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<br />Enterprise Energy <br />2925 Dean Parkway, Execu8ve Suite 300 <br />Minneapolis, MN 55416 <br />(952) 212-0824 <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br /> <br />History of Project and Submittal Updates: Enterprise Energy initially contacted the City <br />about this project in December 2022. The City enacted a moratorium on solar and revised its <br />ordinance. Fortunately, the ordinance amendment still permits this project on this parcel. After the <br />ordinance amendment, in December 2023 we met with City staff, City engineers, and City wetland <br />enforcement agency to review our submittal and assure that our application meets the heightened <br />scrutiny of the new ordinance. We received feedback and additional engineering and <br />environmental requests. After attempting to address those requests, we resubmitted materials in <br />February 2024 and received additional feedback and requests. After working closely with staff and <br />City engineering consultants for a very long time, we believe that this application satisfies the <br />ordinance. <br /> <br /> This ordinance required extraordinarily detailed and thoroughly engineered plans. We spent <br />an enormous amount of time and money to prepare and demonstrate the functionality of our <br />Stormwater Management Plan, Vegetation Management Plan, Grading Plan, Erosion Control Plan, <br />Wetland Delineation and No-Loss Determination, Decommissioning Plan, ALTA Survey, and Site <br />Plan. We also did extensive diligence on the parcel including FAA Glare Analysis, Geotechnical <br />Field Soil Electric Resistivity Testing, Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Services <br />Endangered Wildlife and Species Search, and Phase I Environmental Assessment, and Phase I <br />Archeological Reconnaissance. These plans were very expensive and required a nearly complete <br />civil engineering set. Typically, many of these submittals are not required as part of a IUP <br />application and are instead required as conditions of the IUP, to be submitted with the building <br />permit application. Requiring this material up front adds a lot of risk to the project because the <br />IUP is not guaranteed. However, we believe in this project and our ability to design it in a way that <br />will be beneficial to the City, so we endeavored to do the work anyway. We hope that the City <br />carefully considers the work that has been done to date to prepare this application. <br /> <br />Wetland Delineation & Notice of Decision: We hired a third-party consultant to perform a <br />wetland delineation on the property. The delineation identifies the location and type of all wetlands. <br />The delineation and finalized site plan were sent to the City engineering consultant for a “no-loss” <br />determination, which is an affirmation that the plan does not adversely impact the wetlands. The <br />no-loss determination not only considers the impact of these specific wetlands, our specific plan, <br />and the specific site characteristics, but it also considers the hydrology and environmental <br />characteristics of surrounding parcels, and how the plan could adversely impact them. Our <br />consultant and the City’s consultant agree that this project will not have a negative impact. The <br />Wetland Boundary Concurrence and No-Loss Determination are attached as Exhibits 2 & 3. <br /> <br />Environmental Diligence: Apart from wetlands, we had our environmental consultant <br />perform extensive environmental diligence studies, including a Plant Survey that identifies all <br />vegetation growing on the parcel, a Wildlife Species Search that identifies all wildlife that uses the <br />parcel all year, a Phase I Environmental Assessment to determine if there has been any <br />environmental contamination of the parcel, and a Phase I Archeological Study to determine if the <br />parcel has any historical or archeological significance. The studies did not reveal any