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<br />Attachment A <br />AGENDA ITEM <br />MEMORANDUM <br />DATE:February 18, 2014 <br />TO:Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers <br />Patrick Klaers, City Administrator <br />FROM:Michelle Olson, Parks and Recreation Manager <br />SUBJECT:Emerald Ash Borer Tree Evaluation Results <br />Action Requested <br />Staff is looking for direction on whether to proceed with treatment of ash trees in the maintained <br />areas of the City parks. <br />Background <br />Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive beetle that kills ash trees, was discovered in St. Paul in <br />the spring of 2009, Shoreview in the summer of 2011 and Roseville and Arden Hills <br />(Northwestern College) in 2013. The City approved the EAB Management Plan in 2012. Staff <br />presented an EABstatusupdate at the November 12, 2013 City Council work session. At that <br />time, only one confirmed case of EAB had been discovered in Arden Hills at Northwestern <br />College. However, since that time, a tree with EAB was identified in Sampson Park in Arden <br />Hills by the Department of Agriculture. That tree was removed inDecember. The Department <br />of Agriculture is currently conducting winter EAB inspections in the surrounding area of this <br />find and also re-inspecting areas that were done last winter.Results of those inspections should <br />be known by the end of March. <br />The approved EAB Management Plan does not include treatment of public trees. The City <br />Right of Way (ROW) ordinance states that maintenance of trees within the ROW is the <br />responsibility of the homeowner. The City completed an ash tree inventory in 2012 of all ash <br />trees in the rightsof way of City streets with the software Simple Trees. A total of 2,397 trees <br />were plotted and 374 are listed as ash trees. The Council revisited the approved EAB <br />Management Plan (2012) at the November work session. Staff presented the Council with the <br />question of if the City should consider treatment of significant park trees (maintained areas). <br />The insecticide TreeAge is most commonly used and has shown to have a 99 percent survival <br />rate on healthy trees. Precision Landscaping was retainedfor tree services in 2014 and the City <br />was able to negotiate insecticide treatment for public trees at a municipal rate of $6.00 per DBH” <br />13 <br />Page of <br />