Woodbury council establishes private ash tree removal assistance program with $500,000 allocation

The Woodbury City Council on Feb. 12 approved Resolution 25-207 to establish a private ash tree removal assistance program and an associated $500,000 budget amendment to fund initial loans, the council said.

The program is a financing tool to help property owners pay to remove hazardous ash trees; assistance will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis until allocated funds are exhausted. The council approved repayment terms of 3, 5 and 10 years depending on the assessment amount and set the interest rate at 2% above the city's municipal borrowing rate, as clarified by staff during the meeting.

City staff framed the program as a temporary, pilot-style tool. "We will have up to $500,000 to use, first come first serve," a staff member said during the discussion. Staff said the council would review the program after roughly a year and could return with adjustments based on uptake and outcomes.

Councilmembers debated loan term lengths and protections for seniors and low-income residents. Councilmember Wilson proposed lengthening terms (initially discussed as 3, 5 and 7 years) to reduce annual cost burden; the city's labor and legal review noted nuisance-assessment statutes limit the standard assessment term to about 10 years and that any senior-deferral language would need to be expressly adopted into the program.

Several councilmembers flagged a fiscal-conservative concern about extending terms too long because the city is managing multiple large capital projects, including a new water treatment plant. Staff said the program is not intended to be permanent: it carries a set $500,000 allocation and would be revisited after implementation.

The resolution passed on a unanimous roll call. The council also directed staff to include clarifying language about first-come basis, interest calculation and a plan to return for evaluation.