Sean C. Morgan
For decades, when tree leaves start dropping as fall arrives, city officials have asked residents not to put piles of leafy matter in the street because they clog up the storm drains.
This year, city officials are asking residents to go ahead and put their leaves in the street – by appointment.
That’s because the city Public Works Department has purchased a leaf vacuum that will be used to clean leaves out of the streets. The vacuum is being skid mounted so it can be used on different vehicles, including pickups and dump trucks.
“The equipment is relatively inexpensive,” said Public Works Director Greg Springman.
The operation requires a driver and someone to operate the vacuum, which picks leaves up off the street and blows them into a 10-yard trailer.
“What we’re asking is for customers to call in or log onto our city portal and schedule pickup for your leaves between October and mid-December.”
Once scheduled, residents will need to put the leaves in a row in the street away from the curb prior to the scheduled pickup time, Springman said. The leaves should be 1 foot from the curb to allow for water drainage. Piles must not include limbs, yard debris or bagged materials.
Many communities offer this service, Springman said. Sweet Home has a lot of trees, which means a lot of leaves on the ground in the fall.
Last year, when he became Public Works director, Springman noticed the number of maple trees in the community and how they affect Sweet Home’s streets, he said. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality rules require jurisdictions to keep leaves out of the storm water system to protect the rivers.
“We want to keep these materials from blocking drains and overflowing curbs,” Springman said. “It’s just a program that’s long overdue.”
The city’s street sweeper truck is not designed to pick up leaves, Springman said. When the leaves are thick and wet, they can clog up the street sweeper, which costs some $300,000 to replace. A leaf vacuum costs just $10,000.
The sweeper, which sprays water on the roadway, is designed to pick up small pieces of debris and trash in the streets and curbside gutters, Springman said.
The vacuum is able to handle wet leaves.
“It’s a new program,” Springman said. “There’s a lot of things to work out.”
Public Works staff have discussed setting up routes but settled on scheduling appointments to allow flexibility because they expect to hit a few bumps in the road, Springman said. If an appointment is scheduled, it’s easier to adjust the schedule if it’s by appointment instead of a scheduled route where numerous residents are expecting a pickup.
Each entry into the online portal creates a work order for Public Works, Springman said. Public Works will use that to track the amount of leaves removed and help figure out the total cost of the program, which will require at least two staff members to pick up leaves.
The city will recycle some of the material into mulch for use in parks, trails and topsoil.
To access the online portal, visit ci.sweet-home.or.us. A narrow red banner scrolls across top of the web page with a link to the fall leaf program. The link accesses a page explaining the program, available from Oct. 1 to Dec. 15, and a link to the citizen portal, where service can be scheduled.
Requests may be submitted by phone, (541) 367-6359.