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Council Meeting Minutes for May 6, 2024 <br />Page 10 of 13 <br /> <br />would sign a contract with Xcel who would give them 25 years to sell the bill credits. That was <br />why they were asking for a 25-year IUP. After 25 years, they would need to renew or <br />decommission after the useful life was done as per application requirements. He explained there <br />were no concrete footings poured into the ground. Instead, high beams would be hammered into <br />ground in rows with a rack on it that the panels go into. He said he had applied for an <br />interconnection agreement with Xcel that was in an advanced study phase, so it was ready for <br />construction. He explained the steps he went through to have his plan reviewed and accepted by <br />experts. He talked about other projects that are several smaller projects with points of <br />interconnections that would have a lot of poles. He said this would be a small one-megawatt <br />project on 3.9 acres that would have two more poles than what is located along the road right <br />now. Carlson said his vegetation management plan preserved all existing habitat that’s possible; <br />everything that flies could still be there, and he explained the deer-style fence. He said by doing <br />this they were preserving this habitat for the future. <br /> <br />Weidt asked how the area was calculated because it appeared it took up more than 3.9 acres. <br />Carlson responded that the fenced area would be 5.5 acres, and the solar panel area would be 3.9 <br />acres. Carlson stated that he would be open to an alternative public use of the setbacks. <br /> <br />Bear addressed the question on whether there was a renewable mandate saying there was not, but <br />there was a law that required electric companies to purchase electric from these types of <br />facilities, which had created a market for them. There was no mandate that requires cities to <br />approve these applications. <br /> <br />John Udstuen requested Council show the video and pics they put together. <br /> <br />Arnie Triemert, 1522 Everton Avenue, said he wanted Council to consider how it did not fit in <br />the neighborhood at all. <br /> <br />The Mayor granted Udstuen’s request and the photos were shown to Council. Laura Syring <br />explained they hired a drone company to take these pictures depicting the feeling and flavor of <br />the area to show that the solar farm does not fit the character of the neighborhood. A drone <br />video was also presented. She thanked the Council for viewing them. <br /> <br />Evan Carlson commented that the image does a good job demonstrating what people are <br />concerned about, but that was not his plan. He said his plan preserved the trees and had setbacks <br />and greenspace. Had the City not done such a robust job enacting its ordinance, he said his <br />project may have looked like that. <br /> <br />Bear noted that the photos and video would become part of the record. <br /> <br />Weidt talked about the neighborhood being unique and set aside after multiple discussions in <br />1989 and again in 2006. It was the largest undeveloped piece of land in a high and medium <br />density residential neighborhood in that part of town. He said there can certainly be a case made <br />on the effect it would have on a neighborhood, and it would change the intention of why it was <br />set aside. He talked about not knowing if a solar farm would have met the intention of the <br />Council so many years ago, but he has seen many examples of how the character is changed by a <br />project like this. He talked about the solar ordinance and the original intent of having solar farms <br />allowed in agricultural zones was to have it on larger open pieces of land that make it easier to