Agenda - 03-10-20; 8-a - Minutes

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12 1 Brennan Bouma said the benefit of leasing over purchasing is that a much larger solar 2 array can be obtained immediately, and thus the up front climate impact is larger. 3 Commissioner Price said this is a hypothetical, and asked if there is a difference 4 between leasing and purchasing with installments. She asked if staff is suggesting a lease to 5 own process. 6 Brennan Bouma said staff is more likely thinking about lease to own. He said he 7 assisted Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) with leasing solar at 5 different 8 locations, and this is a good model to work from. 9 Commissioner Price said in the Board's packet it says each school district is supposed 10 to work through a grant, and asked if this would be a grant from the County. 11 Brennan Bouma said yes. 12 Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner Marcoplos' comments about serving 13 more homes. 14 Commissioner Price said she is concerned as to whether weatherization is what people 15 really need. She said the needs may be much larger. 16 Commissioner Price referred to the proposal criteria, which mentions racial equity, but 17 this is really an issue of socioeconomic needs. She said she realizes there are a 18 disproportionate number of people of color with greater socioeconomic needs, but she wants to 19 be clear that Black does not equal poor. She said people of all races are living below the 20 poverty line, and she asked if there will be a way to insure that minority populations take 21 advantage of the program, thus insuring racial equity, because the program is based on 22 income. 23 Brennan Bouma said this is a good question, and he will consider it. 24 Commissioner Price said it is difficult to market this as having racial equity as a first 25 priority, when there is no guarantee of racial equity. She said it is difficult to trust that it will just 26 happen. 27 Commissioner Dorosin said it may be useful to get some information about the 28 demographics that the current County programs are serving. 29 Commissioner Price said one's race and ethnicity should not matter, and people in need 30 should be served. 31 Chair Rich said the direction for racial equity came from the Board of Commissioners 32 and staff should not take responsibility for it. She said some fine-tuning is needed. 33 Commissioner Dorosin said it could be changed to economic equity. 34 Commissioner Bedford said she read the resolution adopted by the BOCC last June, 35 which states, "according to a formula that weighs the social justice and racial equity impacts." 36 She said Commissioner Price's point is very valid, and the Board must consider how the racial 37 equity piece will be covered. 38 Commissioner Dorosin said he appreciated the provision for monitoring of program 39 effectiveness, at least in regards to the solar panels. He said the light bulb portion has a pledge 40 to ask people how many light bulbs they change. He asked if before and after assessments will 41 be made, in regards to utility savings, once the weatherization improvements are made. He 42 said there is an educational component of this program, and having data about savings on hand 43 will be important. 44 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the plan is to put the school recommendations on 45 hold until there are subsequent meetings with the staff and the schools. 46 Chair Rich said that is correct, and the schools asked for a little extra time to review the 47 information. She said McDougal and East already have small solar panels. 48 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the idea is to have roof top panels on two schools, one 49 in each district.