Council holds required hearing on solar easement for RecPlex and animal shelter amid payment and assignment questions

At the Burlington City Council work session on April 27, 2026, staff presented a required public hearing on a multi-year easement with Red Lion Burlington Solar LLC to allow construction of solar infrastructure at the city RecPlex and the animal shelter.

Mr. Bird, a city staff member who introduced the item, said the easement authorizes the solar provider to place infrastructure on city property for the duration of an already-approved power purchase agreement and that the public hearing is required for leases or easements longer than three years.

The bulk of the discussion focused on contract details that were not included in the easement packet. A council member raised concerns about the payment schedule, noting the service/payment agreement language appears to require payment “10 days after the 5th” of the month and asked whether that timing differed from the 40-day cycle traditionally used to allow council approval of claims. Staff said they would clarify the payment schedule (Article 7/Section 703) and circulate the corrected language before the next meeting.

Councilors also questioned Exhibit D’s “acknowledgement of collateral assignment,” which indicates that, until further notice, payments might be directed to a lender. “It sounds like it almost puts us on the hook for the payments,” one council member said. City staff responded that the city would only be responsible for the contractually required purchase obligations and that, if the provider assigns financing, payments could be routed to a financier (Two Rivers Bank & Trust) rather than directly to the provider—an administrative transfer rather than a new ongoing obligation for the city, staff said.

Staff committed to clarifying the payment timeline and the collateral-assignment language at the next meeting and to sending the corrected documentation to councilors in advance. No final action was taken at the work session; the public hearing and any vote on a formal easement will proceed as required by the city agenda schedule.

The discussion highlights two items staff will address before council consideration: the exact payment timing in the solar service agreement (Section 703) and the practical effect of Exhibit D’s collateral assignment on where payments are sent and the city’s exposure.

Next steps: staff said they will circulate clarified contract language and return the easement (with any revised attachments) to council for final consideration at a subsequent meeting.