09-08-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO:Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM:Bryce Shearen, CPRP, Parks & Recreation/Community Services Manager DATE:September 8, 2021 RE:Emerald Ash Borer Update ACTION REQUESTED For information purposes only. No formal Council action is requested. BACKGROUND: At the June 23 City Council meeting, staff presented information on Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and how it is affecting trees in Little Canada. Following the presentation, the Council directed staff to request proposals from tree care companies to treat the treatable ash trees to help preserve those ash trees. At the July 14 City Council meeting, the Council accepted the proposal from Rainbow Tree Care that gave the City a rate per inch and a discounted price to Little Canada reseidents. City staff immediately moved forward with getting the trees treated since it needed to be done before fall to produce effective results. In August, 59 of the 63 ash trees originally identified were treated (after further investigation by staff it was determined that three trees at Spooner should be removed rather than treated). The treated trees will now be scheduled to be treated every other year for the life of the tree. Treating of the trees will help protect the benefits that mature trees have to offer and allow staff to begin creating a tree management plan that will include a tree inventory and begin planting replacement trees to help offset the removal of ash trees that were deemed not treatable. The report at the June 23 meeting also identified there are many ash trees in Little Canada in Parks and public areas that were beyond treatable and will need to be removed in the near future. Since the cost of removal and replacement is expensive and funds had not been budgeted, staff actively searched for alternative funding sources. On Monday, August 9, staff submitted a grant application for funding assistance to create and EAB Management Plan and for removal and replacement of ash trees in the parks and along the right-of-ways. Staff recently received notification that the City has been awarded $73,142.70 in funding from the MN DNR. Staff is working towards finalizing the agreement which will be brought forward at a future Council meeting for acceptance and approval. Once approved, staff will begin working on next steps to complete the items outlined in the grant project. BUDGETARY IMPACT Ongoing EAB treatment has been included in City’s General Fund, and additional grant funds