Loose leaf pickup will begin Monday, October 15, and will continue until the middle of December. Fall leaf season is one of the Public Works’ busiest times. This popular program services over 130 miles of residential roads, with a no-cost, convenient way to dispose of leaves for the residents. Public Works' entire full time staff and 13 seasonal temporary employees perform this service.

The Township is divided into 7 routes. Each crew will remain on their route throughout the entire season, giving each resident several opportunities to rake their leaves to the curb and have them picked up. Crews will usually take about 7 working days to complete one pass of their entire route before starting over. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decides when the leaves fall, and some years, the leaves drop all at once. It is during this time that our crews might slow down. Please be patient when this happens. We make every effort to pick up the leaves as quickly as possible. During the period of heaviest leaf fall, our crews will be working some Saturdays.

Adverse weather such as heavy rain, cold weather or snow can disrupt our schedule as well. Cold weather can cause leaves to freeze in piles that must be broken up manually. Snowfall requires the break down of our leaf machines for snow equipment; a time consuming task.

This year, due to dry conditions, the leaf vacuums may cause an exceptionally dusty situation along the routes. For this reason, please refrain from parking vehicles close to the curb. We ask you to be understanding during this time.

To keep the process on schedule and to keep the costs down, residents are asked to help:

● Do not bag your leaves. Bagged leaves will not be picked up.

● Leaf piles that contain rocks, bottles, branches, grass, or other yard waste will not be picked up. It will be the property owner’s responsibility to dispose of them.

● Rake your leaves to the curb or edge of the street, but not on the street where they will cause a traffic hazard.

● Avoid parking on top of, in front of, or behind leaf piles--it is difficult for the raking crews to work around parked vehicles.

● Do not rake leaves into the storm sewers and do not block catch basins with leaves. Doing so may cause flooding to your property!

● Place your leaves away from obstacles such as mailboxes, fire hydrants, vehicles, landscaping rocks. These obstacles become hidden within the leaf piles and can cause damage to the machinery or injury to employees.

● Do not allow children to play in the leaf piles for their safety. Especially piles near the street.

● If you employ landscapers for yard work, it is your responsibility as a homeowner to make sure that they comply with these procedures.

We cannot tell you exactly which day our crews will be down your street but we do keep daily records. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the Public Works Department at 433-0151.