Photo by Janelle Patterson On Thursday, Tree Commission member Rhea Bockhorst reviews damage to a sycamore tree sustained over the weekend in an alleged drunken driving incident on the River Trail.

MARIETTA — The Marietta Tree Commission is having damages assessed on an old sycamore tree on the River Trail that was struck this weekend by a Belpre man accused of drunken driving.

The tree is at the entrance to the trail at the end of Linwood Avenue by the Washington County Fairgrounds. Also damaged was a metal barrier pole preventing vehicles from entering the River Trail.

“I took photos of the damage and then typically what we will do is have the damage appraised and then let the city’s assistant safety-service director Bill Dauber know what the cost of care for the tree will be,” said tree commission member Rhea Bockhorst. “Then he would typically bill the person responsible for the damage.”

Capt. Aaron Nedeff of the Marietta Police Department said the man accused of the damage was arrested Sunday afternoon after his truck was found abandoned at the tree.

“It was a drunk driving incident Saturday night but the truck was discovered Sunday morning,” said Nedeff.

Officials arrested Gerald Leroy Morris, 47, of 423 John St., Belpre, for failure to control his 2014 Ford F-150, a minor misdemeanor, and for leaving the scene of the accident, a first-degree misdemeanor.

According to the affidavit of facts provided by the police department, Morris’ wife stated that her husband had admitted to crashing his truck after leaving a wedding at the Shrine Club on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Morris is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court for an arraignment hearing at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Bockhorst said the damage assessment for the tree would be performed by state arborist Ann Bonner.

“That’s what we’ve done in the past when drivers have run into trees,” he said. “She’ll be in town on Tuesday so we’ll ask to add that to her list of trees.”

He said drunk and distracted driving crashes into city trees occur one to two times per year and that damage can detract from the overall lifespan of the tree hit.

“His bill is going to be a fraction of the cost of the tree, and that’s a big sycamore so it could potentially run several thousand dollars,” explained Bockhorst. “That tree looks like it’s still pretty sound so this hit might just reduce the life of the tree, but it could invite infection too. That’s why we need an expert to look at it.”

Dauber said after the assessment from the tree commission is received and any damage that can be mitigated by city workers is taken care of the cost of labor, equipment and materials is added to the overall bill.

“Then our first act is to notify the law director to attach those costs as part of the court judgment,” he explained.

Dauber said damage to public parks, trees and lands is handled either through the court or through the city’s insurance broker and the insurance of the party at fault for the damage. The latter option is usually only used in the case of an accident where a citation was not made by Marietta Police.

“We also had an incident up at Buckeye Park recently were a van left muddy ruts in the ground from doing donuts,” said Dauber. “But the individual is still a minor so that matter will be handled through the county and damages will be assessed.”