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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, November 25, 2013 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />    Page 16 of 29   <br />(5. #13-3616 CITY OF ORONO, ZONING CODE AMENDMENT – ALTERNATIVE ENERGY <br />SYSTEMS, ORDINANCE NO. (TABLED), Continued) <br /> <br />McMillan noted that Staff’s report states that ground source heat pump systems and roof mounted solar <br />energy systems are becoming more common in Orono, which leads her to believe that the other systems, <br />such as ground mounted solar systems, wind turbines and furnaces are not common. McMillan stated she <br />has a concern with the City writing ordinances for items that are not seeing any use yet in Orono, <br />especially as it relates to some of the ground mounted solar systems. If someone decides to install a <br />ground mounted solar system, they could have a pretty extensive array of solar panels that aesthetically <br />does not look good, is not rural looking, and could potentially have glare. McMillan stated the biggest <br />concern she has is that the neighbors will have to look at it and that she hesitates about going down the <br />path of allowing that since that is not popular here in Orono and it is not something that everybody would <br />like to look at. McMillan noted roof mounted systems can be hidden and are more common, which are <br />reasons why she would not be opposed to those. <br /> <br />McMillan stated she would only look at ground mounted solar systems on a minimum of five acre lots at <br />the very least and then in addition require larger setbacks. McMillan stated the City needs to question <br />whether they want to have systems that have a more urban, industrial look, since they will impact the <br />neighbors. McMillan commented these systems benefit the property owner at the expense of their <br />neighbors. <br /> <br />McMillan indicated she is not yet in favor of wind turbines and that the City should perhaps look at <br />creating an ordinance once they become more popular. McMillan indicated she would prefer to go down <br />the path of writing the least amount of ordinances, and then if something becomes more common, then <br />the City can create an ordinance to handle it. <br /> <br />Mattick asked if the direction would be to bring back an ordinance that does not allow ground mounted <br />solar, wind energy, and hydronic furnaces. Mattick asked whether the City Council is okay with <br />geothermal. <br /> <br />Levang and McMillan indicated geothermal would be okay. <br /> <br />Anderson stated the ordinance could also contain a five acre minimum. <br /> <br />Levang stated geothermal can only be allowed if they have enough land in the first place due to the <br />requirements of the system. <br /> <br />Mattick indicated he is not familiar enough with geothermal systems to know if they require a certain <br />amount of acreage to work. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated there is no requirement in any of the other cities’ code provisions that talk about a minimal <br />lot size for ground source heat pumps. <br /> <br />McMillan stated the systems cannot be in the setbacks. <br /> <br />Mattick stated he can bring back a revised ordinance before the City Council at their first meeting in <br />December. <br /> <br /> <br />Item #03 - CC Agenda - 12/09/2013 <br />Approval of Council Minutes 11/25/2013 <br />[Page 16 of 29]