Barrington Takes Action Against Emerald Ash Borer

The Village of Barrington is taking action after discovering Emerald Ash Borer on two trees last year.

The village has received a $20,000 grant from the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus to assist the village in managing all of its trees.

“We have approximately 8,000 trees in the village and those are very important to us,” Public Works Director Dennis Burmeister said. “We’ve wanted for a number of years to do a tree inventory and Emerald Ash Borer management plan, but with the economy and the way the funding has been we’ve hesitated to spend that money.”

The grant will help the village keep track of all of the different types of trees including their size, condition and location.

“We’ll have a full inventory. That’s really the first step in putting our Emerald Ash Borer plan together, so we’ll know right where all the ash trees are and we’ll know where there’s areas that can accept additional plantings so it’s really our first step in that,” Burmeister said.

The Village Board voted on March 14 to solicit price proposals from qualified firms to perform the tree inventory and develop the Emerald Ash Borer management plan.  The total cost for the plan is estimated to be $25,000 to $30,000.

Another grant received by the village will help save money on electricity expenses.

Village officials applied for and received two grants to fund new blower motor upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant, which will help reduce the amount of energy used.

“Not too many people see those [blower motors] like they do the trees all along the parkway, but at the wastewater treatment plant we use a lot of energy,” Burmeister explained. “We’re really trying to stay with sustainability and being green; reducing our reliance on energy.”

The grant money received will fund 100 percent of the project.  The new equipment should be installed by mid-April.