[CANUFNET] Cost-Sharing Programs with Homeowners

Tue Aug 9 19:53:15 EDT 2016

Good evening everyone,

To follow up on Shelley's request for info, Montreal has implemented a cost sharing program for TreeAzin private treatments for the last couple of years. EAB was detected in Montreal in 2011. Other treatment options are not funded. Removals are not funded either. Planting isn't part of the subsidy program either, but there are other initiatives in place for tree planting (merits a whole other email altogether).

Historically, urban forestry (pruning, removal, planting and treatment) has been a competency managed by its 19 boroughs. This is where it gets a bit complicated. I'm sharing just a few examples of communities where detailed information is available in English for consultation.

FOR PUBLICLY OWNED TREES

Montreal does not have a city-wide program for citizens to treat public trees at their expense. The city is applying SLAM city-wide and investing in the treatment of private trees through subsidies.

It is possible that some cities and boroughs have modified their by-laws to allow for the treatment of public trees by private entities. I'm not aware of any local programs. Montreal's borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce amended its public nuisance by-law in 2014 which now authorizes private stakeholders to treat public ash trees at their expense. In the early days of infestation, the borough considered implementing an "Adopt an Ash" program so that citizens could chip in within sectors where treatment wasn't happening. Unfortunately, with personnel cuts, the borough no longer had a resource person for EAB to liaise with community stakeholders so the program was shelved. Nevertheless, the forester at the time had some great ideas. A few ideas to take away from this experience....

In order for the program to succeed several elements are key such as:

- Inspection by a competent urban forestry professional within the city to see if the investment is worth it (absence of mortality, construction damage etc) and to provide some honest/specialized advice to the citizen .

- Assurance that the treatment will be carried out by a competent urban forestry professional as well (ideally not a lawn guy or joe-pick-up)

- Document the treatment in a tree inventory to follow up on the tree's condition and to be able to assess further options/make informed decisions in the future.

Lesson learned? By the time the by-law was amended in 2014, there was too much mortality to justify allowing citizens to intervene in areas where the trees were too far gone. I'm led to believe that some undocumented treatments occurred (maybe a handful at the most). But in my opinion, I think allowing citizens to treat without presenting all possible options or allowing citizens to treat where insect pressure is strong isn't a very honest way to do things.

Advice? If EAB is present and doing damage in your community, it's likely that this investment will not be viable. If EAB hasn't reached your community yet, take your biggest, healthiest and most interesting trees and DON'T WAIT. If Council won't move, consider applying for grants through organizations like Tree Canada, your local chamber of commerce or any other non-profit devoted to subsidizing green initiatives.

FOR PRIVATELY-OWNED TREES - a bit of clarification needed

The borough of Saint-Laurent implemented its own strategy in 2013. Their cost sharing program is a bit different. Other municipalities in the Greater Montreal Area have adopted a similar framework. St-Laurent operates through an "official service provider" program. Citizens can call a private company, designated by the borough council, to have their private trees treated at a pre-established rate. The rates were set by diameter class. You can find more information about Saint-Laurent's program here:

http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=8297,122605590&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Other communities simply finance 50% of the treatment cost. Most municipalities work on a reimbursement basis. The citizen presents a bill and other documentation proving that their ash trees were treated and the municipality offers a subsidy. There is usually a cap per address per year: http://www.pointe-claire.ca/en/news/2016/07/13/fighting-the-emerald-ash-borer/<http://www.pointe-claire.ca/en/news/2016/07/13/fighting-the-emerald-ash-borer/><http://www.pointe-claire.ca/en/news/2016/07/13/fighting-the-emerald-ash-borer/>

Since 2014, emerald ash borer in Montreal has become widely centralized with efforts attempting to harmonizeactions for private home owners across the 19 boroughs. This all comes in the wake of Montreal's By-law 15-040 to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer on the territory of Montreal which has been in effect in spring of 2015.

This website outlines step by step how the subsidy program works in Montreal. Indeed, it is a program with a lot of criteria and protocols : http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=8797,142106032&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL#subvention

Shelley, you wanted more information on the difficulties encountered and how big city programs have been holding out. Your question couldn't have come at a better time. This exact issue was covered in our local media yesterday : http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-ash-borer-1.3711382

[http://i.cbc.ca/1.2655444.1461165614!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_1180/emerald-ash-borer.jpg]<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-ash-borer-1.3711382>

'I don't know what more we could do': Residents not responding to city's ash borer efforts<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-ash-borer-1.3711382>
www.cbc.ca
Montreal has set aside $1 million for a program that subsidizes up to half the cost of treatments to protect ash trees found on private property, but only 500 of the 12,500 residents contacted by the city have taken advantage of the funds.

Happy reading!

All the best,

Meg

Meagan Hanna, MA.
meagan.hanna at mail.mcgill.ca
________________________________
From: CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net> on behalf of Azadeh Rashvand <azadeh.rashvand at richmondhill.ca>
Sent: August 8, 2016 11:35:10 AM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Cost-Sharing Programs with Homeowners

Hi Shelley,

The Town of Richmond Hill's EAB Management Strategy (2011) includes a treatment program for two types of Town-owned trees:

        -       The treatment of specimen ash trees, i.e., large ash trees that provide a special amenity to the community and having a truck diameter of                greater than 50cm, and
        -       The treatment of the largest and healthiest 50% of ash trees along streets predominantly lined with ash trees, where the average trunk           diameter is greater than 20cm.

In 2011, Richmond Hill also developed a separate program which allowed residents to pay for the treatment of Town-owned ash trees that didn't qualify for the Town's treatment program. The program involves a permitting process which allows property owners to arrange for Town-owned ash trees adjacent to their property to be treated with TreeAzin at their own expense. There is no fee for property owners to apply, however, they must submit a completed permit application and await approval from Town-staff before proceeding. You can access the application through the following link:

http://www.richmondhill.ca/documents/treeazin_permit_application.pdf

Since the development of the "Resident Pay Program", we have received only around 10 applications and most of them haven't continued with the treatment process.

There are other resources related to Richmond Hill's EAB program on the following page:
www.Richmondhill.ca/EAB<http://www.Richmondhill.ca/EAB>

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Azadeh

Azadeh Rashvand, B.Sc., M.E.Sc., EP
Natural Environment Coordinator
Environment Services  |  Environment & Infrastructure Services
T 905 771 5540  |  Azadeh.rashvand at richmondhill.ca  |  Richmondhill.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: CANUFNET [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Shelley Vescio
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2016 11:53 PM
To: Canufnet
Subject: [CANUFNET] Cost-Sharing Programs with Homeowners

Hello,
I am interested to hear about programs that cities have initiated to share the cost with homeowners of treating municipal trees for EAB.  I would like to know how successful they have been, what percentage of the cost that homeowners pay, what trees are eligible and what difficulties have been encountered.

We have recently discovered EAB in Thunder Bay and City Council wants me to explore cost-sharing opportunities. Any information would be helpful.  Thanks.

Shelley Vescio RPF
City Forester
Thunder Bay, ON

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