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Council Meeting Minutes for May 6, 2024 Page 9 of 12 become a walking area for the surrounding community, and he has had to explain that it was private property to residents who think it is a nature preserve. He said it’s 160 acres with less than two dozen homes, and a very special place. He commented on the City’s part in protecting the land when the Everton Avenue Coalition was created to keep it from development. He talked about the word “AG” being created to preserve and protect the character neighborhoods and keep 10-acre minimums. Udstuen described it as a jewel of the community, something to be proud of. He talked about some of the properties being listed as a green corridor according to the Parks Plan. He said that is the true character of the neighborhood, open and undisturbed land. He said the main portion of the request for denial will be presented by Laura. Laura Syring, 15149 Everton Avenue North, said she has been a resident for the past 21 years. She read a letter that they had sent to the City Council and Mayor addressing their concerns. In the letter, the history of the neighborhood and its residents was provided to show the character of the area. This letter will be retained as part of the official record. Daniel Skaar, 13857 Geneva Avenue North, had questions to ask. He wanted to know if the City was under any renewable mandate; who was getting/buying the power and what was the contract; were there output goals, power purchase agreements, and performance guarantees; what would happen if he couldn’t get these agreements with Xcel; and was there a substation on this property. He noted the property was adjacent to a power line. He said he had done a lot of solar projects in California, and he found this location to be a bit awkward. He said it would be helpful to see some analog from other municipalities that have put this type of solar array in this type of environment. Carlson responded to some of the questions explaining this would be a community solar garden, and when they put power in the grid, they get grid credits rather than selling it right to a utility. There was no substation and would go right into the line that goes into people’s houses. The bill credit was then sold to people, known as subscribers, who don’t have a good spot for solar panels. He explained how it was different than the utility scale development that plugs into the transmission lines, which is a federal interconnection process. He said that it was different than community solar, which provided solar to people that do not have a good spot. Carlson said they would sign a contract with Xcel who would give them 25 years to sell the bill credits. That was why they were asking for a 25-year IUP. After 25 years, they would need to renew or decommission after the useful life was done as per application requirements. He explained there were no concrete footings poured into the ground. Instead, high beams would be hammered into ground in rows with a rack on it that the panels go into. He said he had applied for an interconnection agreement with Xcel that was in an advanced study phase, so it was ready for construction. He explained the steps he went through to have his plan reviewed and accepted by experts. He talked about other projects that are several smaller projects with points of interconnections that would have a lot of poles. He said this would be a small one-megawatt project on 3.9 acres that would have two more poles than what is located along the road right now. Carlson said his vegetation management plan preserved all existing habitat that’s possible; everything that flies could still be there, and he explained the deer-style fence. He said by doing this they were preserving this habitat for the future. Weidt asked how the area was calculated because it appeared it took up more than 3.9 acres. Carlson responded that the fenced area would be 5.5 acres, and the solar panel area would be 3.9 acres. Carlson stated that he would be open to an alternative public use of the setbacks. Bear addressed the question on whether there was a renewable mandate saying there was not, but