Leaf collection to begin in Toledo and Rossford on Monday

10/29/2005

The leaves have finally started to fall, so it's time to start picking them up. Toledo and Rossford will begin doing just that on Monday.

In Toledo, leaf collection is beginning a week later than last year.

"Just take a look out the window. The leaves aren't falling, so we backed it up a week," David Welch, the city's commissioner of streets, bridges, and harbor said yesterday - his first full day in that job.

Toledo's leaf collection begins on curbed and uncurbed streets in ZIP Code 43613.

The leaf collection, which involves about 120 city employees, moves to ZIP Codes 43623 and 43615 later in the week and to other areas in the city as November progresses.

The schedules will be announced weekly and will also be posted on the city's Web site, www.toledo.oh.gov.

Residents are encouraged to look for the neighborhood signs the city will place a few days to a week before leaf pickups.

Mr. Welch said that branches and debris should not be included in leaf piles because they can damage leaf collection equipment, some of which is brand new.

Residents are reminded to avoid moving leaves into the street until just before their scheduled leaf collection because "you don't want to block drains and the street itself," Mr. Welch said.

In the most heavily forested areas of the city - the 43606, 43613, 43614, 43615, and 43623 ZIP Code areas - there will be a second collection.

The scheduled completion date for the program is Dec. 12, weather permitting.

"We're hoping Mother Nature cooperates with us this year, and we can get the leaves up before the snow falls," Mr. Welch said.

Rossford's leaf collection program will continue until all the leaves are gone or until snow falls, according to city officials.

Residents should pile leaves at the curb, but not in the streets. No other material - branches, grass, bushes, or garden refuse, for example - should be mixed in.

Such yard waste will be collected on Nov. 2, Nov. 16, and Nov. 30 as long as the waste is placed in Waste Management kraft bags.

The last day for Rossford's yard waste collection is Nov. 30, officials said.