create
a
communications
plan
to
increase
property
owner
awareness
under
plant,
more
trees,
encourage
planting
on
private
land
and
corridors
identified,
tree
planting
opportunities
and
increased
funding
for
the
city
tree
program,
both
residential
and
commercial
and
funds.
The
forestry
outreach
coordinator
under
tree
keep
trees
healthy.
C
The
recommendations
are
protect,
Park,
trees
from
mowers
and
weed
lips,
but
that
also
applies
to
all
public
lands,
minimize
the
impacts
of
tree
roots
through
alternative
sidewalk
repair,
to
keep
doing
the
job
and
you're
doing
a
great
job,
but
keep
doing
more.
Expand.
The
citizen,
prune
or
program
acquire
multiple
permanent
tree
processing
sites
and
very
electrical
wires
during
road
construction
under
minimize
loss
from
construction.
C
Our
concern
is
that
in
projects,
protection
of
large,
mature
trees
is
sometimes
an
afterthought
and
the
direction
when
they
send
out
RFPs
and
other
solicitation
of
planning
and
design
services.
C
Those
people
are
not
being
told
up
front
that
trees
are
a
high
enough
priority.
So
yes,
some
point
on
the
right
way
they
might
be
considered.
But
if
upfront,
that
value
of
protecting
large
healthy
trees
is
part
of
what
every
project
is
just
automatically
intended
to
do,
we
think
that
that
would
be
better
and
we
wouldn't
run
into
projects
where,
after
the
fact
forestry
gets
brought
in
and
then
it's
too
late
to
is
effectively
preserve
the
trees
and
achieve
the
other
objectives
of
the
project
and.
C
A
A
A
C
A
C
Terms
of
the
public
trees
and
looking
at
long-term
cost-benefit
analysis,
the
tree
Commission,
doesn't
think
it
makes
sense
to
use
pesticides
which
may
have
unintended
consequences
on
pollinators
and
other.
Potentially,
you
know
cumulative
effects
that
we
don't
even
know
about
that.
We've
taken
the
position
that
it
is
better
from
a
fiscal
and
a
cautionary
principle,
environmental
point
of
view
not
to
use
it
on
public
lands.
C
That
is
not
to
say
that
there's
never
a
place
for
that
abuse,
so
individual
property
owners,
if
they
have
high
value
trees
that
are
strategically
located
that
are
very
good
condition
that
they've
had
professional
pruning
done
on
that
they
know,
are
in
a
good
place
and
provide
a
lot
of
benefit.
If
they
choose
to
do
with
it,
they
can
use
a
licensed
company
and
do
it,
but
that's
their
individual
choice.
A
That
and
as
usual
I
appreciate
the
clear
presentation
and
the
report
and
we'll
look
at
these
recommendations
and
see
what
we
can
do
I
think
if
we
do
work
on
a
communications
plan.
Of
course,
we'll
have
to
work
with
the
park
board
the
forestry
department
too,
but
this
will
give
us
a
lot
of
food
food
for
thought.
I
certainly
would
love
to
see
us
bury
more
wires
during
world
construction
and
I.
Think
all
the
recommendations
look
good.
Okay,.
A
Welcome
so
you
know
other
questions
or
comments,
then
I
will
move
to
receive
and
file
the
report,
all
those
in
favor
say
aye
aye
any
opposed
all
right.
So
that
is
done
and
it
brings
us
to
our
final
item
and
this
is
an
update.
I
think
it's
in
response
to
a
staff
direction
about
our
efforts
to.
Did
you
have
a
question
about
the.
B
Api,
well,
it's
not
really
a
question.
It's
more
of
a
there's,
several
really
good
recommendations
that
were
made
there
is
I.
Guess
staff
doesn't
need
anything
in
addition
to
just
the
receive
and
filed
they
need
kind
of
the
okay
that
we
approve
those
recommendations
and
we
can
kind
of
move
forward
or
well.
A
A
Might
be
helpful,
not
net
part
of
it.
We
got
to
take
some
ownership
in
of
kinda
pushing
forward
on
our
own,
not
I,
didn't
prepare
any
staff
Direction
summit,
all
right,
so
we're
going
to
let
our
alright
thank
you
very
much,
and
so
now
I'm.
If
we
have
our
fourth
item
on
the
agenda,
which
is
the
report
on
100%
renewable
electricity
options
and
Brian
Oberg
is
going
to
be
giving
us
a
brief
presentation
between.
E
E
In
the
report,
I
was
asked
to
go
over
what
has
happened
with
our
electricity
usage
in
the
last
few
years,
so
here
we
have
the
chart
showing
since
2010,
and
it
shows
that
electricity
has
slightly
increased
in
our
city
operations.
The
electricity
is
divided
up
in
the
various
colors,
showing
the
various
departments
in
the
city.
The
three
largest
segments
of
each
bar
are
the
water
treatment
facility,
which
uses
almost
40
million
kilowatt
hours
a
year,
followed
by
the
street
lights
and
then
the
convention
center
in
the
green.
E
The
next
are
our
office
buildings,
followed
by
our
service
nodes,
such
as
our
maintenance
facilities,
the
fire
department,
the
police
department
and
some
smaller
departments.
So,
overall
we've,
as
you
can
see,
bounced
up
and
down
little
bit,
we
haven't
reduced
the
amount
of
electricity
over
those
eight
years,
however,
we
have
reduced
our
greenhouse
gas
emissions
because
each
year,
Xcel
Energy
has
been
reducing
their
greenhouse
gas
emission
to
generate
the
electricity,
but
we
really
have
a
tale
of
two
different
things
going
on.
E
At
the
same
time,
in
our
actual
facilities,
the
building's
we
have
done
a
fairly
good
job
of
reducing
our
electricity
usage,
we
reduce
it
almost
seven
and
a
half
percent
of
seven
years.
The
convention
center
in
green
again
is
the
largest
user
of
our
buildings
and
they've
done
a
very
good
job.
It
shows
they
reduce
it
six
percent,
but
this
is
somewhat
misleading,
because
they've
actually
increased
their
rental
space
in
terms
of
square
foot
rented
out
each
year
by
almost
twenty
percent
since
2010
and
yet
at
the
same
time
reduce
their
electricity
usage.
E
They've
done
many
many
programs
there
with
LED
lights
and
various
HVAC
upgrades
and
controls,
and
actually
they
only
done
half
of
their
lights.
Now
this
year,
they're
starting
all
of
the
lights
in
the
public
areas,
all
the
concourses
and
all
of
the
meeting
rooms
which
actually
many
which
still
have
incandescent
lights
because
they
had
to
be
dimmable.
Now
that
LED
has
dropped
down
on
price
and
increased
inefficiency,
I
expect
the
convention
centre
to
continue
to
reduce
its
usage
quite
a
bit
over
the
years.
The
same
is
true
in
our
fire
stations
and
our
police
department.
E
Many
of
the
buildings
have
reduced
their
electricity
over
time
as
well.
However,
if
you
look
at
the
services
that
the
city
provides
and
I
can't
categorize
this
as
the
water
treatment
and
then
again
our
street
lights
and
street
signals,
oh,
you
can
see
that
it's
actually
increased
somewhat
over
the
years
now.
E
Some
of
this
is
due
to
the
water
treatment
plant,
changing
its
operations
to
somewhat
more
energy
intensive,
ultra
filtration
plant.
That
came
online
a
few
years
ago.
Some
of
it
has
to
do
with
the
repairs
that
are
made
in
2010,
so
it's
somewhat
artificially
low
over
2010,
which
makes
it
look
like
we
increased
quite
a
bit
since
then
with
the
water
treatment.
The
streetlights
are
signals,
pretty
much
stays
constant.
E
We
have
a
given
number
of
streetlights
that
are
owned
by
Excel
about
18,000,
and
then
we
have
about
12,000
streetlights,
but
the
city
owns
and
maintains,
and
as
we
renovate
streets
we
switch,
the
would
light,
would
pool
lights
that
Excel
owns
over
to
city-owned
lights,
but
the
total
number
of
light
stays
about
the
same
in
the
city
and
the
same
with
street
signals.
We
don't
add
signals
to
too
many
new
intersections
each
year,
so
these
are
fairly
constant.
Can.
E
So
what
I
was
asked
to
do
is
to
say,
within
five
years
by
2022,
we're
currently
using
about
a
hundred
and
one
two
hundred
and
two
million
kilowatt
hours
a
year
for
all
of
our
operations.
Where
could
we
be?
And
with
existing
technology
such
as
what
you
just
mentioned,
and
we
D
lighting?
We
have
significant
improvements
we
can
make
the
water
treatment
plants
is
being
held
constant
in
its
analysis,
however,
we
can
decrease
the
amount
used
for
the
street
lights
by
fifty
percent
over
the
next
five
years.
E
Xcel
Energy
is
just
about
to
embark
on
a
project
where
they're
going
to
replace
their
lights,
that
they
own
and
the
city
has
already
replaced
1,000
of
our
12,000
streetlights
that
we
own
with
LED
lights
and
each
one
of
those
can
reduce
between
50
to
60%
of
the
amount
of
electricity
used.
So
you
see
a
very
big
drop
by
2022
in
the
street
light,
which
is
the
orange
the
green
I
estimate,
the
Convention
Center,
even
with
increasing
business,
can
continue
to
save
energy
and
I've.
E
In
my
analysis,
we're
going
to
be
spending
about
the
same
amount
of
money
and
buying
about
the
same
amount
of
electricity
for
our
office
space
after
that
building
is
built
in
the
service
nodes,
even
though
we
are
increasing
square
footage
with
our
East
Yards
storage
facility,
as
well
as
what
may
happen
with
the
Hiawatha
expansion.
Those
buildings
are
going
to
be
much
more
efficient
and
I
still
project
further
decreases
of
5%
in
those
facilities,
as
well
as
all
of
the
police
precincts
and
the
fire
stations
each
year.
E
We're
renovating
one
or
two
fire
stations
with
all
new
HVAC
equipment,
as
well
as
LED
lighting
and
the
same
with
police
stations.
We're
now
embarking
on
replacing
all
of
their
lighting
as
well.
So
totaling
all
that
up,
even
if
there
are
no
changes
in
technology
with
the
existing
lighting
of
today
and
HVAC
equipment,
I
feel
we
can
get
into
the
range
of
a
15%
for
the
reduction
electricity
usage.
E
So
the
issue
before
us
is
how
do
we
get
to
a
hundred
percent
renewable,
so
part
of
it
is
we're
going
to
reduce
the
amount
of
electricity.
The
second
part
is:
we,
just
recently
last
month
took
a
contract
in
the
new
Excel
energy
renewable
connect
program
for
seven
point:
eight
million
kilowatt
hours
of
electricity.
This
was
the
most
that
was
allowed
under
the
way
the
program
was
designed.
No
customer
could
take
more
than
10%
of
the
amount
of
electricity
offered
and
that's
seventy
nine.
E
Seventeen
point:
eight
million
kilowatt
hours,
which
will
start
receiving
this
month,
will
get
us
to
about
seventeen
percent
renewable
energy
directly
from
almost
zero
right
now,
Excel
has
come
back
to
us
and
the
program
did
not
become
fully
subscribed
and
they
have
asked
us
if
we're
interested
in
pursuing
more
of
this
renewable
connect
program.
To
do
so,
they
Xcel
Energy
will
have
to
go
back
to
the
Public
Utilities
Commission
and
get
this
cap
of
ten
percent
listed
on
the
participation
rate
and
we've
been
asked
to
supply
a
letter
of
interest.
E
The
other
thing
we
need
to
decide,
although
not
today,
but
in
the
near
future,
is,
should
we
pursue
putting
solar
arrays
on
land,
the
city
owns
and
the
most
likely
spot,
for
that
would
be
at
the
water
treatment
facility.
We
have
about
seven
acres
that
are
make
sure
the
unused
land,
because
that's
where
our
reservoirs
are
sited.
These
are
simple
rectangular
boxes
of
concrete
underground,
with
about
two
feet
of
dirt.
On
top,
so
it's
a
very
flat
surface.
It's
basically
just
like
a
roof,
and
we
could
get
between
five
and
seven
megawatts
of
solar
arrays.
E
We
could
generate
about
six
and
a
half
to
eight
percent
of
our
electricity
usage.
If
we
were
to
invest
in
solar
arrays,
the
cost
for
that
would
be
somewhere
between
ten
and
twelve
million
dollars.
The
payback
would
be
about
13
years.
So
that's
another
option
we
have,
and
then
we
have
kind
of
a
somewhat
complicated
situation.
As
you
know,
we
agreed
to
participate
in
the
community
solar
garden
movement
here
in
Minnesota.
E
We
currently
have
seven
and
a
half
million
kilowatt
hours
subscribed
in
these
community
solar
Gardens,
where
we
are
basically
assisting
in
solar
penetration
into
the
electricity
grid.
However,
we
cannot
clean
the
renewable
energy
credits
for
that
electricity,
so
the
seven
and
a
half
million
kilowatt
hours,
even
though
it
is
actually
assigned
to
us
for
our
use.
E
Xcel
Energy
actually
owns
the
renewable
energy
credits.
So
none
of
that
electricity
has
been
counted
in
our
movement
towards
100%
renewable
electricity.
It
does
increase
the
amount
of
renewable
electricity.
Excel
has,
and
that's
one
of
the
reasons
that
the
wind
and
solar
is
growing,
is
through
these
types
of
programs.
E
E
We
want
to
continue
to
look
for
those
subscriptions
or
who
would
want
to
stop,
because
these
are
twenty
five
year
contracts,
which
we
are
now
locked
into
for
about
seven
percent
of
our
electricity,
but
he
won't
meaning
that
in
2022,
if
we
pursued
our
own
arrays
and
got
more
renewable
energy
from
excels
of
this
renewable
connect
program,
we
still
would
only
be
able
to
get
to
about
93
percent
renewable
energy
in
five
years.
Because
of
these
outstanding
contracts
and.
A
E
Jeremy
Corbyn,
we
do
have
the
RFP
that
we
produce
for
our
low
income
housing
sponsored
solar,
Gardens,
trying
to
get
more
low-income
household
participation
in
the
solar
garden
movement,
we're
in
the
middle
of
reviewing
those.
We
had
seven
responses,
every
single
one
of
which
was
financially
positive
and
that
there
were
going
to
be
savings.
I
can't
discuss
the
results
of
that
because
we're
still
reviewing
the
proposals,
but
we
again
will
have
to
make
a
decision
on
how
many
of
those
we
want
to
pursue.
A
E
It's
just
the
last
slide.
That
was
the
last
slide,
so
the
conclusion
is
we
can
get
to
93%
with
various
avenues
open
to
us.
Today,
it's
going
to
be
difficult
to
get
to
100%
by
2022
because
of
these
solar
garden
contracts.
Our
options,
however,
are
we
could
work
with
Xcel
Energy
or
the
other
utilities
to
purchase
renewable
energy
credits
on
the
open
market
to
offset
at
seven
and
a
half
million
kilowatt
hours,
which
is
a
relatively
inexpensive
way
to
claim
you're
using
renewable
energy.
Well,.
A
Maybe
that's
something
to
think
about:
I
just
have
to
save
it
in
a
way
the
7%,
if
it's
through
community
solar
Gardens
to
me,
would
feel
like
and
look
like
to
a
lot
of
people
we're
still
getting
it
from
renewable
energy
because
we're
investing
there
and
we're
getting
it
from
those.
But
I
understand
the
way
the
rules
are
set
up,
that
we
can't
actually
maybe
claim
that
hundred
percent.
So
we
can
get
there
I
when
I
looked
at
this
and
I
had
a
meeting
with
staff.
A
I
actually
am
supportive
of
both
of
the
options
increase
in
participation
and
also
looking
at
building
our
own
arrays
on
the
water
treatment
reservoir.
But
of
course,
that's
a
big
capital
outlay.
I
think
that
needs
some
more
thoughts.
More
work,
I
mean.
Maybe
it
doesn't
necessarily
go
through
the
quick
process,
but
it
may,
and
that
might
be
more
appropriate
and
so
I
think
finance
is
looking
into
more
into
that
in
more
detail.
A
But
I
do
think
we
have
an
opportunity
to
go
ahead
with
this
letter
of
intent,
and
so
there
is
a
staff
direction
about
that
indicating
to
Xcel
Energy.
This
would
direct
property
services
staff,
the
letter
to
excel
engine
energy,
indicating
the
city
interest
in
obtaining
the
additional
50
to
65
million
kilowatts
of
annual
electricity
from
Excel
renewable
connect
program.
That
would
also
have
to
go
through
ways
and
means
process,
but
I
think
discussion
with
mr.
A
Milberg
and
also
with
the
finance
director.
That
seemed
like
a
good
next
step
to
take
so
I'm
going
to
I
guess,
maybe
I'll
move
to
receive
and
file
and
that
staff
direction
at
the
same
time,
instead
of
discussion
on
that
seeing
none,
then
all
those
in
favor
say
aye
aye.