Board approves five‑year solar O&M deal and adds aldermanic reporting and annual cost review

The Board approved a five‑year operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement to monitor and maintain city‑owned solar photovoltaic systems, but it added conditions designed to increase transparency and oversight.

The winning firm proposed to maintain the current, operational systems for $2,720 per year and to charge future systems about $20 per kilowatt annually. At the meeting the administration said two school arrays — at Gil Martin and the Waterberry Career Academy — are currently not producing and will be evaluated by the contractor before any repair work is authorized. The contractor will first assess the two non‑operational systems and then propose repair costs; those repair proposals will be evaluated by city staff and the city’s consultant before proceeding.

Board members pressed for written reporting and financial oversight. Alderman Roman successfully moved that the contractor’s monitoring and preventive‑maintenance reports be forwarded to the Board of Aldermen; the board also requested that the finance department provide an annual, consolidated cost‑benefit report that shows all expenses paid for the contract (and any task orders) to give aldermen a single annual snapshot of the program’s costs and benefits. The motions were adopted before the contract passed.

Officials said the annual O&M budget for existing systems is modest (roughly $2K–$4K per system) and that the city will require a task order with estimated costs before authorizing any repair to the two non‑operational arrays. The board discussed whether to own systems (to capture long‑term generation revenue) versus lease models; administration said ownership plus state incentive programs produced larger lifetime gains for the city.

Provenance: committee and floor debate on RFP 8699 and subsequent motions to add reporting requirements.