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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 Fire Station 51.
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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 allocated capital maintenance funding for the renovation of Fire Station 51; and
WHEREAS, Fire Station 51 is being renovated in alignment with the State of Minnesota's B3 Sustainable Buildings Guidelines and SB2030 Energy Standard which requires that a minimum 2% of annual energy need for the building be provided by a renewable energy system; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Financial Services - Real Estate and the Fire Department are requesting permission to apply for $72,000 in grant funds from the Solar on Public Buildings Grant Program to cover a portion of the $160,000 project costs for installing a 40 kW dc rooftop solar array at Fire Station 51 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 Fire Station 51.