MPRB to hear out Northside homeowners burdened by tree removal orders

This piece of an ash tree cut down last fall in the Harrison neighborhood shows the damage from emerald ash borer. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini, Editor

Felicia Perry already had two ash trees removed by order of the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board when she attended a recent community meeting of other fed-up Northsiders.

There, Perry told a staff forester that the board’s approach to the mandated cut downs of diseased trees was callous, costly and another form of trauma inflicted on Black and Brown residents.

She appreciated his willingness to listen and had hoped he would pass on the feedback.

The next morning, a park board tree inspector was in Perry’s backyard to condemn a third tree he said was infested with emerald ash borer.

“Is it because I spoke up?” said Perry, wondering why the most recent tree was not identified during the previous inspection last year. “How do you inspect my property and miss this one? Now you’re coming

back? It was the day after that guy was in that meeting. I really feel like I am being targeted.”

In a statement to North News, MPRB apologized that the condemnation felt retaliatory to Perry, adding “the tree inspector’s condemnation of her ash tree had no connection whatsoever to the community meeting.”

Commissioner Becka Thompson, who represents North Minneapolis on the parks board, said there is “zero way” Perry was being targeted. But she acknowledged the board has misfired on communications with Northside neighborhoods currently bearing the brunt of the emerald ash borer infestation.

Parks and Recreation Supt. Al Bangoura wants to reset the conversation with the Northside regarding emerald ash borer. At a parks board meeting on March 15, he announced a schedule of four meetings with Northside residents for April.

Forestry and other parks board staff will host the meetings (see details at the end of the article) to answer questions and clear up misunderstandings about the efforts to stop the spread of emerald ash borer.

“This is a real effort to be present in the community to listen to constituents and their concerns around emerald ash borer,” Bangoura said. “We hear you and we want to really listen and respond to your concerns.”

MPRB is not alone in its struggle to relate to a historically marginalized community where many feel like government or private developers do things to them, not with them or for them. Community leaders say there is a disconnect in the messaging and assumptions that residents have equal access to information or know where to find it posted.

Many of the complaints aimed at the park board can be heard in meetings with transportation officials over a proposed light rail line that will run through North Minneapolis.

Why are we just hearing about this now? Come talk to us. Show us proof. You are destroying our neighborhoods. This will extract generational wealth.

In the case of trees, Minnesota law gives municipalities the power to condemn trees on private property to slow the spread of tree-eating pests. In Minneapolis, MPRB manages the forest canopy. That same law makes property owners responsible for paying to have infested trees cut down.

A homeowner may have 60 days to find a tree service or the park board will hire one for them and tack the bill onto their property taxes. Estimates vary widely among local tree services and homeowners can be stuck with a bill of a few thousand dollars.

Property owners basically have just two options to divert costs to their tax bill – pay over five years or 10 years.

In the October 2022 issue, North News chronicled the hardships of Harrison neighborhood residents on fixed incomes who were caught off guard by tree removals and the bills that followed. Since the article, residents organized and shared stories on Facebook. They’ve attended meetings and tried to get information and relief, especially for more vulnerable residents, from the parks board.

Many complained of a lack of engagement or advance warning of the presence of tree inspectors. Communication was in the form of the condemnation order and estimates from tree services.

On the eve of her third tree being condemned, Perry attended a meeting at the Cub Foods Community Room, for a vision session organized by Amoke Kubat, an artist who had a tree condemned by MPRB in late 2021.

MPRB’s urban forest expert Philip Potyondy attended and got an earful from residents. He tried to talk about trees and emerald ash borer. Residents wanted to talk about costs and how the parks board has communicated with residents.

Perry said she felt intimidated at a November meeting when the forestry and finance directors pulled her aside before she was set to speak (the MPRB statement also addressed this. It said the intent of the officials was to be helpful and not dissuade her from speaking).

To Potyondy, Perry offered advice about providing information in different formats, different languages and seeking out community leaders who know how to bring people together around issues.

“I feel there’s like a trauma behind this thing,” Perry said. “It’s happening without my consent. I’ve experienced intimidation. I’ve experienced financial loss, I’ve experienced spiritual loss. I had no time to say goodbye and these trees are gone. This is how I’ve experienced this. What you’re witnessing here is important for you to download and process. Y’all have not been coming correct and you have to do better.”

After hearing from Northsiders about tree removal costs, Commissioner Thompson said the board is lobbying state lawmakers for greater tax relief for vulnerable residents who experience a sudden expense like a tree removal or pipe burst.

At the March 15 meeting, Deputy Supt. Jennifer Ringold mentioned the hardships while presenting updates to MPRB’s racial equity plan. While parsing the cost of a tree removal over 10 years on property taxes was added during the last equity plan update, Ringold said, “There’s interest, obviously with four listening sessions coming up, maybe we need to go further.”

Mitchel Hansen, the community outreach director for the Harrison Neighborhood Association, said the association has used up its Neighborhood Revitalization Program funds helping homeowners pay for tree removals.

He asked that the board grant an extension of time during the listening sessions for residents with imminent removals.

“We (the association) just can’t fund people to stay in their homes,” Hansen said. “We all care about trees. We need to work together on both and not force people to have to worry about losing their homes. If we’re talking about equity, let’s make this happen.”

The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board will hold four listening sessions for residents impacted by tree removal orders. The dates, times and locations are: April 10, 6-7:30 p.m. on Zoom. April 12, 6-7:30 p.m. at Harrison Recreation Center, 503 Irving Ave. N.; April 17, 6-7:30 p.m. at MPRB, 2117 W. River Road; and April 22, 6-7:30 p.m. at Creekview Recreation Center, 5001 Humboldt Ave., N.