OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Council Budget Committee on Forestry & Right Track - June 17, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, June 17, 2026
BodySt Paul, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, June 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:39:54
Transcript — Verbatim
6:00

Roll call, please.

6:01

Chair Johnson.

6:02

I'm here.

6:03

My chair yang.

6:05

Council member Bowie.

6:06

Councilmember Comey.

6:08

Here.

6:08

Council Member Kim.

6:09

Here.

6:09

Council Member Joe's.

6:11

Councilmember Naker.

6:12

Here.

6:12

All present and no one absent.

6:16

Okay.

6:16

So we have two presentations today.

6:20

First up is the presentation on the presentation of the tree canopy and right track program.

6:28

So we'll start off.

6:30

I oh, I guess is it tree forestry?

6:32

The budget in front of me is missing my item, but we'll go first with the forestry presentation.

6:38

Welcome, Rachel.

6:39

And is it Joan Ward?

6:41

John Ward.

6:42

John Ward.

6:43

Hello, Ms.

6:43

John Ward.

6:44

How are you?

6:45

I'm good.

6:45

How are you doing?

6:46

Good.

6:47

Um, thank you for having me today, council members, to talk about our forestry budget.

6:52

Um, I'm gonna give you a brief outlook on where we are currently and where we'll be in the future based on um our current budget and then optimal budget.

7:04

And I will rely on my notes, so I apologize if I'm looking down a lot.

7:11

Okay, so I thought it was important to start with um kind of who we are and and what we do in forestry.

7:18

Um during budget presentations and a lot of the city council presentations.

7:24

I understand that you typically will see like the big bucket items of pruning, tree removal, um, and planting, but I wanted to point out some of the other important work that we do in forestry.

7:37

Um grant management is one big thing.

7:39

We currently have three grants that we are managing um in the forestry division with the U.S.

7:46

Forest Service and the DNR.

7:48

Um, community forestry.

7:50

We we have a we don't have a dedicated fund for outreach and forestry, but we do work collaboratively with private nonprofits on public and private tree planting initiatives.

8:02

We host events such as Arbor Day, and we have a small team of volunteers called the tree stewards who do pruning and um planting for us.

8:13

Um we currently have one urban forester who reviews all public construction and development projects in St.

8:20

Paul, including anything that public works is doing, Ramsey County, MINDOT, St.

8:26

Paul Regional Water Service, and then all of the private development.

8:40

Our crews also help with those projects by pruning trees in advance in as much as our capacity for that work allows.

8:50

Often those projects are planted by our contractor with forestry oversight, storms.

8:59

That work has generated well over 200 calls to our office forestry does that are down, trees tree branches that are down.

9:16

So we've been working through all of that, and I think it's worth noting that the storm response is something that is entirely unbudgeted for forestry.

9:27

Oops, I forgot that I'm changing slides too.

9:31

Okay.

9:27

So where we are with budgets and then pressures.

9:36

In the general fund, we did have a small increase in 2025 of $500,000.

9:44

Otherwise, my understanding going back, you know, a couple of decades is that that budget has remained relatively level, with the exception of increases for salaries and fringes.

10:05

For EAB, it was so if you go back to Dutch Elm Disease days back in the 1970s, there was a ton of federal funding to cities and states to help with Dutch Elm disease.

10:22

And that really never came to fruition with Emerald Ash Bore, although it is just as devastating of an insect versus disease.

10:43

The city did start a general fund for EAB management back, I think around 2010 or 11, but overall it was less than half of what was spent on managing EAB in St.

10:56

Paul.

10:58

Staffing wasn't increased substantially, so backlogs were created that we're still working our way out of.

11:17

So I'll get more into that a little bit later, as far as the planting that that budget covers.

11:37

And that was to complete the EAB program, which we uh we did in 2024, and it has allowed us to start addressing some of the backlogs as well as purchasing some needed equipment for our crews.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Workforce Development██████████15%
Youth Programs███████11%
Fiscal Sustainability███4%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Budget Committee Meeting on Forestry and Right Track Programs - June 17, 2026

The City Council Budget Committee heard two presentations on June 17, 2026: the Forestry Division's tree canopy and care budget, and the Right Track youth employment program. Council members asked detailed questions about staffing, backlogs, funding sustainability, and program impacts. No formal votes were taken; follow-up questions will be submitted.

Forestry Presentation

  • John Ward (forester) presented an overview of the Forestry Division's budget, covering pruning, tree planting, stump removal, storm response, and staffing. The division currently has 42–43 staff members.
  • The city's first routine pruning cycle was established in 2024, dividing the city into 50 zones of ~2,500 trees each, aiming for a 10-year cycle. However, because the cycle started in 2024, some trees may wait 14–15 years for pruning. Young trees (tens of thousands) also need structural pruning within the first 10 years.
  • Tree planting: the city has reduced its backlog of vacant sites from ~10,000 to ~4,300, but current funding would allow only about 2,000 trees planted in 2027 (compared to an average of 4,700 in 2023–25). Optimal funding would sustain a three-year replanting cycle.
  • Stump removal: after catching up on backlogs in 2025, the program aims to stay current with contractor support. Without additional funds, stump backlogs would resume by 2029.
  • Storm response is unbudgeted; last year a single storm generated ~1,000 calls. Additional $1M annually is requested for storm contingency.
  • Budget needs identified: $3.7M/year for pruning contracts (to reduce cycle to 7 years, include parks and young tree pruning), $1.5M increase in Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) for planting, and $0.5M for stump grinding.
  • Council questions touched on staff turnover, equity of pruning zones, tree canopy assessment (last done in 2010), and potential renewal of the Port Authority partnership for capital work.

Right Track Program Presentation

  • Nardos and Carlo presented the city's youth employment and training program. In 2025, the program served 1,024 youth (1,138 internship experiences) with 144 employers, earning $2.3 million in wages and stipends.
  • The total budget is approximately $2.9 million: 12% from city general fund, 80% from other government sources (including ARPA and state grants), and 7% from foundations. 59% of spending goes directly to youth wages.
  • Challenges: declining funding – $100,000 less in DNR work, ARPA ending (leaving 6.3 full-time positions unfunded after 2026), and rising minimum wage costs. Decisions made for 2026 include ending school-year programming a month early, reducing weekly hours, eliminating the 2026-27 school-year program, and not offering a 2026 EMS program. Overall, 300 fewer experiences will be available for St. Paul youth.
  • Comparisons: Boston serves 10,000 youth with $33M budget (nearly $24M from city general fund); Minneapolis serves ~659 traditional interns plus 700 paid training slots.
  • Right Track uses a training wage (not the 30-day youth wage) because internships are designed as learning experiences with mentorship and training.
  • Strategies for sustainability: increase public sector engagement (all city departments hosting interns), develop a sponsorship model for employers, and diversify funding sources to reduce reliance on temporary grants.
  • Council president requested clearer financial breakdowns in dollar amounts, especially regarding the impact of funding cuts and what would be needed to sustain current service levels.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes or formal decisions were taken during the presentations.
  • Council members will submit follow-up questions to both departments regarding staffing, storm planning, tree canopy assessment, and detailed budget numbers for Right Track.
  • The Forestry Division will provide additional data on complaint volumes and staff capacity.
  • Right Track will provide dollar amounts for reductions and a breakdown of funding sources and expirations.

Meeting Transcript

Roll call, please. Chair Johnson. I'm here. My chair yang. Council member Bowie. Councilmember Comey. Here. Council Member Kim. Here. Council Member Joe's. Councilmember Naker. Here. All present and no one absent. Okay. So we have two presentations today. First up is the presentation on the presentation of the tree canopy and right track program. So we'll start off. I oh, I guess is it tree forestry? The budget in front of me is missing my item, but we'll go first with the forestry presentation. Welcome, Rachel. And is it Joan Ward? John Ward. John Ward. Hello, Ms. John Ward. How are you? I'm good. How are you doing? Good. Um, thank you for having me today, council members, to talk about our forestry budget. Um, I'm gonna give you a brief outlook on where we are currently and where we'll be in the future based on um our current budget and then optimal budget. And I will rely on my notes, so I apologize if I'm looking down a lot. Okay, so I thought it was important to start with um kind of who we are and and what we do in forestry. Um during budget presentations and a lot of the city council presentations. I understand that you typically will see like the big bucket items of pruning, tree removal, um, and planting, but I wanted to point out some of the other important work that we do in forestry. Um grant management is one big thing. We currently have three grants that we are managing um in the forestry division with the U.S. Forest Service and the DNR. Um, community forestry. We we have a we don't have a dedicated fund for outreach and forestry, but we do work collaboratively with private nonprofits on public and private tree planting initiatives. We host events such as Arbor Day, and we have a small team of volunteers called the tree stewards who do pruning and um planting for us. Um we currently have one urban forester who reviews all public construction and development projects in St. Paul, including anything that public works is doing, Ramsey County, MINDOT, St. Paul Regional Water Service, and then all of the private development. Our crews also help with those projects by pruning trees in advance in as much as our capacity for that work allows. Often those projects are planted by our contractor with forestry oversight, storms. That work has generated well over 200 calls to our office forestry does that are down, trees tree branches that are down. So we've been working through all of that, and I think it's worth noting that the storm response is something that is entirely unbudgeted for forestry. Oops, I forgot that I'm changing slides too. Okay.

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