City Council - Regular Meeting

Flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Will the finance director please call ro since our recorder is missing. She's excused absence. Mayor Dola present. Council president Steinhel here. Councelor Ki here. Councelor man, councelor Salvage, councelor Mlan here, councelor Workman here. Thank you so much. Uh we'll move in the consent calendar following. Let me get my my mouth going right here. So following items are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussions on these items unless a council or so request. In that case, the item will be removed from the consent calendar and considered separately. Agenda Lebanon City Council agenda September 24th, 2025. Uh, council meetings 2025910 city council regular meeting and work session meeting and grant submitt DLCD technical assistance grant. Is there a motion? Move for approval. Second. Motion's been moved to approve. It's been second. All in favor? I. All opposed? Motion passes. Okay. Next up, presentation. We got Maria Bowers, Benton Clean and Strong. Please come forward. Is she Are you going to speak too? I'll just be here in case you need. Well, you can come up if you if you choose. I just Sometimes they'll they'll write me notes on my my thing here and they'll have one name and that'll happen. Anyhow, hi. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, council, for having us. Um, speaking of

notes, um, I'm not Marie Bowers. Marie Bowers is out planting, uh, because she is a fifth generation seed farmer who is very busy. She's in a tractor right now. Uh, she couldn't be here. So, uh, my name is Annie Ellison. Um, I'm, uh, from this coalition we're going to talk to you about today, Benton Strong. This my colleague, uh, Council Elise Garnell. You say hi. Hi. Nice to meet you. Uh, from the great city of Newberg. Yeah. So, thank you for having us. Um, let me see. Does this Yes. Okay. Um, so who are we? Um, oh Jesus. Sorry. No, you're good. Okay. Um, so you probably heard a little bit about the Coffin But landfill expansion. Um, you've probably heard a lot from opponents. Um we are a coalition of you know working people, residents, business owners um who do support the expansion um which we're going to talk a little bit more about. Um it is the last parcel the expansion we're talking about in this application is the last parcel that was designated landfill in the year 1997 when I was 10. Um that's the expansion we're talking about. So it is it is a modest expansion. It's different from the 2021 expansion, which is much bigger, involves Coffinbe Road. Um, and so what we're talking about is the conditional use permit to develop that last parcel. Um, so we share a commitment to protecting the county's quality of life, supporting local jobs. There's a lot of ways. I know it's it's in Benton County, but it it does impact your community, um, this community, and we'll talk a little bit about why. Um, so yeah, just setting the table with some facts. um things you maybe like, you know, mundane facts that impact our day-to-day lives that like aren't as exciting for, you know, or organized organized opposition to talk about. Um

the methane at that comes off that landfill um goes into generators and it goes into the grid and powers 4,000 homes every year. Um the rest of that methane is is burned off. Um it is actually one of the region's biggest uh contributors to clean energy. I know it's like you don't always think that way. Um but that is a big part of what what happens at CPU. Um planning ahead. So this expansion, this modest expansion gives time um as we you know develop a regional waste management solution for the entire WT valley. You probably know there's a task force coming together under some legislation. Um I I think I'm sure like Lynn County or somebody here is tracking it. Um but um the cost of disposal like you know if you're not thinking about the cost of disposal you're not thinking about what happens to it like they're doing a great job right um the cost of disposal impact everything from whether it's construction school districts like you name it right and it's like the bigger the you know the the the bigger a part of your budget it is the more that an an increase in those costs would impact you. We're obviously at a time where you all probably are hearing that cost of living is the biggest concern for your constituents at least. Um you know that's what our data shows that and you know what's the biggest issue affecting you right now? Cost of living. Um and those are costs that you know get they get passed on to people they get passed on to rateayers etc. Um so expanding coffin but this modest expansion keeps that local waste locally and like instead of you know having to to send it elsewhere which is sort of the alternative. Um D. So when in the event that that coffin but you know

the alternative to coffin but um is is is a lot of emissions, right? Um it's a lot of it's it's if it's going somewhere else um a it's not generating that revenue for local communities. Um the the lineful generates um I think $11 million per bianium um for Benton County in discretionary funds. Obviously you guys are Lynn County, but it all you know these are all communities that interact together. Um so stable predictable service for Benton County residents and consumers like long-distance hauling is is not a cost-saving thing. Um I think you know and and it's all there's a lot of TBD of like where that waste would go. um about a hundred people. These are really good family wage jobs um of people that work um at at Coffen but they live everywhere from Monmouth Independence to Lebanon to um you know Ben County, Lynn County. Um and then there has been a lot of probably of what you've heard about the landfill is, you know, there's been a lot of talk about the environmental stuff, right? Um this is a highly regulated uh facility. Um really strict federal, state, and local reporting guidelines. Um they meet and exceed those um at at most intervals. They have triple the amount of methane monitoring um that that is required. Um they have 38 ground wells on that site that they test for 60 chemicals and that water in the ground wells meet safe drinking standards. So I know you know people get very concerned when they hear about things like lead shade and methane and it's like I straight up asked the guys at the landfills like could I drink that water? They were like go for it. So or not they didn't say go they were like you could safely drink it. I don't know that it's up to you free free country right? Um, so that there is a lot of

that that future energy work that's happening there. I think people think in their mind of what what a landfill is. It is like a beehive of engineering. Um, if any of you have ever been out there for a tour and if you haven't, you know, I can help you. Um, and then yeah, additionally, this this kind of the the fees generated from the franchise fees and the tip fees. Benton County residents pay less. Um, you know, we we outofcounters pay pay more. Um, but it really it is the second largest source of revenue for Benton County. Um, you know, public safety, roads, like all those good things. It's discretionary funds. They spend it however they want. Um, all right. So this is kind of just the summary of kind of the facts because you know there's a lot um you know organized special interest groups have a lot of time and resources to communicate with with elected leaders like you all. Um and it is important it is important to us that you know folks who don't necessarily have those time and those resources but will be impacted by this decision like this is why we have this coalition coming together um to provide a voice. So, as we zip through this, what does Benton County think? We did a poll. Yay. Um, in a recent survey. So again, despite, you know, the the very loud, you know, sound does not always equal fury is maybe like the one thing I've I've taken away from from this um effort uh is that you know when in a scientific poll conducted by DHM research, which is very reputable pollster um in back in July, um 62% of people in Benton County um said they un they they agreed with the expansion. Um so renewable energy keeping costs low and community investments um were the reason um you know I think something like 2% of people

said coffen but be was like the biggest thing impacting their life right and I I would assume all that entire 2% has uh has made their voice heard um so we just want to make sure you know we're sharing this information with you um we are coming together we have a coalition um we have you know it's a broad we have elected Democrats and core Corvalis like councelor Napac who was like peeling paper off of soup cans in the 1960s to recycle them but she's deeply passionate you know she remembers a time when people were just dumping in the Mary's River and doesn't want to go back. Um we have folks like Mayor Alex Johnson I um of Albany um who you or Albany Albany um who you know he's you know he wants to grow the local economy. He's very sensitive to his rateayers. He's listening to his people. um you know, he he's supportive of the expansion for the sheer reason of those costs to families. Um you've got um folks like Marie who couldn't be there, but she sent us her quote. Um you know, it's for farmers. Um it's about planning ahead. Um and keeping those keeping that control local. Um and then we've got, you know, we've got people who are been on solid waste experts for, you know, for years. Um and that it's just it's a response a modest expansion is a responsible path forward. Um a lot of people talk about that local control. Um and you know councelor Napac said the consequence for not expanding would be a much bigger problem than the negatives that the expansion would bring. Um maybe you guys know Zack Doll. Um you know it's about it's about costs um because they serve small businesses. It all it all goes down the chain. Um this is uh a list of folks who've joined the coalition so far. Um and this and we didn't have all the time and space for 1,700 names. Um but you know we've got a um a a growing list of of

people who are coming together in support. Um, everyone from, you know, hotel owners, business owners, um, you know, haulers, towers, um, and and just so folks know why it matters. Now, um, things are happening in about a month as a month as of yesterday, um, we there will be hearings that the appeal will be heard, um, by the Benton County Commissioners. So the the staff in Benton County recommended approving the conditional use permit. The professional staff that we entrust to, you know, run our run our jurisdictions. They said yes, we yes, meets Cove approved the permit. The planning commission voted against it. So Republic Services appealed, coalition came together and that's what this hearing is. The three Benton County commissioners are going to hear the appeal um from Republic Services and that's where we're bringing people together to make sure their voices are heard. Um again, special interests, organized opposition in Eugene, like they've got a lot more time and resources than average people who are like, I don't want my costs to go up. Um so that's why we're, you know, we're here in front of you today. Um they'll they will be voting on this appeal, those three Benton County commissioners. Um, you know, we want to make sure you have the best information. Um, this is sort of the, you know, the sequence of how it's going to go. Um, the hearings are going to be at the Benton County Fairgrounds, which is new for me. Um, typically you do hearings somewhere like this. Um uh but the 15th, you know, if you are if you are motivated to join the coalition and you are motivated to um you know, speak up for, you know, keeping costs down here in Lebanon, we'd encourage you to sign up. We'd encourage you to testify. Um I think you know these Benon County commissioners again, they're hearing so much from from opposition when you know

that by and large people support the expansion. Um and then yeah, these are the ways you can get involved. You can join the coalition. You can tell your friends and neighbors. You can um you know, call your colleagues in Benton County. Um you know, all politics is local. Um and or submit written testimony at or before the hearing. Um the other thing you can do is if you are moved and you you're feeling like this is going to impact Lebanon, um you can pass a resolution if you want. Um, obviously probably not at a work session depending on your target, right? Um, but yeah, so y'all your all's voice matters. We want you to have the best information. Um, and uh, we would encourage you to join the coalition if you're moved to. And any questions that you have, like we're here to take them. If they're kind of landfill specific, Republic specific, we'll probably get back to you. Um, but like yeah, people have a lot of questions about this because there's so much there's so much mythology about this landfill um that we're just here to kind of help people um just kind of get the get the basics of what's happening. So, I will cease talking and let you guys if you have any questions for us. Did you have anything? I'm happy to help answer questions, but yeah. All righty. I guess my first question, you brought up a a good term uh a cost of living. Has anybody did an analysis on what the the increase in to the rateayer is going to be? So this answer they you know they told me to prepare for this question and uh the so that a that's kind of a public services question. You have a contract for rates and stuff with with the public. Um all a lot of that stuff is proprietary. We can't say for sure, right? We can't say for sure how much things are going to cost because what increase would be because do we know where it's going? Do we know how it's getting there? What's the cost of fuel? What's the cost of labor? I would think it's not going to be the same and it's

not going to be less. Um, one I know this is not a satisfactory answer, but one comparison we can make is so the lie that gets sent to the city of Corvalis from Coffen but I think they pay like 11 cents a gallon. The Coralis doesn't want anymore. Fine. They're going to send it to I think it's Idaho or they actually we don't know yet, right? Idaho, Eastern Oregon, somewhere like that. is be like more in the 90 cents a gallon range. Um, and this is something that for public services, yeah, when when your colleagues at the Foma City Council ask this question, that's the the where public services. So, that's kind of a benchmark like a couple markers of like what does transport mean? Um, I but we can't say for sure. Um, that stuff's proprietary. It's all very that's also part of why it's so hard to talk about this, right? It's like, well, how much is it going to go up by? And we're like, well, factors A through R uh depends, right? But it's not going to go down for sure if that makes sense. But I would like I'll bring it to to our colleagues over there and just say hey you know anything you can give Lebanon about what you mean specifically on the rateayer or specifically on the city on the rateayer. Okay. Yeah we can because because you we all know that if it can't go to that location it's going of course go to a different location which is probably going to be far away. Um and uh of course said you just mentioned all the the inputs of production right there with with fuel, labor, uh you know the the requirements of trucking it, all that kind of stuff. So um so that and again we we're for the coalition. I think this is a Republic question. So let me let me have our colleagues at Republic get you something. Do you know where the possible locations are? I would think. Yeah. Again, it's like so much TBD. Um my guess would be people would look towards places like Arlington um which you know is also getting all the dredging from the Columbia or from the super fun site right so it's like I

don't know TBD but those are those are options right there's two landfills in western Oregon one is in goan run by lane county one is coffin okay it looked like you had a question sure um I guess can you help me understand your relationship with republic services because I on your website it's the logo is prominently displayed. Um so I'd like a little more information on that. Also I going to maybe this is this is my assumption an expansion of coffin but will cost the taxpayers or the rateayers money right because you're going to expand it and that's my my understanding would be no but I think this again this is a republic um so what I can say about the coalition is this is the coalition is separate but they make it very clear on the website it's um paid for by republic services not with rateayer funds um so it is a is a it is a community group of people that have come together to have their voices heard um about how the landfill expansion would impact them. Um so yes, it's paper we're very clear that it's paid for by Republic Services. We work alongside them. Um but we're different things. So you're contracted with Republic Services. The coalition is separate from Republic Services. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. It's still the question was um it was pretty much that I was just kind of wanting to understand that relationship because obviously it's in Republic Services interest to to extend the life of coffin but as it is in the rateayers but I just I my guess is that again an expansion of a a landfill will cost a company money but so well trucking it I would imagine that would cost more money. So, I think it's like for me it's the lesser of of two. My understanding, and again, this is a Republic uh my understanding is like they're building cells like all the

time, right? Like if you go up there and truly if you haven't, you should. Um you know, they're they're they're building new cells. They're lining new areas. They're moving things around all the time. Right? This this conditional use permit is happening because it's on the other side of Coffin View Road, right? this parcel that's designated landfill since 1987 requires a conditional use permit. So I I actually your your assumption about that cost would go up if the expansion happens. I actually let me double check, but I don't I don't think so. Well, that would be great if they would extend the life of it without passing that cont or that to the rateayers. I believe that's the whole that's the whole I mean I think there's set rate you guys have contracts that people that are far more ex expert. I would love when Julie comes back for that not to be a factor in her speech is what I'm trying to say. Oh, the legislation. Yeah. Well, this is why we keep this is why we keep it separate. So, the rates that you have and the rate increases that happen like as part of your agreements with the Republic um that's totally separate from this. Okay. Thank you. I I had a couple questions. You're Annie Ellison, right? Yes, sir. Okay. What is your name? Elise Jarnell. What? Elise. Elise. Jarnell. Yeah. Yarborough. Jarnell. Yarnell. It's Y A R N E L L Yarnell. Oh, okay. Um, how many acres does Coughing But encompass? Let me double check. Um, why do you uh I think it's like 178 or something, but I can like and their their expansion would be how many more acres? Um, so there is a page on Republic's there is a coffin beef expansion page um with like all these details about the conditional use per there's like link after link after link. Um, hold on. If you want I can pull it up. Sure. Okay. Let's keep going. Um, I just want to make sure I'm telling you the right things off the top.

So yeah, it's a the coffin but landful expansion like there's there's all the information about the um about the application for the conditional use permit and you could find it all there. I could miss I could get I could misspeak or we can just look at it. Hold on. Um do you ask just because kind of compared to Well, I I'm just curious, you know, let's say it's 170 acres. Are they have they already purchased the land? Do they already own the land? They own it. It's zoned landfill since the year of our Lord, 1987. Yeah. So, it's it is the last parcel um of that um if that makes sense. And the reason they're going through this process is because there's a road. And so, what are the biggest issues of the opposition? Is it uh leech water leeching into their wells or or I don't want to speak for them. Um, but there was a lot of testimony given given to the board. Um, I think it's, you know, it runs the gamut. Um, but yeah, I don't want to speak for the opposition. I I think it goes beyond a partisan issue. I, you know, I'm in favor of the expansion personally myself and you can add me to the list of it. Excellent council about it. Get you signed up. It It's very convenient to be able to load stuff up and use that use that landfill over there. I use it sometimes once, twice a week, so I'm familiar with its outlay and all that stuff and how far back kind of how far back it goes. It would be really inconvenient to have to haul stuff up to Arlington or down to go instead of just running over to C. And again, we don't know like it's all like a TBD, but it's like there's a finite amount of space in the landfill if the life of the landfill is not expanded, right? Yeah. Okay. And I I think what Ken brought up, you know, the cost and Alex u the mayor of of Albany also brought up that issue too. I think those are those are big

things. But uh I it just made it's just common sense just to go ahead and expand that landfill. We're going to dump our garbage somewhere. It's going to be in Corvalis or it's going to be up the Columbia River which is going to get back down to us eventually anyway. So I mean I think that it it could be more controlled if it was over there in Corvalis. So you should get at least Elise is faster than I am on the internet. But yeah, it is it is just um coffinfall.com2024-cup and that is like everything everything you possibly want to know. But councelor Hollerman or Yarnell states it's 740 acres and the expansion is the whole thing is there you go. There you go. I can visualize that. That was the size of my farm. No, the seven acres. Yeah. Yeah. So, um what are you here asking for today? What do you want from us as a do you want something as a body or individually or I mean we're kind of curious? Yes. Um yeah, both and I think we want, you know, a just wanted to make sure you're getting information from the sort of quieter majority of folks um who are impacted by this. Um number two, obviously to to ask for your support as a body. um uh to to submit you know all the things depending on what you all decide to do ask for your support as individuals. Yeah. My curiosity in this just to be honest is if everybody is for this counselors are everybody thinks who's fighting it? What what was the objection from the planning commission that said no, we're not going to give this permit? And it feels like you might not know that answer, but I'd like Oh, I know the answer. Um I would say um you know there's a lot of the really wellorganized group out of Eugene called Beyond Toxics um that and there's an or you know really wellorganized group of kind of environmental interests that have you

know they submitted a lot of testimony about a lot of things some at some point and I'm just I'm just common sense here at some point that stuff's going to have to go someplace. Why would an environmental group say no we don't want to put it right there where it lands. We want to take it someplace else and right why they don't want to put it in a safe lined cell with six feet of crush and three times as many pipes as are required I do not know. You'd have to ask them. Common sense tells you if they're going to truck this and rail it and do all that stuff to somewhere else or whatever. That's a lot of pollution going into the air just from all the trucking and and the railway. All the trucks will be electric. What's that? Right. And other I was going to ask that you you power 4,000 homes with the methane, but you burn some off. Is there a capacity to power more homes by harnessing that methane? Just like 100% a republic question, but like I would I would think so. I would think more methane harnessed equals more powering of more homes. Um the whole there's a um you know they work with a a renewable energy group that that but we can get back to you councelor Workman about that just sort you so you just want to know what is the potential for yeah if I worked at a garbage dump when I was back in the 20s not quite that long ago but we just burned it off in a big and it should have been harnessed it smelled terrible out there but if that gas is there and available it should be being used well just well it's not like we can go back to using burn barrels Yeah, you know that that was the old way of doing things. Now we have to take everything to a landfill. So, let's just make it easy on ourselves. We can't. Right. Well, yeah, there are people in the coalition who say, you know, light. Illegal dumping is like waste is not safe. It waste is safe in a line cell, right? Um it's not safe just illegally dumped somewhere, right? It gets rained on, bad things happen. Um but um yeah the that that has been a concern and definitely people who've grown up in this region and they're like I remember when we used to just people should just dump it. That that's not the

fact about it. What I really appreciate about about this landfill is you can take anything there. I mean just about anything. I take an old boats and you can pull a travel trailer up there and they'll crunch it up and just blend it in with their with their stuff. So, I mean, when it comes to things like that, what would people do if they didn't have coffin but where would they take that kind of stuff and how would they dispose of mattresses? You take a mattress up to Sweet Home, it's it's 40 bucks. You take it over to Coffin but it, you know, it goes into the rest of the garbage and it's $70 a ton, which that mattress is going to run you about a dollar to get rid of. So I mean that's the difference of trucking because everything in Sweet Home has to be trucked out. So if anybody wants to do any comparison on prices, you know, take your stuff up to Sweet Home and pay, you know, 40 bucks for a mattress or over to Coffin and pay a dollar. So there, you know, things like that make a lot of difference to contractors and homeowners and people out here, you know, that are uh trying to get rid of their stuff. The only thing other opt uh thing that I'm thinking about here is if coffin but isn't available to take all this stuff, you know, tires and mattresses and things like things like that, it's all going to wind wind up in a county ditch somewhere. If people don't have a place to take that stuff, they're going to get rid of it. And it's not going to be it's not going to be uh in Arlington or Gan. It's going to be in a county ditch somewhere. So, so as far as uh you know helping keep our county clean and protecting our environment, I think that keeping coffin be operating and expanding would be the common sense way to go. Now, I've been around the planning commission over there in Corvalis, so I kind of understand what what they were up against. They're a different group of people. Yeah. Yeah. They have different views on stuff and I'm not saying I'm not saying

they're watch the testimony by me or maybe you know while you're running or whatever. Um yeah, there's a it's a pretty you can get a Oh, I'm not saying they're completely wrong or absurd because without without that difference of opinion that they provide sometimes. I mean, you know, things might get out of hand if if pendulum swings too far in one direction. Yeah. So, um but so yeah, it sounds like we'll get back to counselor, mayor, counselor, counselor, um with your just to close the loop on all those questions. Um the yeah, that website I mentioned, it's um coffin landfill.com/2024-cup is like if you want to just like pour through everything, um it is all there. There's a wildlife habitat assessment application, the you know, it goes on and on and on and on. Yeah, thank you for having us. So, do you um Yeah, if you if you so decide to to do a resolution, Mr. Whitlatch, is that something you could That that'd be up to the council. What's the council's preference on this? Well, let's talk about it. Yeah, fair enough. I'd like to know more before I'm just being honest. I'd like to know more before. Absolutely. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Have a good one. Okay. We'll move in the next section. Public comment. And I don't see much of the public here. So, we'll dispense with that segment. Um, items from council. Nothing. Not for me. All righty. Okay. We'll go to public and press comments. I don't see the public or the press here, so we'll dispense with that one. Uh next scheduled council meeting will be October 8th, 2026. Right after German of this meeting, we'll move right into a work session unless people

anybody needs a break. Okay. Okay. Um so this meeting is adjourned at 12:32. Let's move right into uh work session and call this meeting to order. And discussion items today are solar discussions. Uh Director Hart. Okay. Uh good afternoon everybody. Uh so of course today we're gonna talk about solar asation for yall. Oh I guess um so as a quick recap uh this is our third conversation about solar uh projects for you all. Um the topic was originally brought forth as an idea by the mayor uh as an opportunity for us to do something different um to try to uh bring some value back to our community. Um and um this is to specifically try to address the um fact that right now um we are paying over $900,000 annually um in our Pacific Power electricity bills. Um it's important to note that we have two electricity providers in our community. So you have CPI and Pacific Power. Um the city does have accounts with both. Um, for CPI, I think we have maybe two parks and street lights with them and the vast majority of our facilities are under Pacific Power. Um, and so as we've been looking at this, it has really only been an analysis of Pacific Powers accounts um, to try to offset. Um, but all of the information that we've been evaluating can easily be um, mirrored over to CPI as well. Um and so really the the big reason why we're looking at

this is obviously you know almost a million dollars annually um is a big chunk of change to pay for electricity costs and um you know we're it's you know 57% rate increases um over the last four years as you can see um from Pacific Power is a big uh set of increases um I I believe this last year they were proposing another 17% rate a hike. Uh but they were only approved for a 9.8% increase. So um you know, just as a way to think about it as well, if you just go on a basic escalator of 3% increase for for general inflationary increases, if you think about that, in 20 years, the city would be paying $1.75 million for electricity with uh Pacific Power um if we were to continue on um paying for electricity with them. So uh looking at solar is an alternative for us to um think about something differently. So uh with these rate increases, solar is a possible solution. Uh if we were to implement this, uh the use of solar would be a cost stabilization. It would be a long-term opportunity for us to maintain a rate at a lower um level um which would allow for us to have a stabilized budget option um and reduce uncertainty um in our budgeting process um and also hey it happens to be one of those state goals um and environmental objectives. So it also helps us uh in terms of um looking good at the state level as well. Um so as we have been looking at uh this

project we started trying to actually put some numbers to um the the situation and and putting actual projects together for you all to evaluate. Um, so I wanted to actually put some information together for you guys to to have in terms of how we started putting the calculations together. Um, so we identified that uh it costs about $2.64 per watt right now uh for construction of a solar project in the the Willilt Valley. And in terms of actual production of solar value in our area, you get about 4 and 1/2 hours per day on average. That's across the entire year. Obviously during the summer you get more hours per day. During the winter you get less. Um but overall you get about 4 and a half hours per day of peak sunlight to produce solar energy. Um what this generally means is for areas uh like ours, we have to end up uh having more solar panels to produce the same energy um than if you were someplace that was uh sunnier for a longer period of time um to to get the same output basically. Um and and so I when we were also doing calculations uh in terms of panel size, we identified the the panel size as a 400 watt panel size. So this is the same size that you would find as as this is kind of the old standard size. Um it is a residential size panel. It is an old commercial size panel. There are larger commercial size panels that you can find now like a 440 watt or a five 500 watt panel size. Um, but I utilize this smaller size to sort

of identify what the maximum land area you would need um to be able to create different projects to sort of identify whether or not we would be able to get the appropriate yield out of this. Um, and then in terms of the panels themselves and the life expectancy, um, what you're seeing in the industry is about a 20 to 25 a year, uh, warranty on the systems in the panels. Um, and that is important to know in terms of if we're going to propose financing the projects, but in terms of life expectancy of the systems themselves, if they're maintained appropriately, you can extend that out to a 30 to 40year life expectancy. So once you actually finish the financing, you're going to get an extended yield and value out of the project itself. Um, but it's also important to note that as these systems age, their efficiency does start to wayne a little bit. Um, but they're still highly efficient and technology continues to be incredibly efficient. Um, so as they continue to age, um, you're going to lose that efficiency and so you will eventually start to see a little bit of a power bill, um, come back onto your, um, books as well. So basic information there. So that helped us get into the calculations. Um, also as we were looking at trying to develop projects, we were identifying the types of grants that are available. Um there are a ton of different grants that are available out there. Um the grant uh view is always changing and everchanging in this field. Um and so I have identified sort of the stable grants that are out there right now um

that are annual or always available. Um and so you could potentially add on more to this, but this is going to be your bread and butter. what is always going to be there. Um and so there are four basic ones. You have the community resilience and energy production grants. Um so CREP and under that there are two grants. So you have the planning grant which will be available for you guys as part of the introduction the um planning and engineering side where you're designing whatever um plan you're putting together. and that is a $100,000 grant that does not require a match. So, it can go up to 100% of the project. Or there is the construction grant uh which is up to a million dollars and that does require a 50% match. Um next up is Pacific Power does have uh rebates available um and they do have a cap to those rebates which is $20,000. And then once you uh administer those grants, you do have the federal tax credit which is the 30 thou 30% tax credit. And so once you take off those those grants that would be administered the net of what's left, you would do the 30% tax credit, which is your largest grant that you'll have available um to take 30% off the net cost. Um, so that is actually a a decent grant that would be available to to assist. So from there, we started creating some potential projects that would be available um based off of the uh potential offsets um total costs and potential city contributions to it. Uh so there is uh the potential for a

full consolidated project which would create a 100% offset of all of Pacific P's utility costs. Um and that project can be produced at the wastewater treatment plant. Um this does take up pretty much all of the available land that is out at the wastewater treatment plant that isn't needed for the expansion. Um, and it might potentially bleed in a little bit over across the street of Tennessee Road depending on how much land is available um and needed for the expansion um of the the wastewater treatment plant. Um there's also uh the water treatment plant that's available uh or the the wastewater treatment plant project alone um that you can do. Both of those projects are um too large to do as a behind the meter project or a net meter project. Um which means that you would have to do it as what's called a power purchase agreement with Pacific Power where you negotiate um how much uh Pacific Power is going to be willing to purchase that power from you and exchange it for the the the cost basically. Um, the other projects are where you would build the the systems actually at those different facilities, whether it's at the water treatment plant, the water intake, which is actually in county. So, you'd have to apply for a conditional use permit at that site. Um, or at the justice center, sort of in that little excess area, so by the the skate park. Um for the last two uh they do not have enough uh land area to fully offset the the cost associated with those two sites. That would be a behind the meter project. Um I identified the justice center as a

partial offset. We actually do have the exact number. That would be only a 27% offset of the utility cost because of the size of the land area because it's a groundmounted project. Um, the Justice C Center's roof right now is, I believe, a 20-year roof. Um, so when you do go about re-roofing the Justice Center eventually, that's another.35 of an acre when you take off the area that's required for all of the um AC units and everything. Um, and the walking area paths and everything. Uh, that would also be available if you wanted to do a roof mounted system as well. Um, and if you did that, you could get up to about a 47% um, offset of uh, utility cost for the Justice Center as a behind the meter project as well. Um, so as you can see in here, you have the total costs uh, anticipated for each of these projects. Um, and then with the grants that were identified on the previous page, what the city's contributions would be. Um so I wanted to show you sort of what we have looked at um as an indepth uh evaluation of uh one of the projects and then you can take this um and do it for each of the different projects or how you would do it for any sort of mix of what you wanted to look at. Um, so this is for if you uh were to do a full offset of all of the um city's utilities uh at the wastewater treatment plant. Um so it's a total of a 5.6 megawatt project. Uh the total anticipated cost of it would be $6.45 million and the city's contribution would be 10.73 million after you do those three grant

offsets. The total land required for that would be about 28 acres. Um, and that is again with the four 100 watt panels. Um, you could engineer that down to a smaller footprint if you use the larger panel size. Um, and again the the grant contributions are identified below on this slide. Um, obviously the city does not have $10.73 million of capital laying around. Um so we have identified a couple of different financing options that would be available. Uh you have traditional bond sale or loan options um which the city can do to finance the upfront costs. Um you have an interfund city loan process which for some of those smaller projects could potentially work. for the larger projects, um it would not work because it has a 10-year limit uh to it and some of these larger projects would have 16 to 20 year terms and and that would not be be feasible. Um the other option is a an actual um program that is designed for energy um financing um which is called a CPACE program. Um, so it's CPACE financing. Um, and this is a program that would have to be established through the county and through the city. Um, and it would finance um, 100% of the upfront capital costs specifically for um, energy production. So for solar um, and then it would actually be identified as a tax assessment on the property in which the solar is being produced uh, on. um and uh it would be

basically specifically for commercial industrial um or multifamily properties at that point. So you would actually be creating this opportunity for the city itself um because we would be identifying the the properties that we would be putting it on like the wastewater treatment plant as an industrial property. Um, but then by creating this program for us, you're also opening up this avenue for your commercial, industrial, and multifamily properties to also have this program available for them to have the ability to finance these upfront costs and put it as a tax assessment on their properties as well. Um, and what that does is it takes it to a property assessment rather than a personal loan for them to be able to um do these types of improvements on the property. Um, so that that is a financing option as well. And interest rates are looking a lot better. Um, just last week's the Fed uh did drop the basis points by another 25 points. Um, so we're looking at uh a better interest rate at about 5% at this point. So, um, what that looks like for the consolidated project, um, we ran some of the numbers through a loan calculator. Um, if you did 10.7 million over a 20-year loan at an interest rate of 5%. Um, I'm assuming conservatively, Brandon does say we could get a lower interest rate, but I did a little conservative, more conservative. Um, that would be a quarterly payment of just over $200,000 or an annual payment of $845,000. And if you remember, we're already paying more than that in our current utility

bill. Um and so our loan for offsetting 100% of our utilities um with getting solar would be less than our current utility bill as it sits right now to pay nothing in our utilities. Um and so over a six uh over the 20-year term, you are getting $6.1 million uh also in paying of interest. Um but if you look at the anticipated savings again assuming you know general interest increases of just 3% on uh utility rate increases. you're anticipating about $11 million in savings um over the 20 years in terms of um savings on utilities with uh the utility bill. So uh it can pencil is what I'm saying. So you have that now. So there's different financing options. It can pencil um you would have to finance with these projects. So there is a a a debt requirement associated with this. Um but you you do have the ability to basically offset it with your your exchange of not paying the the utility rates. Um Kelly, can I ask a question? But but it's bother there's three things listed here that say it covered 100%. Yeah. What's the drawback of the other two that are less? What am I I know I'm missing something there, but I'm not sure what it is. There's no drawback. It's just with it. Um there's no drawback. It's just that it doesn't fully if it's a net meter. Um

it just means that those are on the site itself. And that just simply means that you're going to offset part of the utility bill, but you're still going to be paying um 100% doesn't mean that any of those projects covers the whole city for everything. So the only thing that covers the city wholly is the consolidated project, right? So that takes all of your utility bills and identifies that you're building a project large enough to offset it, right? The rest those just covered that those thing. The rest of these projects are on the individual sites and only covers the wastewater treatment plants project and the wastewater treatment plants bills. I was missing that part. Yeah, shocking. I maybe didn't explain that very well. Um, so the justice center, this only covers the justice cent's utility bill and meter, right? And so this is a project that's only large enough um that will only be a behind the meter project for the justice center. Um, and the site there is only large enough to offset 27% of the justice cent's bill and that's it. Um so I bring these this table to you again as just a these are options available to you. Um the these are not the only options by any way shape or form. Um for example for the wastewater treatment plant um again with the net metering pro opportunity you can only go up to to 2 megawws right? So you can choose to do just a 2 megawatt project for the wastewater treatment plant and offset threearters of the bill for the the wastewater treatment plant as a net metering project and still have just a small bill for the the wastewater

treatment plant if you just wanted to do a smaller project. Um but you have lots of different options is basically what I'm laying out for you. Um other things to consider as part of this um there will be a small consideration for operating and maintenance costs. Um there will be some equipment replacements that you'll have to consider as the system ages. You will have some sight maintenance to make sure that the area in between the the solar panels does not get overgrown and cause for it to to create you know shading or anything like that. Um that will create a diminishment of the the system efficiency. Uh you'll also have to evaluate each of the sites depending on which site you use uh to ensure that there is appropriate grid interconnection uh system availability. Uh if there is not, there may be a requirement for upgrades to Pacific Powers systems to be able to make sure that they have the systems necessary to uh allow for the size of the the solar p system uh that you want to put in. You mean the batteries? uh the you're putting in a a solar array that is going to inject energy into their system and so it needs to have um an inverter or you know something that's large enough for it to be able to accept that power. Um, and so it might need an upgrade to their system. And if it does, that's going to be an increased uh cost to the city to incur. And so you'll need to make sure that that pencils basically as

part of the project. Um, and that is a negotiation that will have to be had with Pacific Power. There is a technical feasibility study that will be able to be done with an engineer. um that that uh will be the next sort of step that you'll want to to go through um to make sure that uh the wastewater treatment plant or any site that you do uh is going to be feasible for the size of the project that you want to to move forward with. Um you also will depending on which size of a project you have to do need to do a a power purchase agreement with Pacific Power and evaluate the terms of the agreements. Um, and then also, you know, that term is only going to be for a length of period. Usually they're about 20 years. Um, so then what also happens after those 20 years, and the city needs to be prepared for the the renegotiation of what, you know, the electricity bills are going to look like 20 years after that. Um and then also the costs that have been identified do not include battery storage um and resiliency planning as part of the these projects. Um as you can see some of the costs were were fairly uh extensive. Um and so when we were doing the evaluation um I I identified how do you offset the costs? And the only way that you can offset the cost is when you're doing the power generation. Um and so we we did not include that cost. There are grants out there for um the resiliency um planning but uh they do not do a full offset of the cost. So um that is something that that will have to be considered and and planned for um at a future date. Uh so again different implementation platform uh pathways

you could consider doing the extremely large project um which could completely offset your you know utility bills with Pacific Power. Uh you could consider doing individual projects as just purely net metering projects um or you know the larger project with wastewater treatment plants. Um or you can sort of do bite-size, do one project, see how you feel, um and phase it, uh and do it based off of grant cycles, um and and see, uh how the project management goes and your capacity is available. Um so you have lots of different options available to you. Um it it can be based off of uh Ron's recommendation and the availability of staff and um world's your oyster basically. So um obviously the next steps are sort of to compare evaluate uh we do not need or desire any specific answers from you today. Um, I'm available to to answer any questions that you might have. Um, I do identify I am probably the most knowledgeable in the room, but by no means the expert on this still. Um and so uh I would identify that next steps if council does identify this as a um a priority uh would be to uh officially move forward with consultants to uh move this project forward and and get the feasibility study done and and get a project engineered appropriately. Um but the next step would be to um have a discussion with this uh project uh for prioritization at the November goal setting session that you guys are going

to have. Um and then you know depending on which pathway you choose uh if it is not doing one large consolidated project uh then having a conversation about maybe doing a formalized solar policy about as you re- roof buildings. Um the grants that are available make solar extremely affordable to do solar on roofs as well. And so you would you would be able to offset um your electricity costs at buildings um as you re-roof put solar on roofs as well. So consider doing a policy that would have a a consideration to do solar on roofs uh as you do the re- roofs as well. So at that this should look very familiar to you. um the evaluation framework to get you all prepared for um the goal setting sessions. Um so you have the strategic alignment. This was a conversation where we were to evaluate solar as an offset to um offset costs and generate revenue. Um at our last conversation about solar um we did identify to just move forward with offsetting costs and not move forward with the community solar projects. So we did get that direction. Um so this is the direction that we moved forward with to just do the offsetting cost uh option. Um there is no regulatory driver for this. uh it only gets into regulatory drivers when you have the very large solar projects that are much larger than what we're talking about where you get into the utility commission. In terms of capital costs, there are capital costs absolutely. Um but you do

have the financing options where as long as you budget basically for the same utility costs that you already currently have, it it's pretty much a zero sum game at this point. Uh and then you will can pretty much see immediate savings as the utility bills continue to increase based off of inflation um and rate increases. You will have that immediate savings as uh you have the implementation of the project. You also have uh a generalized I guess medium risk uh associated with this uh as utility rates increase. Uh if we don't do the project, then the city needs to continue to budget for those utility increases. Uh and then in terms of capacity, a lot of the names on this project list will continue to be the same. And I was supposed to update the slide instead of question marks. It was supposed to be a community development director. Um so you know, see that as community development director. That will be the future community development director. Yeah, you should fire me. Um, is that still an option? Uh, so you have uh that. Um, and since this is our last work session um of the summer, we thought that we would really quickly roll through the other evaluation frameworks that we made you guys go through for the summer as well so that you guys can have a quick recap. So, um you also have the Champion Mill. Um again, strategic alignment as part of the strategic plan. You do have capital costs that you should expect as part of this one as well. That will be anywhere from 1 to 10 million. And again, that is just as part of the brownfield cleanup cost. That does not

include infrastructure costs. that does not include costs to put together the trail or the park or any of the development itself um or the transportation. Um so the 1 to10 million is really just to get the site cleaned up um and uh ready for future development. Um and again risk is associated with you know the continued degradation of the site uh continued use of police services to um clean up the site uh and then economic depression of of value of the site uh and then environmental and public health issues. And then again look at the capacity. The same people pretty much um is the city manager, public works director, community development director. Um and then just for fun adding in the development services supervisor to this one as well. Um for the wastewater treatment plant again there's strategic alignment. You have the upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant which is what directly included in um the strategic plan. Um there are lots of regulatory drivers associated with this. There is a significant capital cost associated with this one of $70 million. Um this will have a direct impact to um the residents. uh if we are not able to find uh grants uh to offset this cost uh we are actively and continuously trying to find grants to offset this cost and work with our states and federal regulators to try to find uh offsets for it. Um but this will have that impact. Um there is a definite high risk associated with this if we do not have any action uh associated with it uh due to capacity overflows, potential fines from DEQ

um and a potential moratorum uh on new connections uh if we do not have direct action. Um and again the city manager, public works director, community development director uh are listed on this again as well as the wastewater treatment plant manager, finance director and IT staff as capacity for this project as well. And finally uh the municipal jail was our first one into uh this work session. Uh there is direct strategic alignment for this. uh it was in our strategic plan. Um there are no regulatory drivers on this. It is a policy choice whether or not to open the jail. Um however, if you do open the jail, it shall be in association with um the CIS insurance policy and operating standards. Um and there are O OS standards associated with operation standards as well. Um there are no capital costs for the jail. However, it will create a 1.525 million annual operating cost. Um and then you also have to plan for escalating increases uh based off of salaries and benefit costs as well. Um in terms of risk, technically there are none. Um if you do nothing you would just maintain the existing status quo um of uh what we have been doing for the last couple of years. Um but if you do want to move forward with doing something um whether it's uh different funding options um how to address the reopening of the jail process. It would include the city manager, uh, the police chief, police captain, police lieutenant, city attorney, judge, finance director, human

resources director, and potentially a grant writer as well. So, lots of capacity overlaps, lots of capital overlaps, uh, and lots of strategic alignment for all of these. So, I'm gonna be done talking and answer any questions y'all might have. Well, let me say this. First off, thank you. Um, is this your last meeting with us? It is my last meeting with you. So, I don't accept that. So, I wanted to thank you for your service to the city, of course. Um, you've done an awesome job. Whenever whenever we needed uh information for direction or or policy change, you're always there. So, and this presentation is example of your your your hard work and and uh your attention to detail. So, I want to thank you. So, it was uncomfortable for you to say you instead of we while you were addressing us, though. You're supposed to still be we, but Kelly, you set a high bar. I don't know if we can be happy with someone else. Thanks. So, um first off, is there any questions on the solar aspect of her briefing? I' I'd like to talk a little bit about that. I I uh Ken's been talking about this for a couple of years. I think it's a good idea. I know it's a good idea. I have a little bit of experience with solar. I put solar on my home and everything that Kelly outlined is exactly how it turned out for me. For example, my light bill was $150 a month. That's what it averaged. My So, I financed my solar panels on a 12-year no interest plan. My payments are $150 a month, same as what my light bill was.

If I did not put solar in years ago, my light bill would probably be about 300 a month right now. So, there is a huge savings in exactly what Kelly was talking about. It's it's a uh not only a long-term in uh smart investment, it's a it's a short term as well. Now, I haven't paid a light bill in three years, but uh but my light bill would have been twice what it was back then by now with the rate increases that Pacific Powers had. So, it just makes sense. Now on on the projects, you know, we're talking about the overall cost of it. Can't we peacemeal this? Can't we start with a small project, finish that, and then start another one? Is that what you were talking about earlier? The the the the step, call it the step plan, so that so that we don't have these millions and millions and millions of dollars of outlay all at once. So you can the the reason why I identified like the consolidated project as one large project or the wastewater treatment plant as one large project. Um and and you'll probably want to get this guy's opinion um on the federal tax credit side of the equation. Um the federal tax credit is uh very tricky. it it only identifies a a one-time payment for a single project, right? So, it won't allow you to get a payout per phase. So, if you were to on the wastewater treatment plant site try to get a payout of the tax credit because you're doing six phases on the wastewater treatment plant. They may look at your property and go, "Well, you've already gotten the tax credit on phase one, so we're not going to give you the tax credit for phases 2 through

six." And so that's a 30% tax credit. That is your largest grant opportunity. And so it it's it's a costbenefit analysis of of the funding that's available um to you to offset costs. And so the answer is yes, you absolutely can. You just have to do an analysis of what you want to have the benefit for the the offset of your um tax credit or the ability to do a phased approach. Well, I think the the the peace meal because the the big number scares me. Like I saw the big. Wow, I don't want to spend 16 million. I'd rather spend 8 million. The but the you're only spending 10.7. I get it. The the balance is doing at peace meal. You get economies of scale if you have one person one time. It feels like you get one person that does it all. And peace mill you'd be starting and stopping. You'd be and I think if you did it in one big project, you'd be locked into now's economy, which I don't know if that's necessarily a great thing. If it goes longer and you start putting pieces together, but at least it'd be an established cost. I I think the I see the math to it. At some point, we're going to sell this to the people. I mean, this isn't something we just do, is it? Say, "Sorry, folks. You don't get you don't get a voice in this." There'd be meetings. There'd be people that are some people are going to just like with coffin, but some people are going to see something bad about this or something really good about this and we'll have to hear them. You You have the ability to Let's say we took the wastewater plant and we decided to do something with the wastewater plant. Uh my if you had to ask me today I would say net metering is the way to go and not the overall arching project just because we're not entering into a power purchase agreement with Pacific Power. We kind of control our own

destiny. Doesn't offset the entire thing. It could offset the entire thing out at the water plant. But you could take the money that you pay in power cost today, which is about $330,000, and you could get a loan, and that would be your debt service. Use some capital. There's there's a mix and match of things you can do there. We're we're doing it internally. When I say internally, that that the council approves, of course. So it's not really this is a discussion that you have on policy based on how we want to run our operation really is what I'm trying to say. So this the staff position is that we shouldn't do a giant project. Well and if I can add one more piece to this too is depending on how you decide to move forward is going to impact then what you're going to be able to do in terms of either loan or bonding or or something else. Right? So, if you're going to go out and try to sell a full faith in credit bond or a revenue bond, those you generally need to be larger in size than, you know, a bunch of little small projects because otherwise you're not going to find investors that are going to purchase uh your bond or give you the money to to then be repaid, right? So then you're going after a loan and typically a bank loan and typically bank loans are going to be less favorable in terms of interest rates for an organization such as ours. Um size also matters in in the form of tax exemption when it comes to bond sales. So um you just have to be careful on on understanding that the smaller you go, we can still do it. Um but you may pay more interest in the I'm confused. I thought you were talking about you want to do the smaller I got that net metering thing backwards. No, net metering are is a smaller project. Net metering you can do a maximum of two megawws, right? So, so that that basically what that does for you is then we're not trying to do a a power purchase agreement.

For one, we don't have $10 million, right, to give to give out to that. So, I think that was used as more of an example to let you know, hey, here's what it' be if we had to do the whole thing. But it also when you start breaking it down, there are options out there. Now, could we get a loan for 10 and change and do it? Yeah, I'm sure we could. Um, I'm just not sure that for me, I'd like to see a a smaller scale just to make sure that it is going to offset the power before you go throw all your chips into that basket. I'm risk adverse. I guess the Now, I I we've been talking about this for a while. So, um, one of the the city our surrounding city, city of Corvalis, um, they have it on their public works building. Do we have background on how it's done? What do you mean how it's done? Well, well, no, how how it's done, how has it benefited the public works and city of Corvals? Not that not that I look at other cities to come up with all our solutions, but we're we're not also going to reinvent the wheel either here. So they have it uh they actually have on their websites um like updated meter reading info on on how their solar is being producing and how much it offsets. So So it does they have like real-time information of how much it offsets. So yeah. Okay. And is it that's a it's a positive? It's a positive. Okay. So what that do do we know how they went along with the process? Well, we had them come over and and we actually met with their their person that did it and I don't remember exactly how they started the process. They've done it too. Uh it's it's been several years when they did that. Yeah. And theirs are net meters. Uh so they have it on several different sites. Um and they did it in a phased approach as different net meter projects. Um, and

so they they had a a project manager um where he was um pretty much full-time working on it for an extended period of time um as as his job to to do it. So gosh, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the side because I'm not missing. So we could take a giant piece of property Yeah. and put a small net meter one and then add another one at that same spot later. Another one. Is that how it works? No. No. So, so you'd have small you'd have to find small chunks all over the place to put them. Well, you you to in order to net meter, it has to be on this the site. So, if we were going to net meter at the water treatment plant, it has to the solar field has to be at the water treatment plant. If we were going to net meter at the wastewater plant, it has to be at the wastewater plant. Now, the the big one that Kelly's talking about, the overall for the city, that that's way too big for net metering, and we ended up being in a a a power purchase agreement with Pacific Power. Pacific Power does not do what's called remote metering. Um, where you can do a facility that then gives credit like you can build a facility at the wastewater treatment plant, but that credits then the meter for the justice center, right? That's that's called remote metering. Um, so we couldn't do something like that. Um, the power purchase agreement basically says we're building a facility large enough that we're then selling the power that we're creating to Pacific Power, but then we're still getting bills from Pacific Power for each of our different meters, but it's enough that we're selling that we're then offsetting those bills basically. Okay. But then to netmeter it, you have to build it at each of the different sites. And and that's why it's it's called a behind the meter because it's as if it's, you know, you're just feeding the meter like you're plugging it in.

So net metering is similar to what like councelor Mlan has in his home. Yes. Okay. The other one I'm hesitant on the large piece just because Okay. When I think about this, I'm like these large businesses that we have in town don't have solar, right? when I think I mean some of our large energy users and tech needs or these other um don't use that and I have a feeling it's probably because that purchase or that agreement with Pacific Power doesn't isn't enough to benefit them and it's not just like here um you know I can think of lots of industrial places across you know Oregon that don't put in solar but the net metering I think is great for that one to one to have that zero bill for that site right so there's a couple different reasons why and a definitely need to be cautious and go in with eyes wide open in in conversations with the the power purchase agreement with Pacific Power. Absolutely. Um but the land availability for our industrial uh properties is is very different, right? We have a dried out property with no wetlands and we have land availability. Um, even with a solar project, you still have to do wetland mitigation, believe it or not, um, to be able to put a solar project on it. Um, and so land availability is a big factor when you're putting in a ground mounted project as well. And so, um, a lot of our industrial properties still have to look at are you just doing a a roof mounted project, right? Uh, which they may have. Um, but it's also we that's why we talked about the the CPACE program as well. Um, they're talking about a a personal loan um versus a a tax assessment on a property differential as well. Um, and so there's there's lots of different factors other than just the

the power purchase agreement is was what I'm getting at as well. But I would absolutely say eyes wide open in and making sure that you are getting a valid good deal on that if you do go that route. Yeah. Don't the big industrial customers, don't they get a different rate than than the average homeowner pays? Yes, absolutely. So there there might be an offset. I know that W Chang built this uh power plant that was powered by natural gas and they used it for a short while and then quit using it. They just went back to using P Gen or whoever whoever it is they use. Uh so I think that maybe the power company made a deal with them you know hey shut down your plant we'll supply you electricity for this price right now a couple things regarding what you had stated in your uh in your report here uh that the uh uh solar panels had a peak usage of 4.5 hours a day u I've seen solar panels that rotate and follow the sun and so I think that uh that this might be a low ball on the 4.5 hours a day. And I know that on my solar panels, they start working when the sun comes up and they work till the sun goes down. And that's winter and summer both. So, you know, they make this big clicking sound when they come on when when it starts using these solar panels. And that starts as soon as the sun's up. That so that's why it says peak, right? It's that that 4.5 is when it's the the most energy production, which is when you're having to that's their calculation basis. Um, you're talking about efficiency. Yeah. You you you do your efficiency ratings basis and and how many solar panels you need and how big of a production you need and the size of your facility based off of the the peak production, not the the total calculation. Right. Well, on my house, I

did the overkill thing. You know, they they come out and they calculate, well, you're using, you know, this much power, so you're going to need this many panels, right? And I said, "Well, wait a minute. My mother-in-law's going to move in with me, and she takes three showers a day." So, so they upped, you know, the amount of solar panels that that I was allowed to get, right? And that just completely wiped out, you know, my power bill. Now, now, yes, I might be paying in more to Pacific Power than they're giving me, but my uh uh my uh uh net reasoning was I want to eliminate my power bill, and that I did. Now, if I give Pacific Power a little bit of power from my solar panels, more than what they give me, that that's fine. I'm okay with that, right? But the the bottom line was it eliminated my power bill, right? And then in terms of the the rotating panels, yes, there is the potential ability to become even more efficient and get more power out of it, but those take more land area. And so depending on the type of project you have, we may not have the land area to to accommodate that to do a 100% offset depending on the the project that you choose. So you do have the availability to do that. You have lots of different options. So, it makes a peace mealing to me. It makes a peace mealing of this uh makes more sense. You know, it's okay. You know, I don't know how cold this water is. I'm just going to stick my toe in it. Yeah. And find out before I, you know, jump in. And that's where I think your guys's next step may be to, you know, actually hire an engineer to talk to him about this and figure out where your appropriate best use of land and capital would be. I would just like to say from the inception of this idea till right now,

our our perception of the industry and the understanding of it has changed dramatically every time. It's it's just a constant cycle. Um, every day we learn something new. It's like, whoa. So, I would be I'm in agreement with what you just said, the peace meal, you know, aspect of it because it is a a changing emerging market. Even though it's been around for a while, it's still changing and emerging. Um, and you know, the bottom line is it's not our money. It's the public's money. So, we we have to take that in consideration. So the uh you know trying it at the justice center or something like that initially and seeing how it works and then build off of that um I think would have more traction than trying to do a $16 million project and then having it I I'll say it and they'll probably hate me for saying this but I I don't I you know let me step back for a second and say this. The the reason why I I started talking about this with with Ron and Kelly was this. We we have unused assets city level, okay? That property out there at wastewater, okay? How do we maximize that? How do we get value out of that than it just sitting there and we just do maintenance on it? Two, how do we offset some of our expenditures? Okay. and show that we're we're actually really trying to save money wherever we can for the for the public. Okay. And how you know what was also outside the box thinking. Okay. Let's look at some of these new technologies and and see if they're beneficial to to the city of Lebanon. That's how it kind of started. And then like I said it went through that cycle of oh we can do this and then later no we can't do that and but we can do this over here and and our concept of it changed over time. Um I believe it's it's can bring benefit to to the city.

We just have to make sure it's it with that we're picking the right solution that not we're not just running into it blindly. And that's why it's taken so long to get to this point is to make sure because we found and I'll just say it. We found that there's a lot of people in the industry that are uh lack of better word flaky. Okay. So, it it makes it it raises our ears and guys that goes, "Whoa, wait a second here." So, that was that was one thing. And also, let's be honest, and this is the part I said, I know there's going to be some people since this is on public record that'll probably hate me for saying this, but I'm going to say it. I don't I would not want to go full boore into this $16 million and have it turned into another project like over in Albany for the the interotal train service. Okay. Spending 25 million 30 million and it's empty. I I don't want that because it wasn't a responsible use of public money. So, um so I think we can find benefit. everything I heard from through our meetings with the city of Corvalis and their public works, it's it's been great. Um, now, uh, you know, I don't know if you looked it up on your computer. And what what did it show? Yeah, it looks like, um, I have to pull it back up. It's still loading. Um, saved 95,000 since it started for the city. And that was in I think 2014, if this is the right website. Sorry, that's just at the airport. Their public works one's different. Let me click that one. So, that's just one location. That's one location. I can open the It's open. Oh, wow. Who just brought that up? Oh, yeah. That's what I'm looking That's the day three day. I click the all and then that's the nine at the bottom left. There you go. It's like 90 some. There it is. Uh

and you know our kind of our mindset in a lot of meetings is is can we do it and offset the cost through savings? Absolutely. You know so so if we're able to do that and we're not we're not attaching more more requirements on the rateayers taxpayers out there why wouldn't we consider it? Um these are the small projects. These are the ones I think that are beneficial. Those are the net meters. Now, I know the bigger projects that if I remember one of the meetings correctly, they have to be within 3 mi of a substation. So, that was where that extra infrastructure comes into play. If we want to if we wanted to build it at say, I don't know, Champion Champion Mill Pond, this is not what we're doing, but say we're say we're going to do that, we would have to put the infrastructure in there to to uh uh support that, right? Okay. um which no everybody out there on online that's not what we're doing. So um so it it was it's very interesting but I would be totally for trying like the justice center or the a smaller project and seeing how it works and kind of getting a feel of it and and I know that during that process we'd learn even more about uh implementing these type of measures. So um is there any other comments questions on those lines? I think that uh I I think we're in the right direction. I think that uh uh planning ahead beats the heck out of waiting until something happens and we're forced to do it. Let's do it now. Let's start the process now so that we have more control and we can plan instead of waiting for it to slap us in the face. You know, and the other aspect we all have to remember is is uh government changes constantly. it's changed since I've been in office and uh when it comes to uh cities finding ways to be productive and and retain value and be a

little bit more selfsufficient. Okay, not relying on other other organizations or other levels of government to to support us. So this is one of those aspects how I think is is uh um you know pitting it putting it you know control is is is a weird word but putting that control in our hands a little bit where we we can be self-determining on on these type of things. So um that's my two cents. Yeah. I think everybody can probably and for where where I'm coming from my two cents. We got four cents now. Yeah. Yeah. We have I'll throw in a penny cuz that's all that's all the cents I have. 15,999. [Laughter] So, this is a good conversation. Thanks. I appreciate it. I have a little better grasp on it, at least for today. Is there any other questions or comments for Kelly or staff? All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for your service. I know we'll talk some more and uh thank you and uh thanks, Ron. Y and uh Chief, thank you. Even though you you were right on time, Kelly, what is your last day in the office? Wednesday of next week. Wow. Coming up fast. Yeah, winding down. Yep. All right. If if there's no other uh comments or questions, uh I'm going to adjourn this