Port official says park trees have to go, and now

The canopy of trees that stretches over the road leading from downtown Port Washington into Upper Lake Park is about to come down.

City Forester Jon Crain told the Board of Public Works on Tuesday that he and his crew will be cutting down eight cottonwood and one box elder tree that line the drive.

The trees are so fragile that he is concerned they will fall and injure a passing motorist or pedestrian, he said.

“I feel action has to be taken sooner rather than later,” he said. “They’re far too large and there are too many cracks and cavities. It’s reached a threshold where I don’t feel comfortable with it any more.

“I’m 100% confident this is the right thing to do.”

Crain said he’s been monitoring the trees for some time and has noticed many of them have damage, such as cracks and cavities.

And during high wind events, he said, you can see the ground is actively moving behind the trees.

“The ground behind them is unstable. This leads me to the conclusion of not if but when the trees will fail,” he said, adding that when one falls, it’s “likely to take out others.”

Board member Phil Bruno noted that many of the trees are growing at a severe angle, something Crain said isn’t good for them.

Since the road is well traveled and walkers use the sidewalk frequently throughout the year, time is of the essence, Crain said.

“There’s traffic there all the time,” he said. “As soon as we clear the sidewalk after a snowstorm, people are walking there.”

If a tree were to fall and strike a vehicle or walker, Crain said, the result would be disastrous.

Cottonwood and box elders are susceptible to failure because they are fast growing and weak-wooded, Crain noted.

When the trees are removed, he said, it’s likely the understory will also be damaged.

In addition to the tree removal work, Crain said, limbs will be removed from others to lighten the pressure on them. 

The impact will be immediate, he said.

“It’s going to have quite an impact going up to Upper Lake Park,” Crain said.

The city will replant the steep slope with other trees that are less likely to fail there, such as oak and quaking Aspen, Crain said.

Board members approved the action, saying the potential for injury and damage is too great.

“I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it before,” Ald. Pat Tearney, a member of the board, said.

But people have noticed it, Crain said.

“I’ve heard (about the trees) in numerous calls through the years,” he said.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said the work will be done as soon as possible.