City Council Finance Committee Meeting

CITY OF NORMAN, OK CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Municipal Building, Council Chambers, 201 West Gray, Norman, OK 73069 Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 4:00 PM MINUTES The City Council Finance Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met at 4:00 pm in the Municipal Building Executive Conference Room on the 17th day of August, 2023, and notice of agenda of the meeting were posted in the Municipal Building at 201 West Gray, 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. CALL TO ORDER PRESENT Mayor Larry Heikkila Councilmember Ward 3 Bree Montoya ABSENT Councilmember Ward 6 Elizabeth Foreman OTHERS Councilmember Ward 2 Lauren Schueler Councilmember Ward 4 Helen Grant Councilmember Ward 5 Michael Nash Councilmember Ward 7 Stephen Holman Anthony Francisco, Director of Finance Chris Mattingly, Director of Utilities Shawn O’Leary, Director of Public Works Dannielle Risenhoover, Administrative Tech. IV Jacob Huckabaa, Budget Technician Clint Mercer, Chief Accountant Michele Loudenback, Environmental & Sustainability Manager Jerry Gates, Environmental Services Asst. Manager Scott Martin, President of Norman Chamber of Commerce Tony Capucille, EightTwenty CEO Tommy Wilkerson, EightTwenty VP of Field Operations Curt Rogow, EightTwenty Solar Sales Consultant Sandino Thompson, EightTwenty Senior VP Business & Workforce Development CALL TO ORDER Mayor Heikkila called the meeting to order at approximately 4:00 PM. CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, August 17, 2023 Page |1 AGENDA ITEMS 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING A SOLAR INITIATIVE FOR NORMAN. Environmental and Sustainability Manager, Michele Loudenback led the discussion regarding a Norman Solar Initiative in partnership with EightTwenty Solar. Staff from EightTwenty Solar was also present and available for questions. Loudenback said, “We are getting close to the one and a half degree Celsius mark in global warming, which could lead to some serious consequences. It’s a good idea to see what we can do.” The point was made that solar is renewable, sustainable and everywhere. Loudenback would like to encourage residents and business owners to put solar power on their properties through incentives offered by the company EightTwenty Solar. Loudenback has researched EightTwenty and feels confident that they are an excellent source for solar power for our community. “EightTwenty has discounts on their standard pricing for installation, there’s a rebate program based on the number of people that participate for commercial and residential users. There are provisions for our non-profit and our low to moderate income folks. If we’re going to put solar in the City, let’s do it for everyone. Let’s make it to where the entire community benefits,” Loudenback said. The promotional incentives offered by EightTwenty would be for a limited time only and available to those within Norman’s corporate boundaries. The City’s responsibility would be to build a coalition of people to promote and publicize solar, its benefits, and the promotional savings offered by EightTwenty Solar. Loudenback stated, “We’re not saying you should use EightTwenty. What we’re doing is saying, ‘Hey, look at this great promotion that EightTwenty is doing in our city. You can take advantage of it and you will get a deal and a benefit. You are welcome to use anyone else and if they have discounts, that’s great too.’ Really what I want to do is push out the idea that now is the time to solarize Norman, now is the time to get in there and actually make the difference that we want to make on our climate, on our environment – for our residents.” There is the potential for EightTwenty to fund a community project through the Initiative. CEO of EightTwenty, Tony Capucille, stated that EightTwenty has a great working relationship with both Oklahoma Gas & Electric and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative. “We need to make sure we size the systems to meet their (each electric company’s specific) rules and do their interconnection processes. We tailor them to make sure we treat everyone right. They are really great partners” Capucille stated. Councilmember Holman asked about the effect of hail on solar panels. Capucille stated, “We have Norman customers who’ve had softball size hail that totaled our customers’ roofs, this cracked 14% of our panels which, were replaced with the roof claims. The premium package is rated for 51 mph hail at 90 degrees. They (solar panels) are stronger than composite roofs. You put these (panels) mostly on the south. Hail usually doesn’t come from the south so you kind of have a natural barrier.” Sandino Thompson, EightTwenty Senior VP Business & Workforce Development stated, “The systems that we typically install, like on the residential side, when those 14% got cracked and damaged, they still produced power; they just didn’t produce as much because they had cracks and deformities. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition; it’s not a ‘we had a hail storm and now our system doesn’t work.’ Typically, if those panels get damaged, you’re going to have to replace your roof; so, when that’s happening, we replace the panels as well.” According to EightTwenty, the replacement of damaged solar panels is typically covered by the homeowner’s insurance claim; however, the initial purchase and installation of solar energy often requires a loan. CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, August 17, 2023 Page |2 EightTwenty has a team of people dedicated to help in the loan process. They also have a financial plan to support low income families as well as renters in acquiring solar. Scott Martin with the Norman Chamber of Commerce stated, “We love this (solar initiative) and think that Norman is just the right place for something of this nature. We’d love to partner with Michele and the rest of you to help spread the word about this kind of project and so, hopefully, if you see the wisdom in advancing this, then we’d like to walk alongside you.” The City Council Finance Committee chose to further discuss the proposed solar initiative in a study session. 2. DISCUSSION REGARDING MONTHLY REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE REPORTS. Anthony Francisco, Director of Finance, gave the report. The City was down about 2% for August sales tax. “We were number one in our comparable cities last month and we’re at the bottom this month; so, we’re kind of all over the place. We hope to establish some trends over the next two to three months; hopefully, they’ll be positive,” Francisco said. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Heikkila adjourned the meeting at 4:38 PM. ATTEST: ______________________________ ______________________________ City Clerk Mayor CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - Thursday, August 17, 2023 Page |3