State agriculture official seeks $10,000 county budget amendment to cover emerald ash borer response work

Mark Smith, area representative for the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Noxious Weed Program, briefed the commissioners on emergency eradication work for the emerald ash borer and requested a $10,000 budget amendment to accept additional program revenue and pay county contractors.

Smith said the nonnative emerald ash borer, first detected in Michigan and later in Maryland, is being removed by a federal-state emergency response inside a 14,000-acre quarantine centered in Cheltenham in southern Prince George's County. The eradication protocol used by APHIS and state officials calls for felling infested ash trees and chipping the material to destroy pupae and other life stages.

"We are currently trying to take out all the ash trees in a 14,000-acre area," Smith said, adding that the state's program deploys certified applicators for fresh-cut stump treatments and relies on counties to provide local weed-control coordinators for on-site operations.

Smith told commissioners that several invoices for county work had arrived and that additional revenue had come into the program. He asked the board to approve a budget supplement of $10,000 so the county could attach the funds and pay the cooperating county personnel. He said program revenue would cover expenditures and that no additional county general-fund dollars were being requested, though the program historically used a 50/50 state match and program-generated revenue.

Commissioners asked questions about the quarantine area's location and the mechanics of tree removal and chipping; Smith said the timbering contractors from St. Mary's County were conducting selective cuts and that completion was targeted for about April 1.

Commissioner Jarbo moved to approve the supplemental budget; Commissioner Mattingly seconded. The board approved the $10,000 amendment by voice vote.