Volume of leaves challenges ambitious schedule for new vacuum trucks

The city has a lot of leaves.

A sufficient volume of leaves, in fact, that city's new fleet of vacuum trucks is having difficulty keeping on schedule, reports Mark Jones, superintendent of the city's solid waste/recycling operation.

Jones' plan had been to pick up leaves in sections of the city on the same day as each section's weekly garbage pickup. As of Monday morning, the “overwhelming” volume of leaves had put city crews behind by about a day, Jones says.

The collection schedule remains far more ambitious than in years past when crews got to neighborhoods a few times in a four-week period. The plan now is for weekly leaf-pickup, which began at the first of October, to run through Dec. 11, weather permitting.

Those with questions can call 286-5897.