Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw's Street Department will begin its annual leaf collection program October 5.
Public Works Superintendent Lacey Francis says that two trucks will initially be dedicated to the collection of leaves - one for the north side of town, one for the south.
"We'd like to remind people to bag or box their leaves. We also want to remind people not to put the leaves in the street. We have a city ordinance against that because it clogs the storm drain system. We will enforce that ordinance," Francis said.
He said the street department will do only streets initially. No leaves will be picked up from alleys until the end of the program.
"Once the leaves really start to fall, we'll increase the numbers of trucks picking up leaves to five," he said. "We should get them all done in six to eight weeks, but it just depends on how quickly they fall."
Francis said it is preferred that leaves be bagged, but boxed leaves will be accepted.
"Bags are definitely better, because boxes tend to fall apart if they get rained on, so we'd prefer bags," he said.
Last years, according to Francis, the department picked up 12,955 cubic yards of leaves, and 11,104 cubic yards in 1996.
Francis also said the department's free mulch giveaway will be from 8 a.m. to noon, Oct. 17. There is no limit on the amount of mulch any individual can take.
"We usually average about 250 loads of mulch every year, whether it's pickup trucks or trailers. We'll even load a semi if someone brings one of those," he said. "We'll also have a pile of mulch set off to the side for people to fill garbage cans with mulch if they don't have a truck."
Residents can have street department personnel load the free mulch at the entrance of Boggs Industrial Park, in the 800 block of West Market Street.
