Elgin plans to sweep up remaining leaves

The city of Elgin plans to remove piles of decaying leaves from the curbs in the Elgin Historic District, but frustration is festering with some residents.

"Now it's semifrozen. They should have (removed) it last week," said Dan Miller, past president of the Gifford Park Association, which oversees the district.

In an effort to remove leaves leftover from last fall, the city this week will impose a temporary parking ban from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to allow public works crews unfettered access to the leaves.

Residents with odd-numbered addresses should park on the opposite side of the street today; residents with even-numbered addresses should park on the opposite side of the street on Thursday.

Work may continue Friday, if needed. If it snows Wednesday night, plow crews will clear the streets and then resume leaf collection.

For questions or details, call Tish Powell at (847) 931-5980.

Assistant City Manager Sean Stegall said the city is notifying residents through fliers and automated phone calls.

He said crews will work around vehicles but will tow the vehicles, if necessary.

"The leaves fell late and the snow came early," Stegall said. "This problem isn't throughout the entire city. But there are some areas that are unacceptable."

Leaf collection has been a problem in Elgin's older neighborhoods with large trees.

The city has most residents in the older parts of town rake their leaves to the curb and a truck comes by to scoop them up.

Residents in newer areas must bag their leaves.

Over the summer, city council members balked at a plan to require all residents to bag their leaves, conceding that it would be too arduous and expensive for homeowners.

Having residents pile leaves on the right of way and using large trucks to vacuum them up has been ruled out because the city would have to buy dozens of specialized trucks.

Last fall, the city initiated parking restrictions on Wednesdays for the Gifford Park area through Nov. 30 so crews could remove leaves.

But leaves fell late and collection stopped because composting locations closed.

Stegall said leaves removed this week would be stored on city land. He acknowledged the city could have acted faster last week when it was warmer.

"I think we could have done better and we will do better," Stegall said. "One pile (of leaves) is one too many."

City council member David Kaptain said the city needs a better solution for leaf removal. He noted that many communities in Wisconsin have parking restrictions to assist removal crews.

"We need to look at something for next year that's more permanent. I think everything has to be on the table," he said.