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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-04-15 PACKET 04.D. REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING ITEM # DATE 4/15/2015 � � PREPARED BY: Administration Ryan Schroeder ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD *********************************�************** COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST Consider authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to enter into the amended Property Assessed Clean Energy Program Joint Powers Agreement with the Port Authority of the City of St. Paul, dated 1/7/2015. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the request. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS � MEMO/LETTER: Memo from Ryan Schroeder, 4/3/2015. ❑ RESOLUTION: ❑ ORDINANCE: ❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION: ❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION: ❑ OTHER: ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS � � � �� � � City Administrator Date **��**********************��**********�********* Cotta�e � Grove �her� Pride and ��OSPerity Meet To: Mayor and City Council From: Ryan R. Schroeder, City Administrator Date: April 3, 2015 Subject: PACE J�int Powers Amendment In 2013 the City of Cottage Grove entered a joint powers agreement (JPA) with the St. Paul Port Authority for administration of the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE). The Port has requested amendments to the existing JPA in order to bring the document into sync with how the PACE program is being administered. Enclosed, please find the proposed JPA as amended. Paragraph 5 has been re-written to reflect that in addition to the Port providing project financing the Center for Energy and Environment (or others) may also provide said financing. Likewise, para 9 is amended to reflect that termination of financing occurs upon retirement or defeasance of whatever the financing mechanism is (loan or bond). The fundamentals of the agreement remain unchanged. The City of Cottage Grove has not entered into any PACE projects to this point in time. However, it is a tool within the toolkit which we would continue to support at this time. Council Action: By motion authorize the Mayor and City Administrator to enter the amended JPA with the Port Authority of the City of St. Paul dated January 7, 2015 o uthori o t e i o aint a Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE OF l�� JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT Saint Paul Port Authority 850 Lawson Commons 380 St. Peter Street Saint Paul, MN 55102 (651)224-5686 (651) 223-5198 (fax) www.s�pa.com Revised Ol/07/2015 9840817v6 AIVIENDEI) ANI� RESTATEII) JOIN�' PO�VEI�S AGI�ENIEI�iT This Agreement, made and entered into as of the day of , 2015, by and between the Port Authority of the City of Saint Paul (the "Port Authority"), a body corporate and politic, and the City of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, a municipal corporation (the "City"), provides as follows: WHEREAS, the Port Authority has been engaged in governmental programs for providing financing in the City of Saint Paul and in other areas of the State of Minnesota (the "State") by making loans evidenced by various financing leases and loan agreements, and in the process of operating these programs the Port Authority has developed a high degree of financial expertise and strength; and WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 216C.435 and 216C.436 and Chapter 429 and 471.59 (coilectively the "Act") authorize the City to provide for the financing of the acquisition and construction or installation of energy efficiency and conservation improvements (the "Cost Effective Energy Improvements" as defined in the Act or "Improvements") on Qualifying Real Properties" as defined in the Act (the "Properties" or "Property") located within the boundaries of the City through the use of special assessments; and WHEREAS, the Act authorizes the City to designate a local government unit other than the City to implement the program under the Act on behalf of the City; and WHEREAS, the City has one or more projects within the boundaries of the City that have Improvements in need of financing, and has adopted its Resolution No. 2013-109 (a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A) to designate the Port Authority to implement and administer a program on behalf of the City to finance such Improvements; and WHEREAS, the Port Authority has created a program under the Act known as the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program ("PACE OF MN") for purposes of implementing and administering the activities described in the Act, and the Port Authority is willing to implement and administer that program on behalf of the City as requested herein; and WHEREAS, the City has expressed a desire to make energy improvement financing programs of the kind managed by the Port Authority available for improvements of eligible properties within its boundaries, including but not limited to the Energy Savings Partnership, Trillion BTU and PACE OF MN, and a joint powers agreement is required between the City and the Port Authority for PACE OF MN; and WHEREAS, the Improvements will serve citizens of the City of Saint Paul and the City of Cottage Grove, as well as Ramsey and Washington Counties and the State of Minnesota. NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein made, the parties to this Agreement hereby agree as follows: 9840817v6 l. The Port Authority will exercise the powers of the Act on behalf of the City to � provide financing for Improvements located within the boundaries of the City. Except as otherwise provided in this Joint Powers Agreement, the Port Authority shall be solely responsible for the implementation and administration of PACE OF MN and the financing of the Improvements. 2. In connection with its implementation and administration of PACE OF MN, and its financing of the Improvements located within the boundaries of the City, it is anticipated that the Port Authority will enter into various agreements with persons wishing to obtain financing for Improvements located within the boundaries of the City as well as with sources of financing for such Improvements (collectively the "Program Documents"). 3. The Port Authority may and is permitted to charge fees for its implementation and administration of PACE OF MN, which fee will be described in, and payable under, the Program Documents. 4. The Port Authority will have the sole duty and responsibility to comply with or enforce covenants and agreements contained in the Program Documents. This power specifically includes the responsibility for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the provisions of the Program Documents. 5. Either the Port Authority or a lending institution (the "Lender") will use its own financial resources to finance the Improvements (the "Loan"), or a taxable special assessment revenue bond(s) (the "Bond(s)") issued by the Port Authority in favor of the Lender will be used to finance the improvements. Regardless of the financing mechanism, the Lender will advance funds under the Program Documents to be paid from levied special assessments. 6. The Loan(s) or Bond(s) must be a special/limited obligation of the Port Authority, payable solely from special assessments levied by the City as provided herein. The Loan(s) or Bond(s) and interest thereon must neither constitute nor give rise to a general indebtedness or pecuniary liability, or a general or moral obligation, or a pledge or loan of credit of the Port Authority, the City, the City of Saint Paul or the State of Minnesota, within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision. To that end, the Port Authority hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City from and against any claims or losses arising out of the failure of the Port Authority to provide for the payment of principal of, and the interest or any premium on the Loan(s) or Bond(s), from special assessment payments actually paid to the Port Authority by the City. This indemnity must not, however, be construed to relate to any claims or losses which might arise by virtue of the exercise, by the City, of its governmental powers in connection with the Project, or by virtue of the failure of the City to levy and collect special assessments with respect to the Improvements or promptly remit such special assessment payments to the Port Authority as provided in the Program Documents. 7. As and for its contribution to the financing of the Improvements, and as provided in the Act, the City must impose and collect special assessments necessary to pay debt service on that portion of the Loan(s) or Bond(s) attributable to the Improvements located within the boundaries of the City. Evidence that the City has imposed such special assessments is a 3 Joint Powers Agreement 9840817v6 precondition to the Port Authority's obligation to provide financing to any Improvements located j within the boundaries of the City in accordance with the following process; A. The Port shall provide to City an application from an Applicant under the Program which includes the following documentation: 1) A copy of the Application containing the legal name of the Applicant, its legal status, its legal address, a description of the Project, the cost of the Improvements, the total amount to be assessed against the Property and the address, legal description and tax identification code for the Property upon which the Improvements are to be constructed or installed. 2) A statement from the Port that the proposed Project as described in the Application qualifies under the requirements of the Act and the Port Authority. 3) A fully-executed copy of the Applicant's Petition and Assessment Agreement suitable for evidencing, and recording if necessary, Applicant's agreement to be assessed for the amount of the Improvements. B. Upon receipt of the documentation described in Subparagraph A above, City agrees that it will levy an assessment against the Property for the amount to be assessed as set forth in Section 7.A, above. C. Evidence that the City has imposed such special assessments is a precondition to the Port Authority's obligation to provide financing to any Improvements located within the boundaries of the City. D. In the event that, after the City levies an assessment against the Property for the costs of the Improvements and related costs as provided for in Subparagraph B above, the Port does not fund the cost of the Improvements as contemplated by this Agreement, the Port shall promptly notify City that it has not and will not fund the costs of the Improvements under the Program and City shall thereafter inform the County Auditor to remove the subject assessment from the Property. 8. Once the City has imposed special assessments to finance Improvements located within the boundaries of the City, the City must collect and transfer all collections of the assessments received by it upon receipt to the Port Authority for application to the payment of the applicable Loan(s) or Bond(s). The City will take all actions permitted by law for the recovery of the assessments, including without limitation, reinstating the outstanding balance of assessments when the land returns to private ownership, in accordance with Minn. Stat. Section 429.071, Subd. 4. The City acknowledges that the Lender is a third-party beneficiary of the City's covenants herein with respect to the imposition and transfer of special assessments described herein. 9. Unless otherwise provided by concurrent action of the Port Authority and the City, this Agreement will terminate upon a 30-day's advanced written termination notice to the other Joint Powers Agreement partner or upon the retirement or defeasance of all Loan(s) or 4 Joint Powers Agreement 9840817v6 Bond(s), whichever is later; and notwithstanding any other provisions, this Agreement may not be terminated in advance of such retirement or defeasance. 10. This Agreement may be amended by the Port Authority and the City, at any time, by an instrument executed by both of them. The Port Authority or the City may not amend this Agreement, however, if the effect of the amendment would impair the rights of the holder of the Loan(s) or Bond(s), unless the holder has consented to the amendment. 11. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when taken together will constitute a single agreement. [Remainder of page intentionally left blank] 5 Joint Powers Agreement 9840817v6 IN WITNES5 WHEREOF, the Port Authority and the City have caused this Agreement to be executed on their behalf, by their duly authorized officers, as of the day and year first above written. PORT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF SAINT PAUL By: Its: President By: Its: Chief Financial Officer CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE, MINNESOTA B Its: By: Its: S-1 Joint Powers Agreement f _ � x ' ' . . . . . . � � - - � - - - � � � � � �ESOLUT'ION NO. 2013-�09 _ . . _ .. .. ,_ .. .. � RESOL.UTION DESIGNATING THE PORT AUTHORITY TO IMPLEMENT AND ADMINISTER A PROJECT ASSESSED CLEAN ENERGY IMPROVEMENT FINANCING ON BEHALF OF THE CITY, AND PROVIDING FOR THE IMPOSITION OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS AS NEEDED IN CONNECTION WITH THAT PROGRAM WHEREAS, the Port Authority of the City of Saint Paul (the "Port Authority") has established the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program ("MN PACE") to finance the acquisition and construction or installation of energy efficiency and conservation improvements (the "Improvements"), on properties located throughout the State of Minnesota through the use of special assessments pursuant to the authority granted by Minnesota Statutes, Sections 216C,435 and 216C.436 ("the Act") and Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 429; and WHEREAS, the City anticipates receiving one or more applications from owners of property Iocated in the City desiring to participate in and receive financing pursuant to the Act; and WHEREAS, in order to finance the Improvements, the City finds that it is beneficial to participate in MN Pace, and to designate the Port Au#hority as the "implementing entity" pursuant fio Minnesota Statutes, Section 216C.435 subd. 6, to implement and administer the program on behalf of the City for purposes of financing the Improvements located within the City; and WHEREAS, the City understands #hat the Port Authority will issue its MN Pace � special assessment revenue bond to finance the Improvemenfs, and that the sole security for thaf bond will be special assessments imposed by the other cities � participating in MN PACE; - WHEREAS, the parties have agreed to enter into a Joint Powers Agreement to memorialize the agreement. ' NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, and State of Minnesota as follows: 1. That the City shall enter into a Joint Powers Agreement with the St. Paul Port Authority for the purposes described in the Act and hereby authorizes the execution of the Joint Powers Agreement; and 2. That the City hereby designated the St. Paul Port Authority as the "implementing entity" under Minnesota Statutes, S�ction 216C.435 subd. 6, to implement and administer programs described in Minnesota Statutes, Section 216C.436. ', .. .. 3. That in order to facilitate and encourage the financing of the improvements located within the City, the City covenants to levy assessments for said Improvements on the property so benefitted, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 429 and the Program Documents, as defined in the Joint Powers Agreement, as approved by the Port Authori#y. The interest rate on the special assessments shall be the interest rate on the Bond, plus ��,5 %. 4. After imposition of the special assessments, the City agrees to collect such assessments and remit them to the Port Authority for use in repayment of the Bond. The City will take all actions permited by law to recover the assessments, including without limitation, for tax-forfeit parcels, reinstating the outstanding balance of assessments when the property returns to private ownership, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 429.071, Subd. 4. Passed this 16th day of October 2013. yron ailey, ay Attest: L. , Caron M. Stransky, City Clerk �