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5. - 9. ECCSR 05 18 2011MEMORANDUM TO: Energy City Commission FROM: Ross Pomeroy, MN GreenCorps DATE: May 18, 201 I SUBJECT: Staff Updates ENERGY EXPO DISCUSSION It's starting to be crunch time fox deciding the fate of a 2012 Energy Expo. Things that need to be considered: Who will be our keynote speaker? What kind of topic could we focus on to draw a ]azger crowd? What kind of markets could we tap? Should we push the Expo back into April? ERMU and City staff have been discussing the expo and are considering Senator Amy HIobuchaz as a possible keynote speaker. Senator HIobuchaz offers hex own Carbon Buster Awards to businesses, nonprofits, local governments, and individuals who engage in innovative and meaningful ways to combat climate change. She also boasts the highest approval rating in a survey of 59 U.S. senators. It also appears that a lot of local cities aze pickhig up on our expo and hosting sustainability fairs of their own. Coon Rapids recently hosted one such event with Don Shelby as their keynote speaker and drew about 500 attendees. Can we afford to take a year off from the energy expo with other cities attempting to copy us? PROJECT CONSERVE PHASE II & III City and ERMU staff axe slated to go before the City Council at the June 13th work session to discuss Energy City and Project Conserve. The goal of our presentation will be to enlighten the Mayor and the council about the goals and functions of Energy City and to receive further support in out endeavors. As Project Conserve Phase II enters the summer months, the goals of conservation rum to conserving electricity through reduced air conditioning use and conserving water via a reduction in irrigation and personal use. We are currently looking fox an additional 500 households and apartments to participate in Phase III. It is currently slated to launch on October 15`s, 2011. ENERGY CITY BUSINESS EDUCATION SERIES EVENT The next event in the Energy City Education Series is set to take place from 11:30am to 1:OOpm at Elk Rivet Public Library. The event will covet the City's brand new business financing program fox energy efficient upgrades, 2011 utility rebates, the redesigned Energy City High Fives, and the federal energy efficiency tax credits available to businesses. Ryan Settexholm, Vance Zehringex, and Brian Burant aze slated to take pazt in a thirty minute panel to discuss the rebates available for businesses and to answer any questions that they might have. A free sandwich bar from Diamond City Bread will be provided fox all attendees. ENERGY CITY HIGH FIVE PROGRAM You have all received the new Energy City High Five Business Recognition Program via email. The program suggests 35+ eco-friendly actions fox businesses from seven different categories. The new ECHF program is simply meant to provide businesses with as many recommendations and as much information as possible so that they can make good, informed decisions about their business' efficiency. The new Energy City High Five attempts to remove the gray areas surrounding what exactly businesses can do to conserve energy and be more environmentally friendly. Staff believes that this program, coupled with the new business loan financing fox energy efficiency, go hand-in-hand and has the potential to be a great partnership between the Energy City Commission and the Economic Development Authority. WEBSITE UPGRADE DISCUSSION The Energy City website is currently in need of an upgrade. Staff is looking into switching to Woxdpxess so that city staff can make updates to the website. Woxdpxess will cost upwards of $1200 fox the switch over by the current website developer and if needed she would charge $85/hoax fox any future outside updates. Woxdpxess does offer a much higher degree of customization. Staff is researching website developers to ensure that the Energy City receives the best rate. An update to the website is vital to the Energy City High Five program. It also offers new avenues for Energy City and for any future Project Conserve uses. Staff being able to regulate the content will allow fox more timely updates and offer a higher level of service to our citizens.