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residents, businesses, and local governments that are interested in installing solar and to provide recognition to communities that have done so. Ms. Bittner stated the Planning Commission is recommending the city of the SolSmart designation and would be tasked with the implementation of solar development into the City's comprehensive plan, ordinances, and permitting. She said the City Administrator is planning to include the City and the Minnesota GreenStep Cities Program, which would coordinate with the SolSmart program as well. Ms. Bittner stated that one of the questions they anticipated the Council may have questions about would be regarding as a reduction in soft costs and what those costs would be. She stated for individuals or businesses that are looking to install solar systems on their property that are the non-hardware costs of installing the solar such as permitting, financing, installation, labor and customer acquisition. She said other communities noted these costs actually make up a significant portion of solar installation, reducing the return on their investment. Ms. Bittner stated that some soft costs can be reduced through the use of best practices and that is what the SolSmart does is gives the City this tool kit to work with such as ordinance templates and a plethora of information that can be used and can passed on to the residents and businesses. Ms. Malecha stated that she did review the toolkit briefly today and it is just integrating solar energy or solar systems into the City's Comp Plan, how it can infiltrate that into our comp plan, zoning ordinances, downtown plans, and how it can be integrated into the City's different planning and zoning mechanisms. Council Member Swanson asked if it costs the City anything and Ms. Bittner confirmed that it does not. COUNCIL MEMBER SWANSON MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY ADMMINISTRATOR TO APPLY FOR THE SOLSMART DESIGNATION. COUNCIL MEMBER SEILS SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. COUNCIL MEMBER AKERSON ABSTAINED. D. Potential Violations/Enforcement Actions: The City Staff is currently working on the following potential violations/enforcement actions. We will report on each of these each month until they are resolved to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission. ➢ John and Barbara Derksen — Exterior storage. The City Council, at their August 6, 2019 meeting, unanimously agreed to waive the permit fee of$50 for the fence permit if there are no verified complaints received in the ne�ct i2 months. (5/13) ➢ Robert Swenson — The City Council declared this property a public nuisance in 2oi�. Staffhas issued 5 Administrative Citations. (6/i6) ➢ David&Christine Kennedy— Maintenance. Staff has issued 4 Administrative Citations. (5/i�) May 2i, 202o Staff Report Page 2