Leaf pickups on schedule

By Adam Tobias of the Daily Times staff
Monday, November 9, 2009 12:49 PM CST

The Watertown Street Department is currently in the process of picking up leaves in the city. Street department employees John Butschke, left, and Ted Christian are pictured collecting leaves this morning along Oak Hill Court. (ADAM TOBIAS/Daily Times)

City crews are currently in the process of collecting leaves in Watertown and street department Superintendent Rick Schultz says so far he is pleased with the work.

“Everything is going really well right now,” Schultz said. “We are running four crews and they are all averaging about seven loads a day.”

The street department started picking up leaves this season in the middle of October and moved to three crews on the week on Oct. 19. Schultz then increased the crews to four on the week of Oct. 26 and will stay with that number until Thanksgiving. Workers are currently collecting leaves Monday through Friday, Schultz said.

“We're pretty much done with roadwork so everybody is committed to the leaf pickup right now,” Schultz said.

“We want to get these (leaves) all picked up so we don't have them lingering as we've had in the past, going into spring,” he added.

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Each crew consists of three street department employees who follow one of four routes in the city. These workers will pick up the leaves at the curb and haul them to the city's compost site. Schultz said in January the leaves will be made into a compost pile.

Schultz is asking that residents rake their leaves to the curb and make sure the piles are free of branches and other materials.

“When people rake their leaves we would like them as close to the edge of the curb as possible,” Schultz said.

“We also ask that people refrain from parking their cars at the curb in front of the leaf piles until after we pick up the leaves,” he added. “It just makes the process of collecting leaves a lot more efficient and easier for us without vehicles in the way. It also expedites the process and allows us to get more done in a day than if we have to go around the vehicles.”

Schultz is also asking that residents continue to rake their leaves because crews will still be stopping at areas that previously received attention.

“We're going to be coming back even if we've left an area,” Schultz said. “We will be back to pick up those leaves. We are just moving forward. We don't do one route and quit. We go to the next route and keep on moving so we can get all these leaves picked up.

“So, if we have already gone through your area and you have not raked, go ahead and rake and we'll come back and get your leaves for you,” he added.

Those with questions about the leaf collection process may call the public works facility at 262-4080.