Title
Resolution to Approve Amendment No. 1 to the Personal Services Agreement with Julie Roth, for Support Related to Administering the Ann Arbor Solarize Program ($30,000).
Memorandum
Having adopted the A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan, the City of Ann Arbor established the goal of having 100% renewable energy powering our electric grid. One activity highlighted in A2ZERO to help advance this goal was local distributed generation (rooftop, ground mounted, and community solar). To help operationalize this goal, the City launched a pilot program called Ann Arbor Solarize. This program was conceived and piloted for the first time in the late fall of 2019 in partnership with Ann Arbor resident, Julie Roth. The pilot proved more successful than anticipated (higher number of attendees, higher solar installations than anticipated, better feedback than expected).
Based on the success of the initial pilot, in the spring of 2020, the City contracted with Julie Roth to develop more pilot events for the Ann Arbor Solarize program, and to run the administration, implementation, and evaluation of those additional pilots. The initial personal services contract with Ms. Roth was for $20,000.
Having completed the first full year of the program, the City finds the program to have notably advanced solar energy development in the local community while consistently received positive feedback. Based on this, the City is looking to expand the program throughout at least the remainder of this Fiscal Year. This contract amendment will raise the contract with Ms. Roth from $20,000 to $50,000 and will run until June 30, 2021, affording her more time and resources to continue growing and expanding the program.
Budget and Fiscal Impact: Funds are available for the contract amendment in the Office of Sustainability and Innovations approved budget. As such, there will be no budget impact.
Staff
Prepared by: Missy Stults, Office of Sustainability and Innovations
Reviewed by: Tim Wilhelm, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Approved by: Tom Crawford, City Administrator
Body
Whereas, On June 1, 2020, Ann Arbor City Council unanimously adopted the A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan setting a goal for the entire community to achieve a just transition to community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030;
Whereas, One goal in A2ZERO is having 100% renewable energy powering our electric grid, including local distributed generation, utility scale solar, and community solar;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor Solarize program was created to help lower the burden of access to Ann Arborites interested in purchasing distributed solar energy;
Whereas, the Ann Arbor Solarize program has supported the installation of more than 600 kWh of new solar on more than 75 homes and helped introduce the value of solar to more than 500 individuals;
Whereas, The Federal Tax Incentive for solar drops to 22% in calendar year 2021 and then is set to drop to zero in all future years;
Whereas, The Office of Sustainability and Innovations aims to run the Ann Arbor Solarize program in calendar year 2021 to help residents access solar energy and take advantage of the sunsetting federal tax incentive;
Whereas, Julie Roth helped to create the Ann Arbor Solarize program, including designing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling the initial pilot;
Whereas, The City and Ms. Roth entered into an initial contract for personal services for $20,000, which has now been expended; and
Whereas, The Office of Sustainability and Innovations recommends an amendment in the amount of $30,000, for a total contract amount of $50,000, to be usable until June 31, 2021;
RESOLVED, That Amendment No. 1 to the Personal Services Agreement with Julie Roth for support related to Ann Arbor Solarize program, is approved in the amount of $30,000.00;
RESOLVED, That the City Administrator, Mayor, and City Clerk be authorized and directed to execute the amendment after approval as to substance by the City Administrator and approval as to form by the City Attorney; and
RESOLVED, That City Administrator be authorized to take the necessary administrative actions to implement this resolution.