As fall descends on the city, the brilliant reds, oranges and golds that decorate the hillsides begin littering the streets in brown, crumbling clumps.

Monday, November 15, 1999

As fall descends on the city, the brilliant reds, oranges and golds that decorate the hillsides begin littering the streets in brown, crumbling clumps.

Residents arm themselves with rakes and prepare to do battle and reclaim their lawns before Jack Frost comes visiting.

And in Ironton, getting rid of the leaves once the raking is done is no problem, Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary said. In fact, there are several options available to city residents, he added.

"Citywide, the leaf collection process has been an ongoing effort for a few weeks now, and we hope to have it completed in another two weeks or so, but that will depend on how long it takes the leaves to finish falling," Cleary said. "What we do offer are ways to assist the citizens in clearing the leaves permanently."

Residents who rake and bag their leaves can simply set the additional bags out with their garbage that is ready for collection, Cleary said.

Or, instead of bagging the leaves, the city will clear away leaves that are left in piles along the side of the streets, he said.

"Because the leaves are very dry and light, it is easier to haul them just after it rains," Cleary said. "But if the leaves are piled close to the side of the streets we do take care of collecting and disposing of them."

Rather than waiting on city workers to collect bagged or raked leaves, residents also have a third option.

"In an effort devised to save the citizens money by reducing the overall tonnage of refuse the city hauls away, we now have a compost facility across from Moulton Field," Cleary said. "Residents may take their leaves there during normal city operating hours."

To ensure leaves will get collected on time, Cleary offered the following tips for residents who want to be rid of their leaves:

– Don’t overfill a garbage bag with leaves. While packing leaves down tightly to fit more in might seem economical, refuse collectors won’t accept excessively heavy bags of leaves.

– If a resident decides to utilize the alternate collection method and push leaves out into the street, pushing the piles out too far can cause a driving hazard. Leaves are collected from the street more easily when they are wet, but they also cause slippery road conditions. Keep leaf piles close to the curb.

– Excessive amounts of bags will not be collected all at one time. If a resident has several bags of leaves and some are not collected after the normal garbage collection time has passed, the remaining bags will be collected on the next collection day.

– When hauling leaves to the compost area, do not bring additional items to leave behind. The compost area is for leaves, grass clippings and other such material but common household garbage and similar items are not acceptable.