DEPARTMENT: Parks
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
title
Authorization And Execution Of Real Property Declaration For Shade Tree Bonding Grant Reimbursement Of Thompson County Park Natural Resource Improvements
end
PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Authorize the Chair of the Dakota County Board of Commissioners to execute a General Obligation Bond Financed Declaration, which places restrictions on real property for Thompson County Park natural resource improvements made possible with a Department of Natural Resources Shade Tree Bonding Grant.
SUMMARY
Emerald ash borer (EAB) is a non-native insect pest that was discovered in Saint Paul in 2009, and its presence has significantly altered the forests of Dakota County Parks and Greenway Corridors as thousands of mature ash trees have succumbed to EAB infestation.
The ecological and public safety threat and estimated costs of EAB mitigation were analyzed in a 2018 internal technical document, The Dakota County Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan. Areas in the northern part of the County have been impacted first, and Thompson County Park in West St. Paul was identified as an initial mitigation area within the 2020 Thompson County Park Natural Resources Management Plan by Resolution No. 20-037 (January 21, 2020). To assess priority removal areas within Thompson County Park, a trailside tree survey was conducted in 2015 that identified 225 mature ash trees that pose public safety hazards now that they have died. Additional resources are required to remove these hazard trees and replace them with different tree species.
The Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program secured State Bonding funds for a Fiscal Year 2021-2024 grant program to city and county governments towards the replacement of ash trees that have been impacted by EAB. By Resolution No. 21-495 (October 19, 2021), Dakota County executed a grant agreement awarded by this program for the removal and replacement of 225 ash trees in Thompson...
Click here for full text