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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 Animal Services.
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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 and Green Energy Program funding for the renovation of 1115 Beulah Lane for the relocation of Animal Control to a new Animal Services facility; and
WHEREAS, the building is being renovated in alignment with the State of Minnesota's B3 Sustainable Buildings Guidelines and SB2030 Energy Standard, which requires onsite renewable energy generation to meet energy and carbon efficiency standards for the facility ; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Financial Services-Real Estate and the Department of Safety & Inspections 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 estimated project costs of $140,000 for installing a 40-kW rooftop solar array at the future Animal Services location, with the remainder of the solar costs to be paid for from existing funds already designated for the renovation 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 for Animal Control.