KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Some Knoxville homeowners say "K.U.B" spells trouble for trees on their property.

"I was totally shocked," homeowner Markus Chady said. "It looks like a disaster."

Workers contracted by the Knoxville Utilities Board over-trimmed Chady's tree and drove a truck on his yard without his approval or him even being home last Friday, Chady said.

The crew also left debris "everywhere," ran a run along the side of his Emoriland Boulevard property in North Knoxville, and downed his cable line.

"It was a blatant display of disrespect for personal property," Chady said. "It just seemed like every direction I looked I saw just a little bit more damage."

KUB has taken responsibility for the damage.

"This certainly is not our expectation for how our customers should be treated," KUB Manager of Systems Operations Mike Patterson said.

Patterson says the contractor violated the utility's policy, and a landscaper already begun patching Chady's problems free of charge for him.

"Our contract requires all contractors to contact the customer to get their permission before they take any equipment on their property," Patterson said.

Crews trim trees around power lines for safety reasons, including trying to reduce the number of power outages, according to Patterson.

Chady's not the only one upset with KUB's pruning practices.

Frustrated homeowners voiced their concerns to a recently established KUB Trim Tree Policy Review Panel Tuesday night.

"KUB wants to come out and in my opinion cut a lot more trees than they should," homeowner Wendell Wyrick said.

"I think the policy is well-intended. I think where it breaks down is in the implementation," homeowner Gene Burr said.

The 15-member community panel will critique KUB's Tree Trimming policy, and later recommend changes, based partly on public input.

"We've spent the last five years improving our process incrementally, and we think this is going to take us leaps and bounds ahead of where we are now," KUB President Mintha Roach said.

Chady hopes KUB keep its promise to fix his yard.

"I have a good faith assumption they'll complete it in a timely manner and it will be satisfactory," he said.

The company that caused the damage on Chady's property was Seelbach, KUB told Volunteer TV News.

Patterson said the utility reviews contracted crews every four months, considering customer complaints.

The power provider couldn't say how many complaints Seelbach has received, but Patterson said KUB will talk with company managers about the problems.

The citizen panel is expected to issue it's recommendations by mid-summer.

If you'd like to give your thoughts, you can email the panel at treepanel@kub.org.

You can also fax concerns to 865-594-7519 or mail them to the address below.

KUB Tree Trim Panel
c/o KUB Executive Department
PO Box 59017
Knoxville, TN 37950