07-18-22-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JULY 18, 2022 5 Mayor Grant said there are a lot of trees on Highway 96 that the bark has peeled back, opening the core of the tree. Some have no leaves, and some look fairly good even though they are tagged EAB. He wondered if maybe they should take some trees down in the fall and some in the spring. He showed some photos he took of trees along Highway 96. He would like to see the trees mulched and bagged like at City Hall. Mayor Grant discussed agreements with the County regarding trees along Highway 96 east of Highway 10. The City says the County should maintain the trees, the County says the City should do it, so nothing gets done, the trees die and the city looks bad. Rather than point fingers his expectation is that if we plant trees we maintain them. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said that part of the hurdle with watering trees on Highway 96 is they need use a driver with a CDL, and a seasonal employee can't necessarily go out alone. Councilmember Holden felt no-one disagreed that if the City plants trees they want them taken care of. After further discussion it was decided to plant 30-50 trees with mulch and bags along Highway 96, also mulch the existing trees and potentially use ICWC crews to do some of the work. City Administrator Perrault suggested the contractor planting the trees could do the original mulching on the new trees. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said they could push to have the trees planted around the end of September, depending on tree inventory. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that if they weren't going to cut down tree with EAB now, they should treat them so as not to harbor the disease and spread it to other trees. After discussion it was decided to take down the infected trees east of Highway 10. Mayor Grant showed photos of thistles of two areas along Highway 96 west of Highway 10. He noted they are considered a noxious weed. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the County isn't maintaining the right- of-way. Councilmember Holden suggested they send a letter to Ramsey County Commissioners telling them there are noxious weeds on their property that they need to clean up, and take down the dead trees and replace them. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he has spoken with a Ramsey County Maintenance person and it seemed that they wanted to take the trees out of that area and put the area back as turf. They would also like to hand it back to the City to maintain. The contract doesn't call out who is responsible for the landscaping.