The town of Neepawa's council is reconsidering their decision to turn down the provincial Dutch elm disease management agreement. While council voted against the agreement to protest the major cuts to the program, Mayor Adrian de Groot says that decision could result in the cost of the work falling on tax payers. Neepawa's one of many municipalities concerned about the cuts. The province used to provide some funding to the municipal governments, while paying for the cost of tree removal, but has since downsized their contribution to just $181.32 per tree removed, and a $2,000 allocation for administrative costs.

De Groot explains they investigated the matter further since the decision, and it appears voting down the agreement will only lead to challenges for the town as the work is mandatory.

"There's an argument to say that it's a provincial act, so the province should be ensuring there's sufficient money to manage it. There's a case that yes, we need to lobby the provincial government in order for more funding to be forwarded to municipalities. That being said, the program is not discretionary."

He notes just because they refused the agreement, it doesn't mean the province would stop enforcing the laws surrounding the disease, and that could lead to action being taken against the property owners.

"The act allows designated officers to come on to the property once they put notice on a particular diseased tree. Then, compliance with that notice is not discretionary and it needs to be addressed. It's it's not addressed, an order can be placed against the property owner, whether it's owned by the municipality or privately."

He says they don't agree with the cuts being made, but echo comments made by Portage la Prairie's council in saying some funding may be better than none.

"What do you do? Sign the agreement and get what little money is available, or it's all on the burden of the tax payer. So we're looking at it that way."

He notes they'll continue to investigate their options. De Groot says if they do indeed move forward with the agreement, there are some other areas of concern they'll need to address, mainly focusing on their liability for trees on private land, and policies to allow access to trees marked as diseased.

No decision has been made by the council, and de Groot says they'll likely make a final vote at their next council meeting.