1997 Minnesota Statutes

     18.023 Shade tree disease control. 

    Subdivision 1.    Definitions.  As used in subdivisions 
 1 to 12 the terms defined in this subdivision shall have the 
 meanings given them. 

    (a) "Metropolitan area" means the area comprising the 
 counties of Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota, Washington, Scott 
 and Carver.  

    (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture.  

    (c) "Municipality" means any home rule charter or statutory 
 city or any town exercising municipal powers pursuant to section 
 368.01, or any general or special law, located in the 
 metropolitan area; or any special park district as organized 
 under chapter 398; or any special purpose park and recreation 
 board organized under the city charter of a city of the first 
 class located in the metropolitan area; or any county in the 
 metropolitan area for the purposes of county owned property or 
 any portion of a county located outside the geographic 
 boundaries of a city or town exercising municipal powers; and 
 any municipality or county located outside the metropolitan area 
 with an approved disease control program.  

    (d) "Shade tree disease" means Dutch elm disease, oak wilt, 
 or any disorder affecting the growth and life of shade trees.  

    (e) "Wood utilization or disposal system" means facilities, 
 equipment or systems used for the removal and disposal of 
 diseased shade trees which includes the collection, 
 transportation, processing or storage of wood and which aids in 
 the recovery of materials or energy from wood.  

    (f) "Approved disease control program" means the municipal 
 plan as approved by the commissioner to control shade tree 
 disease.  

    (g) "Disease control area" means an area approved by the 
 commissioner within which a municipality will conduct an 
 approved disease control program.  

    (h) "Sanitation" means the identification, inspection, 
 disruption of a common root system, girdling, trimming, removal, 
 and disposal of dead or diseased wood of shade trees, including 
 subsidies for trees removed pursuant to subdivision 4, on public 
 or private property within a disease control area.  

    (i) "Reforestation" means the replacement of shade trees 
 removed from public property and the planting of any species of 
 tree as part of a municipal disease control program.  For 
 purposes of this clause, "public property" shall include private 
 property within five feet of the boulevard or street terrace in 
 any city which has enacted an ordinance on or before January 1, 
 1977, that prohibits or requires a permit for the planting of 
 trees in the public right-of-way.  

    Subd. 1a. Repealed, 1987 c 396 art 11 s 21 

    Subd. 2.    Commissioner to adopt rules.  The 
 commissioner shall adopt and may amend rules relating to shade 
 tree disease control in any municipality, as defined in 
 subdivision 1.  The rules shall prescribe control measures to be 
 used to prevent the spread of shade tree diseases and shall 
 include the following:  (a) A definition of shade tree, (b) 
 qualifications for tree inspectors, (c) methods of identifying 
 diseased shade trees, (d) procedures for giving reasonable 
 notice of inspection of private real property, (e) measures for 
 the removal of any shade tree which may contribute to the spread 
 of shade tree disease, and for reforestation of disease control 
 areas, (f) approved methods of treatment of shade trees, (g) 
 criteria for priority designation areas in an approved disease 
 control program, and (h) any other matters determined necessary 
 by the commissioner to prevent the spread of shade tree disease 
 and enforce the provisions of this section.  After reasonable 
 notice of inspection an owner of the real property on which a 
 diseased shade tree is located shall remove or treat the tree 
 within the period of time and in the manner established by the 
 commissioner.  Diseased shade trees which are not removed or 
 treated in compliance with the commissioner's rules shall be 
 declared a public nuisance and removed or treated by approved 
 methods by the municipality which may assess the total expense, 
 which shall be limited to the lowest contract rates available, 
 provided said rates include wage levels which meet Minnesota 
 minimum wage standards, or any part thereof to the property and 
 the expense shall become a lien on the property.  A municipality 
 may assess not more than 50 percent of the expense of treating 
 with an approved method or removing diseased shade trees located 
 on street terraces or boulevards to the abutting properties and 
 the assessment shall become a lien on the property. 

    Subd. 3.    Rules; applicability to municipalities.  The 
 rules of the commissioner shall apply in a municipality unless 
 the municipality adopts an ordinance which is determined by the 
 commissioner to be more stringent than the rules of the 
 commissioner.  The rules of the commissioner or the more 
 stringent ordinance of the municipality shall be in effect 60 
 days from March 31, 1974.  The rules of the commissioner or the 
 municipality shall apply to all state agencies, special purpose 
 districts and metropolitan commissions as defined in section 
 473.121, subdivision 5a, which own or control land adjacent to 
 or within a shade tree disease control area in Laws 1975, 
 chapter 253. 

    Subd. 3a.    Grants to municipalities.  (a) The 
 commissioner may, in the name of the state and within the limit 
 of appropriations provided, make grants-in-aid to a municipality 
 with an approved disease control program for the partial funding 
 of municipal sanitation and reforestation programs.  The 
 commissioner may make grants-in-aid to any home rule charter or 
 statutory city, or any special purpose park and recreation board 
 organized under a charter of a city of the first class or any 
 nonprofit corporation serving a city of the first class or any 
 county having an approved disease control program for the 
 acquisition or implementation of a wood utilization or disposal 
 system. 

    (b) The commissioner shall promulgate rules for the 
 administration of grants authorized by this subdivision.  The 
 rules shall establish and contain as a minimum: 

    (1) Procedures for grant applications; 

    (2) Conditions and procedures for the administration of 
 grants; 

    (3) Criteria of eligibility for grants including, but not 
 limited to, those specified in this subdivision; and 

    (4) Other matters the commissioner may find necessary to 
 the proper administration of the grant program. 

    (c) Grants-in-aid payments for wood utilization and 
 disposal systems made by the commissioner pursuant to this 
 subdivision shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the 
 system.  Grants for sanitation and reforestation shall be 
 combined into one grant program.  Grants to any municipality for 
 sanitation shall not exceed 50 percent of sanitation costs 
 approved by the commissioner including any amount of sanitation 
 costs paid by special assessments, ad valorem taxes, federal 
 grants or other funds.  A municipality shall not specially 
 assess a property owner any amount greater than the amount of 
 the tree's sanitation cost minus the amount of the tree's 
 sanitation cost reimbursed by the commissioner.  Grants to 
 municipalities for reforestation shall not exceed 50 percent of 
 the cost, but not more than $50 per tree, of trees planted 
 pursuant to the reforestation program; provided that a 
 reforestation grant to any county may include 90 percent of the 
 cost, but not more than $60 per tree, of the first 50 trees 
 planted on public property in a town not described in 
 subdivision 1 and of less than 1,000 population upon the town's 
 application to the county.  Reforestation grants to towns and 
 home rule charter or statutory cities as described in 
 subdivision 1 of less than 4,000 population with an approved 
 disease control program may include 90 percent of the cost, but 
 not more than $60 per tree, of the first 50 trees planted on 
 public property with the approval of the 1979 application.  The 
 governing body of any municipality which receives a 
 reforestation grant pursuant to this section shall appoint up to 
 seven residents of the municipality or designate an existing 
 municipal board or committee to serve as a reforestation 
 advisory committee to advise the governing body of the 
 municipality in the administration of the reforestation 
 program.  For the purpose of this subdivision, "cost" shall not 
 include the value of a gift or dedication of trees required by a 
 municipal ordinance but shall include documented "in kind" 
 services or voluntary work for municipalities with a population 
 of less than 1,000 according to the most recent federal census. 

    (d) Based upon estimates submitted by the municipality to 
 the commissioner, which shall state the estimated costs of 
 sanitation and reforestation in the succeeding quarter under an 
 approved program, the commissioner shall direct quarterly 
 advance payments to be made by the state to the municipality 
 commencing April 1, 1979.  The commissioner shall direct 
 adjustment of any overestimate in a succeeding quarter.  A 
 municipality may elect to receive the proceeds of its sanitation 
 and reforestation grants on a periodic cost reimbursement basis. 

    (e) A home rule charter or statutory city, or county 
 outside the metropolitan area or any municipality, as defined in 
 subdivision 1, may submit an application for a grant authorized 
 by this subdivision concurrently with its request for approval 
 of a disease control program. 

    Subd. 3b.    Limitations upon grants to metropolitan area. 
  The commissioner shall not make grants for sanitation and 
 reforestation or wood utilization and disposal systems in excess 
 of 67 percent of the amounts appropriated for those purposes to 
 the municipalities located within the metropolitan area, as 
 defined in subdivision 1.  

    Subd. 4.    Subsidies to certain owners.  A 
 municipality may provide subsidies to nonprofit organizations, 
 to owners of private residential property of five acres or less, 
 to owners of property used for a homestead of more than five 
 acres but less than 20 acres and to nonprofit cemeteries, 
 however organized, for the approved treatment or removal of 
 diseased shade trees. 

    Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an owner of 
 property on which shade trees are located may contract with a 
 municipality to provide protection against the cost of approved 
 treatment or removal of diseased shade trees or shade trees that 
 will contribute to the spread of shade tree diseases.  Under 
 such contracts, the municipality shall pay for the removal or 
 approved treatment under such terms and conditions as may be 
 determined by the governing body of the municipality. 

    Subd. 5.    Tree inspector.  (a) Within 75 days from 
 March 31, 1974, the governing body of each municipality shall 
 appoint a qualified person to administer the rules of the 
 commissioner or the more stringent shade tree disease control 
 ordinance who shall be known as the tree inspector.  In 
 accordance with the provisions of section 471.59, two or more 
 municipalities may jointly appoint a tree inspector for the 
 purpose of administering the rules or ordinance within their 
 communities.  In those municipalities which have not appointed a 
 tree inspector upon the expiration of 75 days from March 31, 
 1974, the commissioner may appoint a tree inspector to serve the 
 municipality until the municipality has made an appointment.  If 
 the commissioner is unable to make such appointment, the 
 commissioner may assign a qualified employee of the department 
 of agriculture to perform the duties of the tree inspector.  The 
 expense of a tree inspector appointed by the commissioner shall 
 be paid by the municipality.  If an employee of the department 
 of agriculture performs such duties the expense shall be billed 
 to the municipality and paid into the state treasury and 
 credited to the general fund. 

    (b) Upon a determination by the commissioner that a 
 candidate for the position of the inspector is qualified, the 
 commissioner shall issue a certificate of qualification to the 
 tree inspector.  Any person certified as a tree inspector by the 
 commissioner is authorized upon prior notification to enter and 
 inspect any public or private property which might harbor 
 diseased shade trees. 

    (c) The commissioner may upon notice and hearing, decertify 
 any tree inspector when it appears that said tree inspector has 
 failed to act competently or in the public interest in the 
 performance of duties.  Such notice shall be provided and the 
 hearing conducted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 
 14, governing contested case proceedings.  Nothing in this 
 clause shall limit or otherwise affect the authority of a 
 municipality to dismiss or suspend a tree inspector at its 
 discretion; except as otherwise provided by law. 

    Subd. 6.  Repealed, 1977 c 90 s 15 

    Subd. 7.    Financing.  (a) A municipality may collect 
 the amount assessed against the property under subdivision 2 as 
 a special assessment and may issue obligations as provided in 
 section 429.101, subdivision 1, provided that a municipality at 
 its option make any assessment levied payable with interest in 
 installments not to exceed five years from the date of the 
 assessment. 

    (b) After a contract for the sanitation or approved 
 treatment of trees on private property has been let, or the work 
 commenced, the municipality may issue obligations to defray the 
 expense of any such work financed by special assessments imposed 
 upon private property.  Section 429.091 shall apply to such 
 obligations with the following modifications: 

    (1) such obligations shall be payable not more than five 
 years from the date of issuance; and 

    (2) no election shall be required. 

    The certificates shall not be included in the net debt of 
 the issuing municipality. 

    Subd. 8.    Deposit of proceeds in separate fund.  The 
 proceeds of any tax levied, assessments and interest collected, 
 or any bonds or certificates of indebtedness issued under 
 subdivision 7 and any grants received under subdivision 3a, 
 shall be deposited in the municipal treasury in a separate fund 
 and expended only for the purposes authorized by this section. 

    Subd. 9.    Diagnostic laboratory.  The commissioner of 
 agriculture shall operate a diagnostic laboratory for culturing 
 diseased trees for positive identification of diseased shade 
 trees. 

    Subd. 10.    Cooperation by university.  The University 
 of Minnesota college of agriculture shall cooperate with the 
 department of agriculture in control of shade tree disease.  The 
 college of agriculture shall also conduct research into means 
 for identifying diseased shade trees, shall develop and evaluate 
 control measures, shall develop means for disposing of and 
 utilizing diseased shade trees. 

    Subd. 10a.    Experimental programs.  The commissioner 
 may establish experimental programs for sanitation or treatment 
 of shade tree diseases and for research into tree varieties most 
 suitable for municipal reforestation.  The research must include 
 considerations of disease resistance, energy conservation, and 
 other factors considered appropriate.  The commissioner may make 
 grants to municipalities, or enter into contracts with 
 municipalities, nurseries, colleges, universities, or state or 
 federal agencies in connection with experimental shade tree 
 programs including research to assist municipalities in 
 establishing priority designation areas for shade tree disease 
 control and energy conservation. 

    Subd. 11.    Report to the legislature.  On or before 
 January 31 each odd-numbered year, the commissioner shall report 
 to the legislature on community shade tree disease and insect 
 control programs and any experimental programs conducted under 
 subdivision 10a during the previous fiscal biennium. 

    Subd. 12.    Sections 18.021 to 18.022 superseded.  The 
 provisions of sections 18.021 to 18.022, which are inconsistent 
 with Laws 1974, chapter 355 are hereby superseded for any 
 municipality as defined in subdivision 1, clause (c). 

    Subd. 13.    Municipal option to participate in program. 
  After December 31, 1981, the term "municipality" shall 
 include only those municipalities which have informed the 
 commissioner of their intent to continue an approved disease 
 control program.  Any municipality desiring to participate in 
 the grants-in-aid for the partial funding of municipal 
 sanitation and reforestation programs must notify the 
 commissioner in writing before the beginning of the calendar 
 year in which it wants to participate and must have an approved 
 disease control program during any year in which it receives 
 grants-in-aid.  Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the 
 contrary, no municipality shall be required to have an approved 
 disease control program after December 31, 1981.  

    HIST: 1974 c 355 s 66; 1975 c 253 s 1-3,5; 1977 c 90 s 1-9; 
 1978 c 773 s 1,2; 1979 c 50 s 5; 1979 c 257 s 1,2,4; 1981 c 261 
 s 2; 1981 c 356 s 97; 1Sp1981 c 1 art 5 s 1; 1982 c 424 s 130; 
 1983 c 289 s 115 subd 1; 1984 c 640 s 32; 1985 c 248 s 70; 
 1Sp1985 c 14 art 4 s 4; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 312 art 1 s 1; 1987 c 
 396 art 11 s 2; 1Sp1989 c 1 art 5 s 2; 1991 c 116 s 1,2; 1995 c 
 233 art 2 s 56; 1997 c 7 art 1 s 7