City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Community Information

Contact: Mark Jones
Phone: 319-286-5897
Loose Leaf Collection - Parked Vehicles

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA ¡V October 21, 2009 ¡V The Solid Waste and Recycling Division has completed two and a half weeks of ¡§Loose Leaf¡¨ vacuum collection. The program is a big hit with many residents passing along compliments and leaf collection crews have collected 481 tons of leaves to date. Unfortunately, parked vehicles are preventing leaf collection crews from getting to all the leaves they could.

The City of Cedar Rapids Solid Waste and Recycling Division is appealing to all solid waste and recycling customers to help us provide a first rate loose leaf collection service by remembering the following;

The new loose leaf collection service is scheduled to run for two full months, which is longer than in the past. Collection began on October 5th and will run until December 11th, weather permitting

Loose leaves will be collected weekly and on the same day as regular garbage, yard waste and recycling. Loose leaves MUST be ready for collection by 7:00 AM on your day of collection.

Loose leaves CANNOT be blocked by parked vehicles. If they are, this will prevent them from being collected and crews will not return until the next scheduled collection day further delaying collection.

Loose leaves CANNOT be raked into the street and MUST remain on the parking area or grass by the edge of the road if no curb exists. This new requirement will keep more leaves out of City streets, which in turn,

1. Improves storm water quality, as fewer leaves will get flushed into storm drains.

2. Reduces the frequency of plugged storm intakes.

3. Maintains full width of streets during leaf collection season, which will improve traffic flow on narrow side streets.

4. Prevents children from playing in large piles of leaves stored in the street, which could lead to serious injury.

5. Prevents leaves from catching fire, as a result of a car¡¦s hot catalytic converter igniting the leaves if parked in them.

Loose leaves MUST be free of brush and branches. Brush and branches can plug the vacuum hoses and slow down or delay vacuum collection. If piles are mixed, the leaves will not get collected and crews will not come back until the next scheduled collection. Once again this will delay collection. Please use the YARDY cart for brush and or branches. Brush and branches can not stick out over the top of the YARDY and the YARDY lid MUST close completely. If you have extra brush and branches, bundle and tie them with bio-degradable twine or cord (no wire or nylon cord) into bundles NO larger than 3 feet long by 2 feet in diameter. Each bundle cannot exceed 40 pounds. Place bundled brush and branches beside the YARDY cart.

Loose leaf vacuum collection will move more quickly when leaves are raked into long rows, parallel to the edge of the road.

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