Mayor Madeline Rogero spoke with TVA CEO Tom Kilgore on Tuesday and asked him to hold off on the cutting of trees along Wellington Drive. This request was made so that City officials could have time to work with TVA and Summit Medical Group to ensure that appropriate replacement trees could be found and planted to provide a buffer for the neighborhood.

TVA agreed to this request for a delay and offered its cooperation in facilitating the planting of the replacement trees. The trees being removed were originally placed as a condition of the zoning that allowed Summit Medical to locate on Wellington.

"I appreciate Mr. Kilgore's and TVA's explanation of their requirements to implement a vegetation management program for their transmission lines and their cooperation in working with us to remedy a difficult situation," Mayor Rogero said.

TVA announced plans to remove the existing trees in order to comply with its vegetation management program. According to TVA, its vegetation management policy helps to ensure a safe, reliable, regulatory compliant and cost-effective transmission system, providing needed electricity to the Knoxville area and beyond.

Mayor Rogero is committed to the City's Urban Forest Management Plan and supports an enhanced tree planting program in the City.