Annual war on leaves to begin

Autumn leaves are beginning to fall already, and soon will be piling up on the ground in earnest awaiting the annual collection efforts of the Greencastle Department of Public Works.

That process will begin with the leaf vacuum starting its rounds on Monday, Oct. 24 and continuing through Nov. 30, Greencastle Department of Public Works Director Brad Phillips told the City Council last week.

Phillips said leaf-collection efforts will follow city trash route schedule, as is the tradition.

However, that timeframe includes the four fall holidays for city workers, Tuesday, Nov. 8 (Election Day), Friday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day) and Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24-25 (Thanksgiving).

Residents within city limits are advised to rake leaves to the edge of the roadway or into the area between the street and sidewalk -- but not into the street, Phillips stressed.

In locations without a curb or sidewalk, residents are advised to rake their leaves out near the street but not into it.

“No limbs, no trash, no plastic bags,” Phillips cautioned.

Simple rules of city leaf pick-up efforts to keep in mind include:

-- No bags are to ever be used; leaves should be raked into the area between the sidewalk and curb or to the edge of the yard where is no curb (never into the street where they can be washed into the storm sewers).

-- No trash or tree limbs should ever be mixed in with leaves (limbs or foreign objects can damage equipment and put the leaf vac out of commission at a most inopportune time).

-- Burning leaves (or trash, for that matter) is not permissible within the city limits of Greencastle.

-- The collection schedule will follow city trash routes as closely as possible. So if your trash is picked up on Mondays, the leaf vacuum will probably get your leaves that day as well (unless the effort gets behind because of inclement weather or mass quantities of leaves).