09-07-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 7, 2010 APPROVED 45 the project payback term would be approximately 5.6 years. This is will additionally L 46 make for uniformity in the bulbs throughout the facility. 47 48 Mr. DeGardner indicated that the funding for this and the previously discussed project 49 would be taken from the Municipal Buildings Fund and the council requested that they 50 receive an update on that fund and the impact of these projects. 51 52 Staff indicated, and the council concurred, that they will proceed to plan for this project 53 and will report to the council for final grant authorization. 54 55 3. Emergency Generator Proposal—Civic Complex—Public Services Director 56 DeGardner reviewed the proposal of a city investment in modifying the existing Police 57 Department emergency generator so that it will also serve the city hall complex. The 58 change would make the equipment eligible for savings from Xcel Energy and would thus 59 result in a payback term of 12 years. The project is a good combination of energy savings 60 and the security of an emergency generator for city hall. Without the project, a power 61 outage means that city hall is closed. He confirmed that the Police Department generator 62 has adequate capacity to handle the rest of the facility. He pointed out some 63 consequences of not having an emergency power source—an outage could lead to 64 freezing pipes in the winter, computer damages, loss of certain services provided through 65 city hall. Without power, a business continuity plan for the city hall isn't possible (the 66 Police Department does have emergency power). Also energy costs are expected to rise 67 so savings will only increase. 68 69 Tim Hillescheim,Utilities Supervisor, explained how Xcel Energy's peak savings 70 program works. It allows Xcel to ask the city to use generator power during certain 71 periods of higher use. There is a limit on the amount of time that can be requested and it 72 is usually just for a period of a few hours. 73 74 The council discussed the payback period and the impact of improving technology as well 75 as the bid process utilized by the city. 76 77 The council did not authorize staff to proceed but will keep the matter on the table as they 78 move through budget discussions. 79 80 4. Storm Water Utility—Community Development Director Grochala explained that 81 the city owns and maintains a storm water system and under federal law is therefore 82 required to implement a pollution prevention program related to that system. The costs 83 related to compliance and best practices are currently paid through the city `s property tax 84 system. In 2006,the city commissioned a study on implementing a storm water utility 85 that would use a fee system through which the city could obtain funding to meet storm 86 water needs without utilizing property taxes. One consideration is that under a property 87 taxing system, many properties (those that are tax exempt) do not contribute any funding 88 to the city's storm water program. A utility program also allows charges to be based on 89 use and potential runoff(based on amount of impervious surface). Mr. Grochala noted 2