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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril-May 1977Published by the Arden Association • "` . '' Since this is the April -Ya. , issue, it is time for our annual tree concerns. Included in this newsletter is a rei'arence page that can be saved. Mary Blomquist has also done a very comprehensive study for us, and here are excerpts from her report: DUTCH ELM DISEASE RL'PORT (Thanks to Mary Blomquist, National Biocentric, Inc.) As recently aslast spring, most Twin Cities residents were unaware that we were entering the epidemic stage of Dutch elm disease. At that time, I had just begun a study for the Metropolitan Inter -County Council to determine what use could be made of the wood from diseased elms. One of my first tasks was to determine what the wood supply would be and thus, what was going to happen to Dutch elm disease in the next twenty years. What we found convinced those associated with the study that our current control prac- tices are partial at best, and, if not improved, will lead to the loss of over 50� of all elms in the seven county Metropolitan area by 1980, and over 90% by 1985. ,Nith a total of almost five million elm trees (half of them greater than 4" in diameter), the loss in terms of cost, beauty and shade could be catastrophic. lkperiencehas shown that better control of Dutch elm disease can be attained by more attention to sanitation and control practices. Slowing of the dissase rate would allow for development of & utilization system and also allow cities and neighborhoods to identify areas where special effective (but costly) chemical treatment could be applied to save particularly significant stands or single elms. What about Arden Hills? We have almost lO,OCO elm trees and are losing them fast. Faster than the seven county area as a whole, by far. From 1972, when our first five cases appeared, we have almost tripled our losses each year. Over 300 trees were re- ported diseased in 1976, and at our current rate, 90/ of Arden Hills' elms will be dead by the end of 1980. What can we do? First, it is vitally important that our epidemic be b reufrht under control. The legislature vr�11 be asked to allocate moneys to Dutch elm l disease control, in the next session. Arden hills officials should also consider seriously allocation No. 107 April -May 1977 This issue of the Town Crier marks a change in • editors. Jan Hollenhorst, who has been doing the ® job up until now, has Bone to work full-time as a Tech Form Coordinator for Minnesota Mining. She has really done super work on these monthly newsletters, and we only hope thea high quality • will continue. Your new editor is Diane McAllister, 1200 Ingerson Road, 484-0773. Do call anytime (except Iduring my nap in the afternoons). Jan said one of the biggest problems with the Crier is getting input from the readers, so please contact me with any remarks or suggestions that you may have. One thing I'd really like to see in this publication is a "Letters to the Editor" column, but of course • ,you need some letters for that. So if ,you feel moved to put something down on paper, ,just send it along, sip^ned of course. Since this is the April -Ya. , issue, it is time for our annual tree concerns. Included in this newsletter is a rei'arence page that can be saved. Mary Blomquist has also done a very comprehensive study for us, and here are excerpts from her report: DUTCH ELM DISEASE RL'PORT (Thanks to Mary Blomquist, National Biocentric, Inc.) As recently aslast spring, most Twin Cities residents were unaware that we were entering the epidemic stage of Dutch elm disease. At that time, I had just begun a study for the Metropolitan Inter -County Council to determine what use could be made of the wood from diseased elms. One of my first tasks was to determine what the wood supply would be and thus, what was going to happen to Dutch elm disease in the next twenty years. What we found convinced those associated with the study that our current control prac- tices are partial at best, and, if not improved, will lead to the loss of over 50� of all elms in the seven county Metropolitan area by 1980, and over 90% by 1985. ,Nith a total of almost five million elm trees (half of them greater than 4" in diameter), the loss in terms of cost, beauty and shade could be catastrophic. lkperiencehas shown that better control of Dutch elm disease can be attained by more attention to sanitation and control practices. Slowing of the dissase rate would allow for development of & utilization system and also allow cities and neighborhoods to identify areas where special effective (but costly) chemical treatment could be applied to save particularly significant stands or single elms. What about Arden Hills? We have almost lO,OCO elm trees and are losing them fast. Faster than the seven county area as a whole, by far. From 1972, when our first five cases appeared, we have almost tripled our losses each year. Over 300 trees were re- ported diseased in 1976, and at our current rate, 90/ of Arden Hills' elms will be dead by the end of 1980. What can we do? First, it is vitally important that our epidemic be b reufrht under control. The legislature vr�11 be asked to allocate moneys to Dutch elm l disease control, in the next session. Arden hills officials should also consider seriously allocation of moneys and joining propramr for control of Dutch elm disease. Otherwise many Arden Hills homeowners will be caught in a financial bind of tremendous magnitude. Remember, it can be slowed to a point where wood utilization can cover some of the costs, to a point where special trees can be saved, and to a point where replacement trees have time to grow and take over. Consider the impact otherwise of over 8,000 dead elms in Arden Hills in the next four years: Mark Peterson, Arden Hills Tree Inspector, feels that some of Mary's numbers are correct only if NO control measures are used at all. He feels that we still have a few years of grace, but only if we really attack the problem. Here is Mark's report on the current status of Tree Inspection in Arden Hillss The first phase of the Arden Hills shade tree disease program is that of a wood- pile survey which began on April 1st. This is a city-wide survey to locate any elm firewood or dead elm trees. The wood serves as a breeding ground for the American and European bark beetles. By locating these sites and eliminating them, we hope to reduce t h9 beetle population. We will also be looking for recently out Red oak firewood. (This means cut with- in one year). Spores of the Oak Wilt fungus can form between the bark and wood on diseased Red oak. The tree disease survey itself will begin near the first of June. State law requires at least two city-wide surveys for the detection of diseased elms and oaks and then their prompt removal. I try to make three complete surveys throughout the city. Once a homeowner is informed of a diseased tree on his property, he has 20 days to remove it. There are three options for removals 1.) The city contractor may remove it. I have the contractor's prices and can give an approximate cost for comparisons. 2.) Any other contrantor may remove it. 3.) The tree -owner may remove it himself. If the removal is not done within the alloted 20 -day period, the tree will re turned over to the. City's contractor for removal by him. We will also be doing root barrier work to prevent root transmission from tree to tree. Put enough of trees, except to say that it is the trees in Arden Hills that make it such a lovely area in which to live. My collie and I felt terrible when they took down one of our elms last year; fortunately it was surrounded by cottonwoods. But we really have to keep on top of the problem, and try to replace what we lose. Here is a note from the Arden Hills Human Rights Committaes The Metropolitan Council is currently considering a request from our school district to involve our village in a program to assist citizens over 60 with public transport- ' ation. We are interested to know how many people in our village over 60 need such transportation. Please contact Charlotte McNiesh at the Village Hall (633-5676) if you can benefit from such a program, or if you know of someone who can, giving the name and address. We believe the need should be demonstrated before undertaking such a program. The Arden Association is in the midst of discussions about another Memorial Bay Parade or some similar activity. Please watch for notices about this. ARDEN HILLS TOWN CRIER - TREE INFORMATION 1977 To refresh everybody's memory on just ghat we're looking for, here is some information about elm and oak trees: One of the easiest ways to recognize American Elm is to break off a piece of bark and look at it cross -wise or side -ways. The bark is composed of alternate layers of dark and light wood. The leaves of as American Elm are smooth to the _touch, whereas leaves of the Chinese Elm are rough. The tree itself has the shape of a vase. All apeoies are susceptible to Dutch Elm disease, the American Elm being to,some degree more so. The disease is spread in two ways: 1) Beetles feeding in the crotches of small twigs; and 2) through root systems that are close to each other, normally within 50 feet. The disease causes a wilting of the leaves, and if you were to+peel back the bark of a small twig of a freshly wilting branch and find the wood stained brown, you would be looking at a tree infected with Dutch Elm disease. You may try this method yourself, but please let a qualified Tree Inspector make the final decision. AMERICAN ELM Bark Dark �.. Light Regarding the oak trees, it is very impor nt that they NOT be period of May 15 -June 15. Any new cuts or bark injuries to oaks(suchruned during the critical l � -(such as bruising them with your lawn mower) should be treated immediately to prevent beetles from entering the tree. Treat injuries with a paint -on preparation available at hardware and lawn and garden shops. Here is how you can tell the difference in your oak trees. The information is import- ant in the detection and prevention of oak wilt disease. Red oaks are the most suscep. tible species to oak wilt disease in the oak family because the disease can be transmitted through the root system to other healthy red oaks and can also be spread by beetles feeding under the bark where spores are produced. Red Oak is the only specie that pro- duces these spores under the bark. White and bur oaks can only spread the disease through their common root systems. In order to transmit disease through the root sys- tems, the trees must be of the same species, that is red oak to red oak- "- ITI ak_ WHIT2 OAK Red oaks have pin-like structures on the tips of their leaves. White oaks and bur ' oaks do not have these. White oaks have many rounded "fingers" on their leaves. Bur oaks have rounded "fingers" like the white oak, but only towars the base of the leaf. Now that most of you have received your real estate tax statement for 1977, you probably have some questions about In- creased taxes. For every dollar you pay In real estate taxes, about 81 cents goes to support your Village activities. This is one of the lowest tax rates for Ramsey County municipalities. The increase in the Village budget for 1977 is due to general escalating of costs. In addition, the increase was affected by the following: 1. Addition of one public works employee mid -year 2. One park maintenance employee, formerly subsidized by CETA Federal Funds, now paid by the Village. 3. Health and liability insurance increases of 20-35 percent. 4. $29,000 budgeted for part of the Village share of an aerial ladder truck and Village share of dispatching equipment for the Fire Department. 5. $12,000 budgeted for future expansion of the Public Works building. Back to where your tax dollar goes, besides the Village - about 2944 goes to the County, 5714 to the school district and 4 3/4d to other taxing districts (County Library, Mosquito Control, Rice Creek Watershed District, Metro Transit, Metro Council). TAX COMPUTATION Example of Tax Computation for 1977 on a Parcel of Real Estate in Arden Hills - 621, Limited Market Value of $40,000. HOMESTEAD PROPERTY Assessed value is determined as follows: 25% of the first $13,000 of market value equals the home- stead assessed value (.25 x $13,000) . .,. $3,250 40% of the remainder of market value equals excess home- stead assessed value (.40 x $27,000) .$_100800 Taxable Assessed Value . . . . . . . . $14,050 This assessed value is the amount /to which tax rates are applied. (1) .005677 x $14,050 equals taxnot eligible for Homestead Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $79.76 (2) .108305 x $14,050 equals tax eligible for Homestead Credit . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . .$1,516.85 45% x $1,522.23 (Limit $325.00) equals Homestead Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $325.00 Tax Payable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,271.61 If you have further questions about your taxes, feel free to call one of your Councilmen. 11 There will be a public hearing on May 2 on the sewer, water and street improve- ments in the Karth Lake area. This section of land is on the southwest corner of Lexington and Highway 96. (And isn't the left turn signal nice to have on that corner?) There doesn't seem to be a large amount of controversy about this develop- ment, but if you're interested, the meeting is at 7s30 p.m. in the Vfllage Hall. There are three other undeveloped areas in Arden Hills that are moving toward completion. Chatham Estates (the 'uooda Hills' land around Valentine Hills school) is already approved for final platting. The other two areas are Edgewater South and Heights of Johanna Lake, which are both over northeast a piece from Cleveland and County Road D. All in all, there are roughly 300 single family lots that will be available in these four parts of our city. Triose actually on Karth Lake should be lovely, so if you have friends wanting to build a new home somewhere, be sure to mention Arden Hills. Has anybody else seen the deer that cross Lexington just north of the Freeway? On two separate occasions we've spotted a doe and her fawn crossing from Shoreview over into Arden Hills. I only hope they can survive so close to Man. A new Dog Ordinance for Arden Hills is in the works. It includes such things as a lifetime license and mandatory rabies shots. The April 25th Council meeting discussed the issue, but the results weren't ready in time to make this paper. More later tho. The Fire Department situation in Arden Hills is on its way to being solved, we hope. A new Fire Board has been created to iron out the problems between the three suburbs (North Oaks, Shoreview, Arden Hills) and the Lake Johanna Fire Department. The Fire Board consists of 4 members: one from each of the involved cities plus the Fire Chief, Dave Koch. The representative from Arden Hills is Bob Woodburn. It seems that the problem begat, a year or so ago when it was suggested that the Fire Department needed a new truck, something in the $100,000 range. The Fire Depart- ment wanted each village to chip in so much for the truck and let the Firemen buy it. Since the Fire Department is an independent Corporation, the villages said: "Hey, wait a minute. If we just give you the money, we have no say on how it should be.spent. We don't want to do that." ,And the Firemen said: "Then pay us some wages instead." The current cost of the Fire Department is for maintenance and operating costs only. It is strictly a volunteer operation.. The cost is split up among the 3 villages according to assessed property valuation: Shoreview pays roughly 50%, Arden Hills 305, and North Oaks 20/. Last year Arden Hills paid about $26,000 towards the `Fire Dept., but of course that keeps increasing each ,year like everything else. Anyway, now tempers are rather short and the Firemen have asked for a pay of $4--5 per hour. It is difficult to estimate the actual cost of this, because no one ever knows how many men will show up to fight a fire. One rough estimate is a total coat in pay of $140,000 the first ,year (30/ payable by Arden Hills). This is with no equipment purchased. There are about 50 firemen involved. The next person interviewed about the situation was a volunteer fireman who wishes to remain anonymous. But two of his comments were% "There is no way they can get by with the amount of fire protection they are getting now at the same cost", and "I can't believe there are such stupid people in the world." Dave Koch, Fire Chief, really liked that last comment and had me read it to him again. He explained that the Fire Board is hung up on salaries now, and that the new truck, whih started the whole thing, hasn't even been discussed. He said new equipment has alwayseen purchased by saving for it. 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I POSTAGE PAID St. Paul, Minn. Permit No. 1962 II 11