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COUNCIL TO REVIEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROPOSAL

Elk Grove residents looking for a place to buy medical marijuana may have to get used to driving past the city limits.

The city first adopted a temporary moratorium against medicinal marijuana dispensaries last December, and the Elk Grove City Council may soon make that ban permanent.

The council will discuss the item at their Aug.  25 meeting, and if passed it could go into effect after a second reading on Sept.  8.

According to a city staff report, the proposed ban would not stop the use or growth of medicinal marijuana in Elk Grove.

The report also states that there is "anecdotal and documented evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries pose a threat to the public health, safety and welfare," pointing to an April 2009 California Police Chiefs Association report that says dispensaries attract organized crime and are sometimes targeted for armed robberies.

Stimulus bond could provide $1.5 million for Kohl's solar power

The Kohl's department store in Elk Grove could soon have an environmentally friendly addition: $1.5 million in solar panels, which may be funded by a government bond.

Next week, the city council will ask residents to weigh in on the project, even though the city of Elk Grove wouldn't be footing the bill.

The bond to solar panel provider SunEdison would be issued by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority ( CSCDA ), a group of cities that Elk Grove belongs to.  It would be funded by the 2009 federal stimulus package.

CSCDA Program Manager Michael Chin said paying back the bond would be the responsibility of SunEdison, which has been adding solar panels to Kohl's stores since 2007, according to a previous press release from the company.

"The debt is not an obligation of the city," Chin said in a phone interview, adding it would repaid from revenue generated by the solar panels, such as a "small premium placed on the power generated that's sold from SunEdison to Kohl's."

He added that the project would not power any other businesses.

"In the case of the Elk Grove project, power generated there would be power just for that one site," Chin said.

Also at this week's meeting, the city council may authorize a switch in worker's compensation insurance for city employees.  According to a staff report, the switch would provide the same services and save the city between $600,000 and $700,000.