Sunday mornings rains showed you what lies ahead….leaves falling.
Cookeville, Livingston and Sparta residents will get some help with leaf pickups. Sparta Public Works Director Dillard Quick said Sparta leaf collection services will start next Monday. Quick said the city will have a five man crew that will pickup leaves from 7am-3:30pm, Monday-Friday over the next two months. Quick said Sparta does not necessarily have a route schedule.
“A lot of people will call in and we have a list that we work off of just like we do on our brush,” Quick said. ” So we will try to at least hit each part of the city at least once a week, and some of those probably twice depending on the calls that we get.”
Cookeville Public Works will begin leaf collection services starting in November and end in March. Loose leaves are collected by areas every three to four weeks and call ins are not necessary.
Livingston Street and Sanitation Director Kristian Mansell said Livingston has already started leaf collection services. Mansell said Livingston does not have a designated route or schedule and that the city uses a work order system. Mansell said a worko rder are created based on call-ins.
Quick said he recommends people to rake leaves into a pile to the edge of the curb. Quick said he advises people not to rake their leaves into the street.
“Try not to be more than eight feet off the edge of the road, but try not to get those leaves in the street,” Quick said. “Not only will it cause problems for traffic, but you know, somebody can come through there and have an accident and then you have to do the leaves all over again.”
Quick also said to make sure sticks and twigs are not in the leaf pile. Quick said sticks and twigs can damage the leaf collection trucks. In Cookeville if foreign debris is found in the leaf pile the leaves will not be collected.
