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UTILITIESCOMMISSIONMEETING <br />TO:FROM: <br />ERMU Commission Troy Adams, P.E. –General Manager <br />MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br />January 14,2020 5.3 <br />SUBJECT: <br />Minnesota MunicipalPower AgencyHometown WindPower Program <br />ACTION REQUESTED: <br />Determine location priority;submit for council discussion and consideration. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA), ERMU’s wholesale power provider, has a <br />program where they install a demonstration wind turbine in every member city. The agency is <br />looking to site one of these wind turbines in Elk River. <br />Potentiallocations werediscussed onNovember18, 2019, during a joint meeting between the <br />city council and the utilities commission. A number of sites were identifiedfor further <br />evaluation by staff and MMPA. Additionally, the Sherburne County Government Center site was <br />discussed as a possible location for evaluation. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />As an outcome of the joint meeting, commission and council supported the followingconcepts: <br />Thewindturbine’s primary purposeis for visibility and education, not production; <br />therefore the site needs provide exposure for the turbine. <br />Thewindturbine willbe usedfor marketing and community engagement as a <br />demonstrationsiteforpublicpower. <br />Take into consideration: noise; blade ice; maintenance access; spill prevention, control, <br />andcountermeasure(SPCC)plan; andlightflicker. Don’tsiteturbineinanexistinghighly <br />developedresidentialarea. <br />Take land opportunity costs into consideration; don’t site turbine onland that has a <br />higher value for a greater public purpose. <br />Understand that the turbine wouldbe owned,maintained, and eventually <br />decommissioned by MMPA; the city has no direct ownership or investment in the <br />turbine asset. <br />The two siteoptions generated from thejoint meeting discussion were both city-owned <br />properties. Option #1 is a lot in the Northstar Business Park off Tyler Street. Option #2 is the <br />Youth Athletic Complex (YAC). Attached are site plans for the two sites with possible turbine <br />locations indicated. <br />______________________________________________________________________________ <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />149 <br />