Several trees will soon be removed from the Oak Harbor landscape.

While the city has faced bumps in the road when it comes to cutting down trees in the past, during a workshop last Wednesday staff members explained the necessity of getting rid of trees in Windjammer Park and on an eroding bluff.

Parks Department Director Hank Nydam said an arborist assessed a silver poplar in the park that had a large, decaying cavity in its trunk and determined it was a safety risk to the public.

“Silver poplars are considered high maintenance and problematic trees due to an abundance of dead wood produced in the crown,” he said, adding that they have “excessive suckering.”

Some residents were unhappy when a line of poplar trees along the former RV park were suddenly removed during construction of the sewage treatment plant, but dozens of Garry oak trees and others are being planted throughout Windjammer Park as part of the reconstruction.

Poplars are fast-growing, short-lived trees. Nydam said two or three of the poplars next to the RV park had to be removed each year due to decay.

In addition, a madrona tree in the park is dead and will be removed.

Operations Manager Steve Bebee explained that he has to remove a couple of pine trees from am eroding bluff on Pioneer Way. He said the only way workers can reset a failing culvert and stabilize the bluff is to first remove the trees.

Public Works Director Cathy Rosen shared “a bit of trivia.” Nydam actually planted the pine trees when he was a teenager.

“When I was 16, I worked with my dad,” he said. “We actually landscaped that whole waterfront.”