Council awards $731,000 purchase order for transit-facility solar panels; Bridge recuses, vote 4–0 with one abstention

The City Council voted on March 18 to award a purchase order to American Solar and Electric Solutions for the purchase of solar modules for a proposed transit fleet maintenance facility at 320 North D Street. The purchase order amount is $731,000; the contract covers roughly 4,212 solar panels (about 34,784 square feet of panels), according to staff’s bid summary.

Councilmember John Bridge announced earlier in the meeting that he had a conflict of interest related to property within 500 feet of the site and recused himself from the item; Bridge did not participate in the vote. With Bridge recused, the council approved the purchase order by a 4–0 vote with one abstention/recusal. The motion was moved by Councilmember Patrick Ball and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Victor Vega.

Staff said the city has accumulated grant funds from the Transit Operations Low Carbon grant program and must obligate the funds before the grant deadline or risk losing them. Bidders sought to sell full-system installations; the city solicited bids specifically for solar modules because the overall project is still in design and the city is not yet ready to award complete turn-key installation contracts. Staff presented options for storing the modules until the project design and permitting are complete; potential storage locations included the corporate yard, a base warehouse, and other city facilities.

City and utility staff told council that the full system design — including inverters, transformers, EV-charging infrastructure and battery systems — remains under development and will return to council for additional approvals and permitting. Staff said the project will likely require code upgrades to meet the 2022 building code and that the design-phase decisions will drive where and how the modules are mounted and tied to the electric grid.

Councilmembers asked several technical and logistical questions: how the modules will be stored, whether the city has firm plans to tie the arrays to the municipal electrical system, and how the panels would serve future electric buses and charging infrastructure. Staff said the panels will likely be mounted on canopies over parking and on portions of nearby park property identified for the project; they also said the city expects future grants will fund additional components such as batteries and chargers. The city’s utility director explained the site sits on a high-capacity circuit suitable for larger loads and said grid interconnection studies will be performed with the electrical department.

The council motion included authorization for the city manager to execute the purchase order; staff noted the vendor’s per-watt price reflected current market declines for solar modules. The item passed with Councilmembers Ball, Victor Vega, Starbuck and Mayor Mosby voting yes; Bridge was recorded as recused/abstain.