The council also gave directions to city staff to engage the grant writing company under contract with the city to look for a possible grant that might help in the installation of these systems.

"If we get a good grant, we might be able to provide a matching amount from the capital improvement project," said Vice Mayor Kathleen King. "These could be an important value addition when new buildings are being built."

Councilman Norman Kline had brought up the idea of installing these systems and requested that the feasibility of such a project be explored.

City staff contacted three solar energy companies for an initial analysis.

Akeena Solar, Inc., a Los Gatos company, conducted a site survey in late October and determined that the section of city hall that houses the civic theater was best suited for a solar electric generating system. The company has predicted a savings of $7,000 in the first year if the system is installed, and that in about 13 years the system would pay for itself.

City staff has identified some other cities that have installed or are exploring the possibility of installing such systems and will be collecting more information from them.