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Beetle feasting on trees BAXTER CITY COUNCIL Staff Writer BAXTER - Oak trees in Baxter are under attack from the two-lined chestnut borer, a beetle whose larvae have been feeding on distressed trees in the city the past few years.
The Baxter City Council on Tuesday was given an overview of the problem by DNR Forester Dean Makey, who said oak trees, especially red oaks, have been distressed because of drought, injury caused by construction and defoliation by other insects.
When healthy, oak trees are able to defend against the chestnut borer, Makey said. That has not been the case in Baxter since 2006.
"We've got two years of dead trees out there that are good for firewood and hazards to homes," Makey said. " This year, the dead ones will start showing up in the next few weeks. It might even be too late for this year's rain to pull them through."
In a memo to the council, City Administrator Gordon Heitke and Public Works Director Trevor Walter noted nearly all the oaks in Whipple Beach Park are dying because of the chestnut borer and there will be significant consequences for private property owners and the city of Baxter in having to pay to remove the dead trees.
Unlike the emerald ash borer, which is attacking trees in the Twin Cities, the chestnut borer does not attack healthy trees.
The DNR says the best management against the two-lined chestnut borer is keeping trees healthy and vigorous through proper watering. Also avoid compacting the soil, changing the soil grade or water drainage pattern, damaging the bark, allowing significant amounts of defoliation by insects or anything else that may stress the tree. Anything that weakens tree health encourages borers.
If a tree is 50 percent to 60 percent dead, residents should have it removed in winter so nearby healthy trees are not disturbed, Makey said.
If average to above-average rainfall continues this year, Makey said the outbreak could collapse and no more oaks would die in 2010.
The council took no action Tuesday, but Heitke and Walter said the costs associated with the removal of trees will lead to the need for future discussion with the council and private property owners will also be facing the costs of tree removal as well as the loss of shade and privacy.
In other action, the council:
Tabled until its 2010 annual retreat discussion on the possibility of using administrative citations for traffic violations such as speeding.
Police Chief Jim Exsted said the way the new administrative citation law was passed by the Legislature this year would create a burden on officers as it sets a speed range for such citations, requires the use of tickets that are not compatible with the current records management system and would require the a third-party reviewing authority.
"It's kind of taking a step backward for us," Exsted said in reference to using it as a tool to enforce traffic rather than as a revenue generator, to which he was opposed.
Mayor Darrel Olson said with all the stipulations attached, the city would lose money if it implemented administrative citations. "I think it's intentionally written that way, to make it miserable so you wouldn't try it."
The issue was placed on Tuesday's agenda by council member Jim Klein, who said as long as police used discretion on judging speed it would be a good service for Baxter residents. Exsted said he wouldn't promote unethical action to apply to the citations.
Pequot Lakes was the only city issuing administrative citations prior to the law's amendment. No cities are currently issuing them, Exsted said, because the state has not created the tickets that are to be used.
Adjourned to 6 p.m. on July 20 for a 2010 budget workshop.
Directed staff to set up a meeting with the Minnesota Department of Transportation at 5:30 p.m. on July 15 to discuss the comments received during the open house for the Elder Drive and Highway 210 intersection improvements. An alternate date for the meeting is July 16.
Directed staff to draft a letter to MnDOT to ask for a meeting concerning the city's long-range plans for the Highway 210 corridor. "We've had a long-range plan for years now and it has not been blessed by MnDOT," council member Rob Moser said.
Moved the first regular city council meeting in August to 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 3.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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