Vernon Hills looking at ash tree removal on private land

Vernon Hills officials are about halfway done removing ash trees along public streets, and are now looking at how to get private property owners to remove potentially sick trees.

Local governments around Detroit, Mich., first noticed the Asian-based emerald ash borer in 2002. The bug grows inside ash trees, cutting off the flow of nutrition until the insect matures and leaves or until the tree dies. The bugs were accidentally transplanted through international travels.

There were about 3,600 ash trees living on public land along the streets in Vernon Hills before the bug made its way to Illinois. Private contractors and crews from public works began removing trees last year to prevent branches or entire trees from falling on cars or pedestrians.

All ash trees along public roads will be removed and replaced with non-ash trees by 2016. By then, Vernon Hills will have spent between $1 million and $1.2 million.

Village officials talked Oct. 7 about how to encourage or force private property owners to remove ash trees. Nothing was approved, but trustees gave their employees plenty to research over the next few months.

Assistant Village Manager Joe Carey cited a regional study that says private properties, combined, can have up to five times more ash trees than on public land, which means Vernon Hills could have 18,000 ash trees on private property.

Carey said a lot of nearby towns are sending letters to homeowners and corporations advising them of liabilities related to having sick trees on their property. He suggested taking the same approach.

Youre entering a whole new world when you go on private property, Village Attorney Robert Kenney warned trustees as the discussion progressed.

Mayor Roger Byrne, who works for an insurance company, said in most cases where a tree falls on a neighbors home or car, the victims file claims on their own homeowners insurance instead of trying to sue.

However, an insurance company might refuse to pay if that neighbor knew the tree was infected and chose not to remove it, Byrne said. That could lead to a lot of friction among neighbors, he concluded.

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Vernon Hills looking at ash tree removal on private land