Title
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ACCEPTANCE OF A COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING GRANT OF $213,705 FROM THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES TO SUPPORT REPLACEMENT OF TREES LOST TO EMERALD ASH BORER AND ESTABLISH A MORE RESILIENT URBAN FOREST.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
WHEREAS, resolution 25-0727R authorized an application for up to $385,000 in funding from the Community Tree Planting grant program to support replacement of trees lost to emerald ash borer and establish a more resilient urban forest.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the proper City officials are hereby authorized to accept and execute the grant agreement, substantially in the form of Exhibit A, with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for funding in an amount not to exceed $213,705 with said funds to be deposited into fund 205-130-1221-4220-02-CM205-PKMTCE-25CTP (parks fund, community resources, parks maintenance, State of Minnesota operating grants, capital maintenance fund 205, parks maintenance, 2025 community tree planting grant).
FURTHER RESOLVED, there is no local match required for the Community Tree Planting grant and no match is being committed by the City of Duluth.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Duluth City Council names the fiscal agent for this project as Nina Salinas, City of Duluth Finance Director, 411 West First Street, Duluth, MN 55802.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution authorizes acceptance of a Community Tree Planting grant in an amount not to exceed $213,705 from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to support replacement of trees lost to emerald ash borer and establish a more resilient urban forest. There is no local matching requirement for this grant program.
The funding will support continued progress to address remaining dead and dying ash trees and replanting efforts that exceed available resources for City staff time or funds to support contractor support. The grant funds will support removal of 600 dead or dying boulevard ash trees and replacement plantings of a variety of native and climate-adapted species within these ten neighborhoods. The invasive EAB was confirmed in Duluth in October 2015, and the City of Duluth has been working hard to respond to dead and dying ash trees since then. City staff and equipment capacity is outpaced by EAB damage, in addition to the typical workload maintaining Duluth’s urban forest. The priority in recent years has been cutting the dead and dying trees to remove the standing biomass, which presents the greatest public safety threat posed by the brittle dead trees that are at a high and unpredictable risk of structural failure. Due to capacity constraints, Duluth is left with a backlog of ash stumps that must be removed to accommodate replacement plantings.
The requested funds will allow Duluth to hire qualified contractors to remove 513 dead ash stumps and remove 87 dangerous trees efficiently and safely, then City staff will replace these removals to support urban canopy recovery within ten neighborhoods. Without the requested funds, staff will continue to triage removal of the most dangerous trees as they present, and the backlog of stump grinding will continue to accumulate, thereby hindering the recovery of Duluth’s community forest after widespread EAB damage.