HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWkspMin 3-3-11Falcon Heights Council Workshop Minutes
March 3, 2011
Members present: Mayor Lindstrom, Council members Long, Harris, Gosline and Mercer-
Taylor
Others present: Administrator Justin Miller, Bob Long, Wes Blake, Aaron Wurst
City Hall Solar Panel Discussion
Representatives from Parsons Electric and Bob Long presented their revised financing plan for
the proposed city hall solar panels. According to the revised proposal, the proposed payback
stood at roughly 16 years. This is due to the fact that the current Xcel rebates do not allow for
adjustments to the demand charges that are billed. The original proposal thought that those
charges could be offset through the solar panels. The city council was concerned about the
longer payback period and asked staff and the developers to continue to meet to see how this
could be reduced.
Carbon Footprint Analysis Report
Rick Carter from LHB Architects presented his preliminary findings of the carbon footprint
analysis. His report focused on vehicle miles traveled, waste generated, electricity and natural
gas usage, and water consumed. Right now he is working with Falcon Heights and St. Louis
Park and will hopefully have more cities to compare data with shortly. Two more years of data
will be accumulated and added to reports in the future.
Retail Activity in City Parks
Miller explained that one of the city council goals was to re-evaluate the city’s prohibition of
non-city related retail activities in city parks. Councilmember Gosline introduced several
opportunities he thought could be taken advantage of in relation to retail activities. After
lengthy discussion, it was agreed to not pursue any immediate changes but to be open to
opportunities when they arise.
The workshop concluded at 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Justin Miller
City Administrator