Current through August 26, 2024
(1) ELIGIBLE COSTS.
Under this subchapter, the applicant's cost of removing, repairing, and
replacing trees in an urban forest that have been damaged by a catastrophic
storm event shall be eligible for reimbursement so long as those costs are not
otherwise reimbursed by federal disaster assistance or other funding sources.
To be eligible for reimbursement, the applicant shall have incurred eligible
costs within a 365-day period beginning on the date on which the governor makes
the declaration of emergency. Eligible costs includes:
(a) Rented, leased or applicant supplied
equipment and facilities.
(b)
Purchased equipment. For equipment whose useful life is one year or less, the
full purchase price is an eligible cost. For equipment whose useful life is
greater than one year, eligible cost is equal to one year's useful life as
determined by dividing the purchase price by the number of years of useful life
of the equipment. Useful life of equipment shall be determined by the
department. Regardless of the useful life, equipment costing more than $5,000
per unit is not eligible for reimbursement.
(c) Salaries and fringe benefits associated
with applicant personnel engaged in removing, repairing and replacing
storm-damaged trees.
(d) Contractor
and consultant service agreements to remove, repair and replace storm-damaged
trees.
(e) Marshalling yards and
their operation.
(f) Tree removal,
stump grinding, cleaning and filling holes left by tree removal, tree repair,
replacement tree purchase and planting, soil amendment and mulching, and tree
guards and other protective devices for new tree establishment.
(g) Disposal of wood and brush from tree
removal and repair.
(h) Processing
wood and brush for other uses from tree removal and repair.
(i) Applicant personnel mileage.
(j) Necessary supplies. Supplies may include
but are not limited to maps, fuel, computer software or devices for storm
damage assessment and response, photocopies, photography, postage and other
supply costs determined by the department to be reimbursable. Supplies do not
include rent, personal computers, office printers or capital
expenditures.
(2) COST
CONTAINMENT. Applicants shall control costs using the following methods.
Failure by the applicant to demonstrate cost containment efforts at the time of
reimbursement request may result in refusal by the department to issue
reimbursement payments. Cost containment methods include the following:
(a) Heavy equipment costs shall be calculated
on an hourly or mileage rate, not to exceed the hourly or mileage rates
established by the Wisconsin department of transportation for highway
equipment.
Note: The county highway rates for equipment
are formulated under s.
84.07,
Stats., and can be found in chapter 5 of the State Highway Maintenance Manual
published by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 4822 Madison Yards
Way, PO Box 7910, Madison, WI 53707.
(b) Applicants shall implement cost-effective
best management practices. All tree care operations shall meet standards
established in all parts of the most current editions of ANSI A300 American
National Standard for Tree Care Operations - Standard Practices and ANSI Z133.1
American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations - Safety Requirements.
Note: The ANSI standards are available at
www.isa-arbor.com International Society
of Arboriculture, PO Box 3129, Champaign, IL 61826.
(c) Costs for removing, repairing, replacing
or planting trees may not exceed local market rates.
(d) All applicants receiving a grant under
this subchapter shall comply with the state procurement law under ss.
59.52,
60.47,
62.15,
66.0131 and
66.0901,
Stats.
Note: So that applicants may better comply
with state procurement and cost-containment requirements, the department makes
available the document titled Procurement Guide for Local Governments Receiving
Grants. This document is available from the department upon request by writing
to: Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, 101 S. Webster
Street, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921,
DNRUrbanForestryGrants@wisconsin.gov, or on-line at:
http://dnr.wi.gov/aid/documents/procurementguide.pdf.
(3) INELIGIBLE COSTS. The
department may not reimburse costs not directly associated with the
implementation of this subchapter. Those costs include, but are not limited to
the following:
(a) Costs incurred before or
more than 365 days after a governor's declared state of emergency for the
applicant's area.
(b) Costs for the
repair of structures, vehicles, fences, sidewalks or other objects damaged by
damaged trees or their parts.
(c)
Legal or settlement costs due to storm-related litigation.
(d) Costs of routine urban forest management
to trees unaffected by the storm.
(e) Fines and penalties due to violations of,
or failure to comply with, federal, state or local laws or
regulations.
(f) Ordinary applicant
operating expenses, also called indirect costs, such as salaries and expenses
of elected officials that are not directly related to urban forestry
management.
(g) Costs incurred in a
contract which creates a real or apparent conflict of interest.
(4) CONFLICT OF INTEREST
PROHIBITION. An apparent conflict of interest arises when an official or
employee of an applicant participates in the selection, awarding or
administration of a contract supported by the grant and either:
(a) The official or employee, or his or her
spouse or partner or children, has an ownership interest in the firm selected
for the contract.
(b) A person
identified in par. (a) receives a contract, gratuity or favor as a result of
the award of the contract.
