Lake Zurich's plan to replace trees killed by ash borer to conclude after 12 years
The final stage of a 12-year plan to remove and replace around 3,300 dead or dying ash trees felled by the invasive emerald ash borer throughout the village of Lake Zurich will be completed ahead of schedule this spring, village leaders said.
The village board recently approved funding for the final year of the program launched in 2011. When the snow melts and the ground thaws, workers will begin planting the last batch of 444 trees along village parkways and in subdivisions.
"Here we are at the end," public works director Mike Brown said at a meeting last week. "It is a good feeling."
The emerald ash borer, a beetle native to northeastern Asia, was discovered in the village in 2010, Brown said. From 2011 through 2015, the village funded the removal of around 3,300 dead or dying ash trees.
Mayor Tom Poynton, who served as a village board member from 2007 until he was elected mayor in 2013, said he remembered the initial reaction to the plan being "testy" because they had to take the trees down before they could begin paying for the replanting to begin.
Village leaders initially planned to spend $50,000 annually for 10 years from 2016 through 2025 to plant the 3,300 replacement trees. But in 2021 the board opted to increase the annual payment to $100,000 and finish two years early, Brown said.
The replacement trees were from a variety of species and were planted as close to the location of the felled ash trees as possible, Brown said.
"This is a laudable village accomplishment and we applaud that," said Mary Kozub, vice-chair of the village's tree commission.
Kozub read a memo of congratulations to the village board signed by tree commission members.
"We all worked together and we got it done," Kozub said.