Atwater plans town hall, allows solar dedication

City leaders in Atwater are planning a town hall-style meeting, and they decided to allow a solar project dedication ceremony this week in town.

The town hall meeting is set for Thursday, and the dedication ceremony for the solar panels built outside of Atwater City Hall is planned for Saturday.

The Atwater City Council brought back town hall meetings last year with the intention of doing them regularly. The meetings are more relaxed than formal meetings and tend to allow more back-and-forth between residents and elected officials.

Also planned during the meeting is an update on a Mello-Roos district, a special tax levied on a geographic area of Atwater homes and businesses. The Mello-Roos district in Atwater stretches from Highway 99 to Bellevue Road.

The tax is scheduled to end this year.

On Saturday, a ceremony will celebrate the completion of the Conergy solar project, first approved by the council in July 2013. The project installed solar panels on a water well at 380 Commerce Ave., as well as City Hall and the community center, both on Bellevue Road in Atwater.

The solar company is supposed to pay for the ceremony. Residents have been invited to learn about the project and ask questions.

The City Council approved the ceremony with a caveat during Monday’s meeting. The solar company can conduct the ceremony, but the city does not give the company permission to use Atwater’s name or symbols in promotional videos.

The town hall meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Atwater Community Center, 760 E. Bellevue Road.

The dedication is at 11 a.m. Saturday at City Hall, 750 Bellevue Road.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Atwater plans town hall, allows solar dedication."