Onancock hears arborist report on 350 year old oak tree

The Town of Onancock heard an arborist report at Monday night’s meeting on the status of a 350 year old white oak tree located behind several commercial businesses and occupying a part of the town parking lot. 

Arborist Mark Belknap told the council that he has inspected the tree and found it to be in reasonably good condition for a tree its age.  Belknap said that as of now the overall risk for the town keeping the tree is minimal.  He said that, while there are signs of some rot in the main trunk and in a few of the roots, the tree has a low risk of falling down at this time.  He said that his assessment does not include the risk resulting from a hurricane or tornado.

Belknap said that removing asphalt from around the tree’s base by the town several years ago was a very positive step toward maintaining the tree.   His diagnosis was that if the town can maintain the tree by fertilizing and removing dead limbs, he doesn’t see that there is any immediate danger of the tree falling. He also suggested that the town erect a split rail fence around the base of the tree approximately 80 ft from the trunk to prevent anyone from driving or parking under the tree.

He compared the situation with the Wye Oak in Stevensville, Md. that fell during a thunderstorm in 2002. While efforts were made to sustain the Wye Oak over the years, eventually rot from within the tree caused it to collapse from its own weight during a severe thunderstorm.  However, that the Wye Oak was approximately 100 years older than the Onancock tree and he thought the Onancock tree would survive at least a couple of decades or  longer.

Town manager Matt Spuck contacted the town’s insurance company and attorney and reported that the only thing that would cause liability to the town would be if it did not give the tree proper care resulting in an injury. Discussion was that tree care would be a part of all forthcoming budgets.

The Council did not take any action regarding the tree at Monday night’s meeting and will consider the matter at some point in the near future.