Ash trees like these have captured the attention of New Ulm's City Council. If their application for $500,000 in grant money is approved, nearly all of the ash trees in New Ulm will be removed and replaced due to Emerald Ash Borer.

NEW ULM — A $500,000 grant application seeks to remove and replace a majority of the remaining ash trees in New Ulm due to Emerald Ash Borer.

Authorization to prepare and submit the application was approved at the New Ulm City Council meeting Tuesday. The application comes as around $6.9 million in grant funding has become available through ReLeaf Community Forest Grants. City Planner John Knisley described the scope of the current ash tree situation in New Ulm and what the grant would take care of.

“We had a total during two previous grants of $180,000. We removed 574 ash trees from those boulevard areas and replace them with other trees,” he said. “It’s a lot of trees taken down but at same time we’re taking the burden off the property owner for the expensive work of removing ash and then also replacing them. We still have around 1,033 ash trees left in our boulevards scattered throughout the city.”

Knisley said approval of this grant would fund the removal and replacement of 990 ash trees. Of the remaining ash trees, 11 of them would be treated and remain for now. These trees will stay because they provide shade in high-traffic areas otherwise exposed. A second, smaller grant in the amount of $21,586 is being submitted through Shade Tree Bonding Grants to remove and replace the remaining trees.

Knisley said there are several reasons New Ulm has a strong case to receive these grants. First, priority will be given to projects removing emerald ash borer. Second, priority is also given to those outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Third, the grant does not require a match. This means the city would not need to spend any money matching the grant funding they receive.

If the grant is accepted by ReLeaf, work would begin January 1, 2024 and finish by June 30, 2027. Knisley said there are businesses in the area eager to carry out the work in this timeframe.

“I’ve talked to three contractors locally,” he said. “I asked whether or not they’d be able to handle this many trees in that amount of time. They all felt confident they can do that.”

Council President Andrea Boettger asked how far Emerald Ash Borer has spread throughout Minnesota. She expressed concern about the potential pool of competitors for the almost $7 million, and how likely New Ulm would be able to get their full request.

“It’s not fully being experienced all the way to northern Minnesota,” Knisley said. “I feel like we have a good shot at applying for this maximum amount. Essentially what we can say to the to the DNR is ‘okay, if we did this grant, we can take care of almost all of the Ash on our boulevard areas. We don’t need to come back to you anymore for any additional grants.’ I feel like we have a strong application. Also our last two grants had really good results. The DNR was happy with our results as well.”

Councilman Les Schultz expressed interest in the council and/or mayor writing letters in favor of the project to bolster its likelihood of success. Knisley said they would happily accept those recommendation letters. Councilman Larry Mack made the motion to authorize staff to submit the grant application. The motion was seconded by Councilman Dave Christian.