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Authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to partner with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to submit a United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA-FS), State Urban Forest Resilience (SUFR) grant application for a total of $488,400 to address the critical need to restore and improve urban forests due to catastrophic losses from Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), which requires a minimum 1:1 match, of which the City of Saint Paul will be responsible for $100,000 satisfied by budgeted CIB funds for citywide tree planting.
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WHEREAS, the urban forest in the City of Saint Paul has been devastated by the EAB infestation for over a decade; and
WHEREAS, City budgets do not allow for assistance with tree planting costs on private properties; and
WHEREAS, private property trees are an integral part of the urban forest which include over half of the existing and potential urban tree canopy; and
WHEREAS, these grant funds provide a unique opportunity to assist with subsidized private tree sales; and
WHEREAS, the USDA-FS SUFR grant program is providing grants to state agencies who will pass funding through to Tree Trust, a local non-profit, and four municipalities including Saint Paul, to plant trees on public lands and private properties; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul currently has an annual Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) of $330,000 for citywide tree planting on public rights-of-way and parkland; and
WHEREAS, the USDA-FS requires a minimum 1:1 match for the grant, $100,000 of which the City of Saint Paul will be responsible for, that is satisfied by annual budgeted CIB funds; and
WHEREAS, matching funds will be used for planting on public properties only; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul’s Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking approval to partner with the DNR to submit a grant application requesting $488,400 through this program to provide $100,000 in funds for a subsidized private property tree sale in Saint Paul; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council authorizes the Parks and Recreation Department to partner with the Minnesota DNR and to apply for the grant, and if the grant is awarded, enter into a joint powers agreement with the Minnesota DNR which includes indemnification language, on the USDA-FS State Urban Forest Resilience Grant Program.