Lincolnshire may end leaf program

Lincolnshire officials are considering changing -- or even ending --the village's annual leaf-collection program.

The village now picks up fallen leaves in all residential neighborhoods except private developments between October and December. About 1,700 properties are eligible for the program.

The effort costs about $170,000 annually, officials estimated. Funding is included in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Public Works Director Jennifer Hughes said.

The village board had asked its staff to analyze leaf-collection following a special committee-of-the-whole discussion in July. The topic was broached during a discussion of possible money-saving steps, Mayor Brett Blomberg recalled.

The board will review the analysis and discuss its options Monday, Dec. 13, during a committee-of-the-whole meeting.

The discussion will occur after the board's regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. No formal action will be taken on the leaf issue, but the board could give the staff direction to pursue, Hughes said.

Officials have proposed a few options: maintaining the existing program; creating a voluntary subscription program; contracting with a waste hauling firm; and ending the effort.

A memo written by Hughes and Streets Superintendent D. Scott Pippen recommends the program continue in its current form.

The program is cost effective when compared to having the work done by a private contractor, the memo reads, and the current service requires minimal work from residents. Additionally, the town's current staffing level is high enough for such a service to continue, the memo reads.

Leaf-collection responsibilities vary from community to community.

In some towns, the village performs the service without additional fees to residents. In others, homeowners bag their own leaves in special paper bags they must purchase at local stores and affix special stickers to the bags before they are picked up during trash collection.

In Lincolnshire, village crews pick up the leaves using special machines and bring them to a central point. A contractor uses semitrailer trucks to transport the leaves to a farm for composting.

Residents are asked to place their leaves in the street before collection. People living along Half Day and Riverwoods roads must bag their leaves to minimize exposure of village workers to danger on these two busy streets.

More than 8,000 cubic yards of leaves were collected this year, according to village documents.

If the program is eliminated, residents will have several options, including doing nothing with their leaves, hiring contractors personally, and participating in a local residential landscape waste program.

Allowing residents to burn leaves would require revising village code.

Monday's meeting is at village hall, One Olde Half Day Road. It's open to the public, and residents will be encouraged to share their opinions.

If you can't attend but want to provide comment, send an e-mail to Hughes at jhughe@village.lincolnshire.il.us.

Village officials have received a lot of feedback from residents about the leaf-pickup service, and the majority have favored keeping it, Blomberg said.

“I'd hate to see it go away,” he said.