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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1F, Forestry Update and DiscussionEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: October 19, 2009 Item LF TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Ron Moorse, City Administrator FROM: Greg Hoag, Public Works Director SUBJECT: Forestry Update and Discussion BackLyround The City of Arden Hills has continued the long tradition of maintaining an urban forest on public and private lands within the city. To assist in monitoring and maintaining the urban forest the city has certified tree inspectors on staff who can address forestry issues with our residents as well as other city staff. This service is made available at no additional costs to our residents. The main emphasis of the forestry program is diseased and hazardous tree management as well as public education and assistance. The tree inspectors respond to approximately fifty requests about tree issues each year. The majority of these requests are related to diseased tree management of Dutch Elm Disease (DED), Oak Wilt (OW), and more recently Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). While DED has slowed down the last several years in Arden Hills, OW has been steady. To date no cases of EAB have been identified in Arden Hills. We continue to monitor its movement in the metro area. The closest confirmed case of EAB is on the U of M St. Paul campus in the city of Falcon Heights. It is expected that EAB will become the primary tree disease of concern in the next several years, and will have the same types of effects on the urban forest that DED had in the 1970's. Our tree inspectors estimate that there are several hundred ash trees in our city parks. This does not include any ash trees on boulevards in the public right of way throughout the city. Over the summer, the City Council brought several forestry related items to staff s attention. These items included: procedures we use for day to day forestry requests, how are we going to react to EAB if and when it arrives in Arden Hills, long term health and current condition of the trees planted along Highway 96, and the Friends of the Parks tree planting program. Staff would like to use the time in the work session to discuss these and any other forestry related items with, the City Council. The Council feedback will be used to guide the forestry program, which will reflect current forestry activities, as well as the Council's forestry priorities. Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Earlier this summer City Council adopted changes to the City Code chapter 7, Section 710 — Trees and Vegetation. The changes made added EAB as a shade tree disease in the code, giving our foresters the tools to deal with trees identified with EAB. Trees with EAB can now be ordered to be removed in order to prevent or slow the spread of disease, with the same processes set out for dealing with DED and OW trees. Highway 96 Trees In 2006 a project for landscaping on Highway 96 was completed. This project included the planting of 186 trees. These trees came with a two year warranty. All trees that died within the first two years were replaced by the contractor at no additional cost to the City. A recent inventory of the trees shows that 136 trees are alive and well, 29 trees are suffering decline and most likely will die, 12 trees are missing (lost due to vehicle accidents and/or have died and not been replaced), and 9 trees are dead. The cost to replace a tree similar in size is between $200 and $300 each. Thus, we could anticipate $15,000 to replace the current dead, missing and trees in decline. There would also be additional costs for labor to have these trees planted and to provide them with extra water and care needed for the first 2-3 growing seasons. Tree Planting and Reforestation Currently the City does not budget for tree replacement or additional trees to be added to public land. In the past few years some trees have been replaced using funds from the tree removal budget. We do work closely with the Friends of the Parks group in Ramsey County and participate each year in their tree donation program. This program provides the City with approximately 15-20 trees each year donated by residents. The donor has the choice of where they would like their tree planted. This has typically been in our parks. We have asked this group if these trees need to be planted solely in parks or could we expand the program to allow some flexibility to plant them on other public property or on boulevards in the public right of way. Ramsey County Friends of the Parks has indicated that they are willing to work with the City to expand the program to include these other types of replacement trees. One draw back to this program is that the trees used in the program are very small young trees which need extra care for many years to promote their long term health. Other Tree trimming for long term health, is a challenge for our staff. Many of the trees require a bucket truck to safely and properly prune the trees. The city does not own this type of equipment and our staff is not trained in the use of this type of equipment. The most cost effective way to trim would be to consider using a private tree company for this service. Long term trimming of trees will become a larger issue as many of our young trees develop and need trimming. The current rate we have from our existing contractor is $180 per hour for a crew and related equipment for tree trimming. An example of what types of long term costs this may have is: The City of Falcon Heights has broken their city up into five zones and completes tree trimming in one zone each year on a rotating schedule. Their budget for tree trimming alone in 2009 is $16,000. Financial Issues The approved 2009 budget for tree removal and weed control services in the city is $37,590. This is the same funding proposed in the 2010 budget. The past several years this has been adequate funding to deal with DED and OW issues, as well as other hazardous tree related issues. In order for us to expand our forestry program we will need to find funding sources to support it. There may be grants or other Federal funding that becomes available for EAR Staff is also always looking for any grant programs to help defray costs for all of our projects and programs. Trees are a sound public investment and add value to the city in a relatively inexpensive way. Proactively addressing forestry issues will help to protect this investment. Council Direction Requested Direction regarding priority activities to be included in the City's forestry program.