​Perhaps you have noticed the work Pacific Power is doing on the Kennedy Substation across 42nd ave from the church. On January 23, Tony DeFalco of Verde went to the PPL community meeting (held at St. Charles) and proposed a "Good Neighbor Agreement" (click on file below) between Pacific Power and the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CAN), Cully Association of Neighbors (CAN) and Our 42nd Avenue Business Association. In light of PPL's poor community engagement prior to design and construction of this project, Tony has ten proposals in the Good Neighbor Agreement.

At St. Charles, we collaborated with Verde on the install of our solar energy system. A “phase 2” item of that project is solar energy storage that would allow St. Charles to be a hub for power if/when power goes down throughout the area. The first of ten proposals in the Good Neighbor Agreement is that PPL would pay for St. Charles solar energy storage.

It's important to note that this is completely separate from the power substation across the street. It does involve a tower or antenna. The location of necessary equipment has already been identified (school roof, I believe) and the footprint of that equipment is quite small. Obviously, Tony sees an opportunity here for Pacific Power to possibly pay for the solar storage component. If this were to be granted, then Verde would take the lead on the project just as they did with the original. And of course we would coordinate with De La Salle and the remodel. 

Initial response from Sheila Holden at Pacific Power (click on file below) is vague, but positive. Stay tuned for more info.

On Monday, January 6, the faculty and staff of De La Salle North Catholic High School gathered at St. Charles for their annual winter retreat. They spent the day in the church praying, learning, and building community. 

Members of the St. Charles Pastoral Council organized soup and salad lunch for the 50 plus members of the De La Salle team. Lunch was super delicious -- thanks to many parishioners who made soup or a salad -- and was graciously received by all. The partnership is growing! 

A special thanks to Peggy Johnson and Margaret Retz for organizing the lunch, and to Mary Lynn Pierce, Sandy Bossom, and Linda Pashley for their help in serving and cleaning up!