NR 47.953(4)(4) Two or more eligible applicants may enter into a cooperative agreement to jointly apply for funds under this subchapter, with one applicant designated as the fiscal agent on behalf of all applicants to administer the grant agreement on behalf of all cooperating members.

NR 47.954(1)(1) An eligible applicant may apply for a grant under this subchapter for the purpose specified under s. NR 47.950.

NR 47.954(2)(2) Eligible applicants shall request grant funding on the application forms provided by the department. The application shall include a resolution of the applicant’s governing body that authorizes its representative to file the grant application, serve as the contact for purposes of a grant under this subchapter, and submit reimbursement claims.

NR 47.954 NoteNote: Application materials are available upon request from the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, 101 S. Webster Street, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, DNRUrbanForestryGrants@wisconsin.gov. Completed forms and supporting documentation shall be mailed to the same address. Application materials may also be obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources webpage at: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/UrbanForests/grants/index.html.

NR 47.954(3)(3) An eligible applicant shall submit an application that is postmarked no later than 60 days from the date of the governor’s declaration of emergency for the catastrophic storm event for which funds are sought.

NR 47.954(4)(4) The department may request additional or missing grant application information in writing or by other means. Applicants shall submit additional or missing information to the department within 30 days of the date of the request. Failure of applicants to provide the requested information by the deadline will result in the department returning the incomplete application to the applicant.

NR 47.954(5)(5) The department shall evaluate all complete applications submitted using the criteria identified in s. NR 47.956.

NR 47.954(6)(6) The department shall notify both eligible and ineligible applicants in writing of the status of their grant application within 60 days from the date the application is deemed complete.

NR 47.954(7)(7) The department shall award grants in accordance with s. NR 47.957.

NR 47.954(8)(8) If an eligible applicant submits an application but all program funds have been expended during a fiscal year, the department shall hold the application for reconsideration when additional funds become available. The department shall notify the applicant in writing of the reason for the delay and the opportunity for reconsideration of the application when additional funds become available.

NR 47.955(1)(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:

NR 47.955(1)(b)(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.

NR 47.955(1)(c)(c) Salaries and fringe benefits associated with applicant personnel engaged in removing, repairing and replacing storm-damaged trees.

NR 47.955(1)(d)(d) Contractor and consultant service agreements to remove, repair and replace storm-damaged trees.

NR 47.955(1)(f)(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.

NR 47.955(1)(j)(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.

NR 47.955(2)(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:

NR 47.955(2)(a)(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.

NR 47.955 NoteNote: 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.