HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03.a.ivMemorandum
To: Mayor and City Council
Steven C. Mielke, City Administrator
Dennis Feller, Finance Director
From: Christopher J. Petree, Public Works Director
Date: 31 October 2013
Subject: Forestry Program
Purpose
Evaluate options for maintaining and managing Lakeville's urban forest.
ITEM 3.a.iv
City of Lakeville
Public Works
Discussion
The City has, through its planning and ordinances, created an urban forest, a complex system
of trees and smaller plants that contributes to the quality of resident's daily lives.
It provides environmental, psychological, and economic benefits ranging from improved air
and water quality to savings from decreased heating and cooling costs to aesthetically
pleasing neighborhoods and increased resale values.
Specific plantings along boulevards, tree preservation within subdivisions, buffers adjacent to
wetlands and watercourses, tree planting within parks, and screening were industrial,
commercial, and institutional sites abut a residential district are all a part of the City's urban
forest.
Care and maintenance of a healthy urban forest contributes to the economic vitality of the
City, provides environmental stability, and ensures a better quality of life. In effect, the urban
forest represents green infrastructure as opposed to built infrastructure and has an effect on
storm water, energy use, and sustainable development.
To remain viable and healthy, the urban forest should be managed appropriately:
• Trees should be inventoried and periodically evaluated for damage that may limit the
life of the tree or, worst case, diseases that can spread and destroy a species.
• The City's own investment in trees should be managed to continue to contribute to
higher property values and aesthetics, as well as identifying new areas for plantings.
• Plans should be developed that are proactive in responding to migrating infestations
such as emerald ash borer, or establish processes and policies for addressing shade
tree diseases like oak wilt and Dutch elm disease.
• Plats and development designs should be knowledgeably reviewed to ensure that
ordinance requirements for landscaping and buffer yards are met.
• Improvement projects should be knowledgably reviewed to ensure that precautions
are taken, risks mitigated, residents notified, and the urban forest is considered during
design and construction.
• Expert direction should be provided to Streets and Parks Maintenance division staff in
developing maintenance plans for scheduling and prioritizing annual tree trimming
and tree replacement.
• A central source should be available to respond to resident enquiries and provide
education concerning tree identification, disease control, tree maintenance practices,
and current laws and requirements for removal of diseased or infested trees.
The City must also be respond to emergencies that affect the urban forest. An emergency can
be a natural disaster like a tornado, wind storm, or heavy snowfall or it can be the onset of an
infestation, like emerald ash borer, or disease, like Dutch elm disease, that is known to
devastate a species and affect the City's green infrastructure.
• Natural disasters tend to be random; severe weather is forecast, but there may be no
impact locally. Conversely, tree infestations and tree diseases are not random. They
follow an expected course, can be spread through any number of transport options,
and provide a known, and quantifiable, amount of damage.
• The City's response to natural disasters is encompassed in its Emergency Action Plan.
Staff spends time learning and developing ways to evacuate residents from hazardous
situations, deal with hazardous material, handle casualties, and manage storm debris.
Money is spent to equip emergency responders, to include Public Works, with
equipment and provide training on emergency management.
• Little is done to train or equip staff to handle parasite infestations or diseases that
affects the urban forest. The outcome, though slower in its occurrence, is no less
devastating than a comparable natural disaster.
• Largely, the response to infestations and diseases that affect the urban forest is
reactive.
- Emerald ash borer was on the Minnesota - Wisconsin border before it became a
topic at arborist seminars.
- Emerald ash borer was in St. Paul before the state authorized grant money for
some cities to being planning on how to handle the infestation.
• Lakeville does not have the staff available to even begin some of the elementary
planning processes to deal with emerald ash borer and is completely reactive to
diseases like oak wilt.
2
Without appropriate staffing, the City can only provide reactive management of its urban
forest. This hinders response to natural disasters, infestations, and diseases affecting the
urban forest. It also may result in the City will losing the benefits provided by an urban forest,
improved water and air quality, cooling and shade, and improved ecological health of the
urban environment.
Options
To meet the needs of its urban forest, the City can:
a) Status Quo. Continue as it has for the past several years with existing staff providing
basic management of the urban forest. Infested and diseased trees will be evaluated
on a case by case basis, using consultants where necessary; trimming, removal, and
replanting will be done to the best of the staff's ability; residents will be directed to
private contractors for answers and support.
No cost in the near -term. When the EAB infests the community, City will be reactive to
the issue and risk inefficient administration especially as it relates to project
management and cost control.
b) Contract for forestry services. Use of a contractor for forestry services would be on a
per hour basis and limited, to some extent, to reacting to ongoing infestations and
diseases. This option would, in part, support the work of City staff in responding to
City and resident needs. Funding to meet planning needs would bring this closer to a
full time position.
Minimal cost in the near -term. Implementation of long -term policy development,
project management and cost controls postponed to future years.
c) Establish a full time City Forester position. This would meet all of the planning,
maintenance, and management needs of the City. It would support and provide
stewardship to maintain a healthy and viable urban forest, provide environmental
stability, and contribute to the City's quality of life.
Investment in near -term policy development and project planning will better position
City for optimal cost control in future years.
Conclusion
1. The first two options provide for a low level of maintenance of the City's urban forest
and would continue to provide some level of maintenance as developed areas grow
and the urban forest expands. Planning would be on an as- time - permitted basis and
take away from other tasks and activities in the management and maintenance of the
City's existing infrastructure. Infestations and diseases would be reacted to, or at best,
be provided with just -in -time solutions through a contractor or consultant.
2. Establishing a full time position would enable the City to become proactive in the
management and maintenance of its urban forest. It would allow the development of
3
plans and the evaluation of solutions to meet infestations and diseases. It would be
active in support of ongoing City forestry tasks as well as in responding to resident
concerns over both boulevard and private trees.
3. Regardless of the outcome, maintaining and managing an urban forest will cost the
City money.
• There will be costs associated with removing and destroying diseased ash trees as
well as those affected by oak wilt and Dutch elm disease.
• There will be costs associated with tree replacement and their establishment.
• There will be societal and City infrastructure costs associated with the loss of tree
benefits.
Recommendation
Staff recommends establishing a Forestry Program and hiring a full -time Forester position as
proposed in the 2014 budget.
4
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