Leaf pickup breezes into 20th year
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FAIRMONT - With the city of Fairmont's curbside leaf program having started around 2006, there are no signs of stopping as it enters 20 years of providing an important service for Fairmont citizens.
Looking back through the past few years, Public Works Superintendent Nick Lardy said the program has been getting good results with its current method, where the city is split into three sections, and each section is done one at a time, with the order rotating yearly.
"People are doing a good job keeping them out by the curb and not in the street," he said. "Some people even try to cover their leaf pile to prevent the leaves blowing around."
This year, properties south of Blue Earth Avenue/Lake Avenue and north of Lair Road/Cardinal Street will have theirs done first, from October 26-30. From there, properties South of Lair Road/Cardinal Street will have theirs done November 2-8 and properties north of Blue Earth Avenue/Lake Avenue will be last, from November 9-13.
Before, during and after leaf pick-up, people also have the opportunity to bring their leaves directly to the yard waste site at 1880 100th Street.
Having worked with the city for 22 years, Lardy remembers the program starting in part to restrict burning that was going on of leaves. He said it has, in general, been a positive for the city.
"It’s a service for the citizens," he said. "Some people don’t have the means to get out to the tree area, so it’s a good thing to get the leaves picked up for them with this."
To make sure they can cover a third of the city in a week, Lardy said they usually run three crews with a total of 18 people between them.
"Lately, we’ve been using loaders, and we got a couple guys that are raking leaves off and pushing leaves off," he said. "We have a lawnmower with a broom on the front that sweeps it off the curb into the street. We come along with the loader or the LeafVac machine, and dump it either into a garbage truck or a dump truck, and then haul that out to the compost area. We try to follow up every street with the street sweeper afterwards."
You may have seen a sweeper out already in Fairmont. Lardy said they have had one running throughout the summer and added a second one as the leaves started to fall, but that is just to catch stray leaves past the curb and isn’t affiliated with the leaf pick-up program.
The best way to get leaves ready is to rake them in a windrow instead of one great big pile, according to Lardy.
"Try to stretch out a windrow to accommodate our brooms," he said. "It makes it easier a little bit for us to broom it off the boulevards into the street."
As for what will happen to the leaves, like leaves brought in by townsfolk, they will be piled and used for free compost. In fact, at the same time this program is going on, the leaves from 2025 have sat long enough that they are now free compost the city has available to anyone who needs it at the yard waste site.
Besides the leaves themselves, Lardy said the one big thing people need to keep in mind is parking. As long as it is at all possible, they should not park along the street when the leaf pick-up is ongoing, as any leaves blocked by parked cars will not be grabbed by the city.
A week has also been left open in case some snow comes.
"If it clears out, then we can [use that week]," Lardy said. "If it snows and we plow the streets, and there’s a windrow of snow on top of it, and it doesn’t leave, it's cancelled."