Politics & Government
St. Charles Might Issue Bonds to Fight Emerald Ash Borer
Geneva continues to battle the ash borer without asking taxpayers for more dollars, but St. Charles takes another approach, issuing bonds to cover expenses incurred, including tree removal and replanting.
While Geneva continues to remove and replace ash trees as public safety demands and its budget allows, St. Charles officials are considering a different approach: issuing bonds to fight the infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer.
St. Charles' Government Operations Committee, which met immediately following Monday night's City Council meeting, supported the plan to pay to fight the beetles. Officials alsog gave unanimous consent to a resolution of official intent to reimburse themselves for any expense between now and issuance of the bonds. Reimbursement will begin 60 days prior to passage of the ordinance, Finance Director Chris Minick said.
Minick did not express a value of the bonds that will be issued to fight the borer.
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Geneva, meanwhile, will remove infested parkway trees and replace with different species as funds are available, according to the city's website. The highest priority is parkway trees that are either dead or are in a hazardous condition.
In Geneva, parkway trees that are infested but are non hazardous will be removed as requested by adjacent property owner. The city will not perform pruning on parkway ash trees, and replacement parkway trees will be planted as funding is available or via the 50/50 Replacement Parkway Tree Program. Geneva's Parkway Tree Planting Policy can be found here.
Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In St. Charles' proposal, the money raised from bonds will be used for tree removal and replanting, among other ways to fight the infestation.
In addition to issuing bonds to fight the infestation, St. Charles is participating in n the Legacy Tree Project, a five-year program in partnership with Valent Professional Products to prevent tree loss resulting from emerald ash borers.
About 4,000 ash trees are currently found in St. Charles parkways, with another 10,000 to 15,000 on private property. To combat the spread, the city has removed nearly 1,500 affected ash trees and applied preventive treatment to about 500 trees.
In Geneva, more than 11,000 trees make up city's parkway canopies. The ash species account for approximately 20 percent of that number.
