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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, June 13, 2016 <br />Page 15 <br />Cynthia Warzecha, Nancy O'Brien, Luke Heikkila, Jamie Becker-Firul, Ronald <br />Bole, Lee Diedrick <br />Chair Newby thanked the City Council for this opportunity to briefly review pro- <br />jects the commission was working on and updating them on projects still in pro- <br />cess. Chair Newby delegated reports on various activities and accomplishments <br />_ as detailed in the _RCA to Commissioners Becker-Finn, Heikkala, Gelbach and <br />Stoner. Chair Newby concluded the presentation by addressing other activities <br />before seeking feedback from the City Council. <br />Commissioner Gelbach noted a typographical error in the "Summer Fun 2016 <br />Events" flyer on the date of the parade shown as a Thursday, when it was Mon- <br />day, June 27, 2016. <br />At the request of Commissioner Becker-Finn, Assistant Parks and Recreation Di- <br />rector Jill Anfang reported that 110 volunteers had volunteered approximately 900 <br />hours on Community Playground Builds to-date. <br />Considerable discussion was held on the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) update, <br />prompted by Councilmember McGehee's request to know more about the city's <br />goal for the program. <br />Chair Newby advised that the commission and staff were exploring ways to min- <br />iinize the impact on Roseville, with one option to treat individual trees even <br />though he noted this was an expensive option and not always practical. Since the <br />borer appears here to stay, Chair Newby reported that when exploring various al- <br />ternatives with a goal not to isolate the disease, but consider replacement trees, <br />reinoval of diseased trees, or treatment if appropriate while realizing treatment <br />may not be the most cost-effective measure depending on the number of trees in- <br />fected. Chair Newby reported that another option was finding new species that <br />were not as susceptible to the borer. <br />At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Commissioner O'Brien responded to <br />the question if trees were found infected, if they could withstand infestation with- <br />out treatment. Commissioner O'Brien reported on information the commission <br />had been told through consultation with the city's arborist, that once treatment <br />was begun it needed to be continued for the life of the tree or was not viable. <br />Commissioner O'Brien noted that was one reason why the long-term process be- <br />came expense for areas unless those trees were important in a certain area. Com- <br />missioner O'Brien suggested that the reports from the arborist that the Commis- <br />sion received on a regular basis could be shared with the City Council more fre- <br />quently to keep everyone more informed. Commissioner O'Brien noted EAB <br />seemed to now be moving like wildfire, and assured the City Council and public <br />that the city was working locally but also with Ramsey County to address EAB <br />infestation. <br />