The St. Paul City Council voted Wednesday to spend nearly half a million dollars to tackle the infestation of the emerald ash borer beetle.

Related Articles St. Stanislaus’ longtime priest the Rev. John Clay leaves legacy of love. He died Sunday at age 94

St. Paul man threatened another man with a sword, charges say

Mural workshop, events at Victoria Theater Arts Center in St. Paul’s Frogtown this weekend and next

St. Paul council approves mayor’s basic-income project for poor families

St. Paul City Council agrees on no levy increase The city will take $400,000 from its contingency budget for capital programs and $50,000 from the streets program to pay for a multi-year effort. It plans to replant a tree for every tree it “stumps” — or chops down.

Council President Russ Stark cast the lone vote against the proposal, saying he was worried about using up contingency funds so early in the year.

In all, the city has removed 9,149 ash trees from its street boulevards, and there are 17,909 to go.

That does not include ash trees on the city’s park land, of which there are an estimated 5,500, of which 1,007 trees have been removed. Some of those trees are in secluded areas where they are deemed less dangerous.

The ash borer infestation has already engulfed nearly all of St. Paul; the city effort at this point is not to stop its spread, but rather to take down trees before they get sick enough to fall down on their own.

The city initially froze funding for the project, along with numerous others, late last year in an effort to prepare for financial shortfalls relating to how it has been applying its “right of way” street maintenance assessments on property owners.