The city is changing the way it will pick up an estimated 2,200 truckloads of leaves this fall and winter in Chattanooga.
The changes are in response to calls from the public about getting a more accurate timeline of when leaf pickups will occur.
“I think we got a good plan to do that,” Public Works Director Lee Norris told the Chattanooga City Council on Tuesday. “But, bear in mind, leaves don’t all fall at one time.”
Tony Boyd, deputy director of citywide services, presented the plan in Tuesday’s agenda session. The big changes include a new website and zoning system. He said Public Works used a website last year, but this year’s model is more interactive and detailed.
The city is now split up into 99 zones. One truck will be in one zone at a time picking up leaves. The city has 13 trucks at its disposal, but Boyd said they’ll likely keep one in the garage. So on the first day of leaf pickup – Nov. 9 – a truck will be in each of the zones labeled 1-12. When a truck is finished in one zone, it’ll move onto whatever zone is next up numerically.
“If a constituent does not know how to operate a computer, can they still call 311 and see exactly where they’re located?” Councilman Russell Gilbert asked.
Yes, Boyd said.
But for computer users, they can use the city’s new interactive website. On chattanooga.gov/public-works, if users click on “Interactive Service Maps” and then on “Leaf Collection,” they’ll see the city’s zones. Residents will see where trucks are in real time. They also can type in their address to find out their zone.
Leaf pickup is a free service to the public, and the trucks can accept either freestanding leaves in a pile or bagged leaves, Boyd said.
“When would you estimate a start date for the high 70s?” Councilman Chip Henderson asked, concerned about part of his district, which includes Lookout Valley, Moccasin Bend, Mountain Creek, North Chattanooga and Northwoods North.
There is no estimate, Boyd said.
“We can’t tell them when we’ll be there, but we can tell them where we’re at,” he said after the presentation.
That will change, though.
This is the first time the city has done leaf pickup like this, so there isn’t any precedent. Last year, the first cycle took six weeks and the second cycle took eight weeks. Beyond that, it’s a guessing game. But after data is collected this year, the city will have accurate projection dates for future years.
With each year of data the city collects, the process will become more scientific.
The city will have two cycles of pickups. When the first cycle is done and all 99 zones have been attended to, the second cycle will immediately begin and the process will start all over again at zone one.
A couple things could slow the pickup process. First, the number of leaves. When exactly the leaves will fall can’t be pinned to an exact date. If one zone has more leaves then expected, it will take the trucks longer to collect.
Second, if the city has any snow or ice, that will slow collection down. The trucks used for leaf collection are the same trucks the city uses for snow and ice removal.
“It’s kind of a transformer type,” Boyd joked about his trucks.
Leaf collection is an important process, he said. Leaves that aren’t removed from lawns can cause slippery roads when they blow into the the streets, clog drainage systems or possibly affect water quality if too many get into the water system.
After collection, the leaves will be taken to Wood Recycling Facility. If residents want leaves for their own personal compost piles, they can come to the facility and pick them up free of charge. The facility will even load them into your vehicle.
“But we won’t unload them,” Boyd said to a chuckling audience.
Contact staff writer Evan Hoopfer at ehoopfer@timesfreepress.com or @EvanHoopfer or 423-757-6731.