Title
Authorizing the City to apply for $72,000 from the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Solar on Public Buildings Grant Program for rooftop solar installation at North End Community Center.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan adopted in December 2019 established the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in municipal operations by 2030; and
WHEREAS, the Climate Action and Resilience Plan also included a key action of increasing municipal purchases and installations of renewable energy for city operations; and
WHEREAS, the Minnesota Legislature established the Solar on Public Buildings Grant Program in 2023 to provide grants to stimulate the installation of solar energy systems on public buildings; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has local, state, and federal funding for the design, construction, and equipping of the North End Community Center project; and
WHEREAS, the North End Community Center is being designed and constructed in alignment with the State of Minnesota's B3 Sustainable Buildings Guidelines and SB2030 Energy Standard which requires that a minimum 2% of the annual energy need for the building be provided by a renewable energy system; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Financial Services and Department of Parks and Recreation are requesting permission to apply for the maximum allowed $72,000 in grant funds from the Solar on Public Buildings Grant Program to cover a portion of the $141,678 project costs for installing a 39.8-kW dc rooftop solar array at the North End Community Center with the remainder of the solar costs to be paid for from existing funds already designated for the project; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, the Saint Paul City Council expressly provides its support for the City of Saint Paul to submit a grant application to the Solar on Public Buildings Program to support solar installation at the North End Community Center.