09/28/2011 Environmental Board Minutes

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ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING September 28, 2011 DRAFT MINUTES 3 outbreak of Emerald Ash Borer. The death of all the ash trees in the City of Lino Lakes will have a detrimental effect on home values, quality of life and environmental benefit. The goal of this plan is to mitigate the impact of EAB as much as practical, to residents and City Ash trees. Introduction: Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive, non-native, introduced pest that came into the USA from ports in Detroit Michigan. The insect is indigenous to China and is suspected to come into this country in packing crates. EAB most likely existed in Michigan for at least 5 years before a plant pathologist noticed something wrong with their Ash Trees in 2002. All efforts in Michigan to stop this insect have failed. It is now estimated that EAB can travel up to 4 miles by its self, or an average of 10 miles with human help. Humans help this insect get around to new areas mainly by firewood transport. With only 6 or seven years of study and research, managers at this time are unable to stop this insect. Sc ientists do know that once established in a City, all of the City’s Ash trees will be killed in five to 10 years. It will be perhaps 20 years minimum until effective controls may be available. Minnesota has a tremendous amount of Ash trees (900 million). This number does not include the trees planted in Cities in parks and along street scapes. The City of Lino lakes has approximately 328 Ash trees in parks and 598 Ash trees on street boulevards. There are also 157 Ash trees on Peltier Island that have supported Great Blue Heron nests in the past. Preliminary remote sensing from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources estimates 10000 Ash trees overall in the City of Lino Lakes. There are three options (other than doing nothing), or a combination of these options that our City cities can decided to follow. First, the a City can remove all City owned of their Ash trees. If the trees are not removed, unsightly and hazardous trees are left in the landscape. Secondly, a, the City can elect to remove and replace the dead ash trees with another type of tree, thus mitigating the benefits of the lost trees. Third, a the City can chemically treat the trees with an insecticide for an indefinite amount of time. A city Lino Lakes can also do a combination of any of these options. The following discusses highlights each option. 1. Remove all City Ash Trees: Assuming Aall trees will die in 5 years, so removal costs will be incurred by the City for removing all trees within are associated with the cCity or a contractor removing all trees in 5 years. This plan has the lowest out of pocket expense. This plan also causes the greatest losses to aesthetic and ecological value that the Ash trees provided for Lino Lakes. The City will remove all public Ash trees using City Crews