Tree Removal in Lakeland

Today’s Commercial Appeal is running a story about some tree trimming and removal that MLGW did in conjunction with the construction of Substation 85, which will alleviate power shortages in Lakeland. The story contains a few inaccuracies that I’d like to clear up.

Lakeland officials are up in arms about what they say is unauthorized tree cutting by Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division in the "Tree City."

Early Wednesday morning, employees with MLGW began clearing more than 70 trees on private property along Monroe Road just north of the back entrance to the Lakeland Factory Outlet Mall… (Read the full article here.)

Both Lakeland and MLGW agreed that, unfortunately, tree trimming and removal was necessary for the installation of the much needed power lines. Eight trees, not 70 as the article suggests, were cut down on private property. The rest of the tree trimming and removal was done on a public right-of-way along Monroe Road. State and County law allows MLGW to trim trees on public property that interfere with electric lines. Sixty small trees (between 2-10 inches in diameter), 21 medium trees (11-23 inches in diameter) and 4 large trees (24+ inches in diameter) were removed in all.

We tried to follow Lakeland’s original plan for the tree removal on private property, but the owner would not agree to the plan. Lakeland’s original proposal would have put power lines across the middle of the property. This would inhibit any future development on the property unless the property owner paid to have the lines moved, and also would require more trees to be trimmed.

With the property owner’s help, we came up with a different solution. We agreed to place the power lines on the edge of the property and cut trees along Monroe Road. This solution resulted in MLGW clearing 15 feet of trees rather than the original 30 feet in the Lakeland plan, since the existing road provided clearance on one side of the lines.

We have tried very hard to work with Lakeland officials to find a solution that worked for all parties and to make sure that all parties were aware of our plans. On Feb. 19, we presented our suggested tree trimming project to the Lakeland Municipal Planning Commission. The recommendation of the Lakeland MPC stated:

“Staff feels that MLGW has demonstrated the need for these improvements, has considered reasonable alternatives, and has limited the damage to a 600’ stretch of roadway. Thus, while staff does not think this is the best case scenario, we feel that denial of this proposal would be more detrimental to the citizens than its approval.”

On Friday, we faxed a letter to Town Administrator, Bob Wherry, stating we would begin work on Monday. We did not receive a response, and waited two additional days before starting work on Wednesday.

The trees that were removed were cut into manageable pieces, loaded into a MLGW truck, and deposited at the adjacent property owner’s house, by his request, for use as firewood, which prevented the trees from going to a landfill. The chips and limbs from the trees were delivered to the City’s mulch plant.

Channel 24 will be covering this topic in more detail this evening.