By Staff
NILES - The recent weather has slowed the city leaf collection program.
Should the current weather forecast for the rest of the week hold true, the City of Niles fall leaf collection program could be placed on hold until weather conditions improve.
With heavy snow and high winds in the forecast, Street Department crews will need to switch from leaf collection to snow plowing.
Progress with the leaf collection program has been good up to this point, but if the unusually early heavy snowfall hits, the program could be on hold for several days.
The crews are currently on their second trip around the city collecting leaves which residents have raked toward the curb, having just moved into the first ward.
Once the first and then second wards have been completed, a final third trip around the entire city will be completed, weather permitting.
With a much improved weather forecast for early next week, the city still expects to cover the entire city three complete times.
The picture above, according to Neil Coulston, director of the City of Niles Public Works, illustrates why we ask citizens to rake their leaves to the back of curb and NOT onto the pavement.
With the early snowfall, the crews are forced to plow around these piles to prevent dragging the piles down the street to the front of the next door neighbor's house or across the neighbor's driveway, over a storm inlet, or into an intersection.