1

Lessons in Leaf Pick Up, What You Need to Know

(Crystal A. Proxmire, 11/20/2011)

The City of Ferndale offers curbside leaf collection for residents. This service allows people to simply rake or blow their leaves to the street, where they will be sucked into giant vacuum trucks and carried away to be made into compost.

In many other cities, residents must bag up their leaves to be picked up.  In Ferndale bagging is still an option if people prefer to do it.

At the Nov. 14, 2011 City Council meeting Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Byron Photiades reminded residents that curbside pickup runs until Nov. 28.  Yard waste, including bagged leaves, will be picked up through Dec. 19.

Though the service is a nice convenience for residents, it does come with some responsibility.

The first is to make sure that only leaves and small twigs go into the leaf pile. Any branches more than an inch thick should not be mixed with the leaves.  Also, keep the piles free of other items.

Photiades said that a ball peen hammer left in a pile caused quite a bit of damage when it got sucked into the vacuum and tore up the inside parts.  The City has four trucks, and when one goes down it affects their ability to keep up.

The DPW Director also urged residents not to let leaves pile up over the drains because of flooding in the street, and because wet leaves are harder to collect.

Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan also had a story of caution for the residents.  He urged drivers not park over leaves, and said that even here in Ferndale there was a car fire caused from leaves getting packed beneath a police car.  “Parking on leaves is a bad idea, not just for the operation of the DPS; it will catch your car on fire.”

For more information about yard and other waste pick up, reference the City of Ferndale’s website. To read a recent article about recycling and how it can make money for the City, check out Recycling 101.