Managing leaf pick-up

    Now that autumn is here, the leaves are changing and will be putting on a colorful show again this year. Once they have fallen, the question is, “What do I do with them?” Many people compost them for gardening but for most of us there are just too many to deal with.     After a good percentage, around 50 percent, of the leaves have fallen and many people have started raking them into piles, the public works department starts making its rounds with the Giant-Vac leaf vacuum.
    If you would like the department to pickup your leaves, just rake them to the edge of the street. Please do not mix tree limbs and large garden clippings such as corn stalks and plants with thick vines with them. These branches and things clog the vacuum hose and may damage the machinery. Also, please do not put your leaves in plastic garbage bags. The city needs to compost these leaves and plastic bags make such a mess that no one wants the compost, so it just takes more landfill space and adds to our expenses. Plastic bags will not be picked up.
    In order to efficiently manage leaf pick-up, the department divides the city into four sections and systematically goes through each section, three to four times, sometimes more, over the course of the fall. If you don’t have your leaves raked out, don’t worry, the truck will be back in three or four days or less, as the season progresses. Everyone will have ample opportunity to have their leaves picked up by the City if they are raked out to the street, kept separated from branches and other debris and not in plastic bags.
    If you wish to use plastic non-biodegradable bags, you may take them to the Presque Isle Landfill or Recycling Center, free of charge. This is for yard wastes such as leaves, grass clippings and brush smaller than one-half inch in diameter only.
    Gerry James is the Public Works Director for the city of Presque Isle.