By Staff
NILES – Beginning Monday, Oct. 22 at 7 a.m. the City of Niles Street Department will make one more complete trip around the city to clean up limbs and brush from the Thursday night storms.
Two crews will start in the First Ward, then go to the Second, Third and Fourth Wards. Crews will not return to a street once it has been completed. The work is expected to progress very quickly and residents should have brush out at the curb or roadside by no later than Sunday evening. Normal brush chipping program rules will apply with emphasis on the following:
Material must be easily handled by one man.
Vines, leaves, limbs and brush with dirt attached, rose and other thorn bushes, lawn and flower clippings, and limbs mixed with wire, nails or other trash will not be picked up.
The city's regular brush chipping program will resume in the spring of 2008.
LEAF COLLECTION
The fall leaf collection program will begin at 7 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29. Leaves are collected one ward at a time and this year's program will begin in the first ward.
Please assist the Street Department crews by following these few simple rules:
Rake leaves to the back of the curb and not onto the pavement. Leaves raked into the street can cause flooding problems, create a safety hazard, and hampers snow removal operations (if we experience an early snowfall);
This program is for leaves ONLY. Leaves mixed with brush, limbs, trash, ashes, or other debris will not be picked up;
Leaves must be raked out in advance of the leaf vacuums. Leaves raked out afterwards will not be picked up;
Please move your vehicles to off-street locations when the crews are in your neighborhood, both for your benefit and your neighbor's. Cars parked in the street slow the collection process down significantly and force the crews to leave piles of leaves behind that cannot be reached with the equipment;
Please do not cover the water meter castings in the boulevard area. This prevents meter readers from taking actual readings and requires them to estimate your water usage.
Crews will go around the City at least two complete times, weather permitting.
"Don't take any chances, rake out as many leaves as possible in advance of the first pick up due to the possibility that the second time around may be halted or delayed by bad weather. Many times in past years we have been able to make three complete trips around the city, but there are NO guarantees. Normally the crews work ten hours per day, Monday thru Saturday. The goal is to complete the entire program prior to Dec.15," Public Works Director for the City of Niles Neil Coulston said.
Should residents not be able to rake leaves out in time to be picked up by the City, they can be taken to the Southeast Berrien County Landfill, 1540 Mayflower Rd., Buchanan, and disposed of at a convenient, easily accessible location.