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<br />City Council Minutes Page 6 of 12 <br />September 15, 2025 <br />--------- <br /> <br /> <br />Mr. Carnagey explained that there was no opportunity to fix the situation and to train staff regarding <br />the situation. He also stated they understood they signed an agreement when they got their solicitor's <br />license, acknowledging their understanding of the city's rules and regulations. He explained that <br />everyone has to start somewhere, and the person who was in the video was less than 60 days on the <br />job. He would have liked the opportunity to have trained and fixed the situation, but instead, their <br />licenses were already revoked at that point. <br /> <br />Councilmember Calva stated he felt inclined to say something because he is in sales himself, and it was <br />really hard to watch the video. He explained that he feels this is a lesson to be learned, and the lesson is <br />not to do this in the other communities that you work in, and he doesn't feel inclined to let them be in <br />the city at this point. <br /> <br />Mr. Carnagey added that they understand there is a lesson to be learned. He then said that they are not <br />asking for permission to knock door to door in the city, but rather if they can volunteer to turn in their <br />licenses instead of being revoked, so they can have the opportunity to fix the situation. He further <br />explained that revoking inhibits them in the future and eliminates them from being able to train and <br />learn. He offered not to come into Elk River for the year 2026 and thought that would be fair. <br /> <br />Mr. Shepherd further added that a lot of the licensed solicitors on their list actually didn't even step <br />foot in Elk River. They obtained a license just in case to make sure they were ready if they were to <br />come to Elk River. He added that with the revocation, this affects those individuals as well, so instead <br />they are requesting to relinquish the licenses, agree not to come to Elk River in 2026, and revisit in <br />2027 with better-trained staff. <br /> <br />The Council asked if that would be an option. City Attorney Jared Shepherd stated that it would be an <br />option; they would have to reinstate the licenses for them to voluntarily relinquish the licenses. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer asked about the comment that was made about the fact that they did not get any <br />warning or feedback before they were revoked. <br /> <br />Mr. W. Shepherd stated that they only saw the notice of revocation. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer wanted clarification if Everlight Solar received any complaints themselves. <br /> <br />Mr. W. Shepherd stated no. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer asked when the complaints started coming in. <br /> <br />Sara Youngs, Administration Director at ERMU, stated that she is the liaison who works closely <br />with the solar company. She explained that when she first started, three years ago, they were in the <br />same situation with Everlight, and at that time, the predecessor did ask for Everlight's licenses to be <br />revoked for the same situation. She explained that they have worked with Everlight and have over 100 <br />total solar customers in the service territory, and about eight applications are currently working with <br />Everlight. They have given Everlight and their personnel the same feedback that we have been hearing <br />tonight, with an aggressive sales approach, having to sign a contract, being pushed into a contract to sign <br />that night, and not being able to talk. They had customers say that they had follow-up questions and <br />were not able to get out of the contract after the three-day policy. She stated she is not saying one way <br />or another what the Council should do, just saying the simple facts. She stated that they do have a net <br />metering program, but asked if Everlight comes back into their territory, they do not state that the <br /> <br />