2003_0818_packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

From: Brant Engabratson [engeb013 urnn.eduJ Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 16826 PM To: city. counoll ol.rosevilla.mn.us Subject: Leaf Pickup Program and Compost Site I understand that the council is seeking public comment on the Leaf pickup program and the compost site. I am writing in support of both programs. I have written to the council in the past about preserving city programs that have added to the quality of life here in Roseville and, amain this is one of those programs. I have been a user of the leaf pickup program for r he past 4 autumns and am planning on a fifth. Z have always felt a sense of pride with the community I live in when we are around the water cooler at work, with everyone talking about how they had to bag up their leaves the weekend before and I say, "All I have to do is bring them down to the street and put them in a pile and the city will come by and pick then up." Everyone comments how lucky we are in Roseville to have that service available. Roseville is an aging community with big lots and lots of trees. I would think that this a service to the longtime residents of Roseville to help :hem out a little bit with the fall cleanup chores. I would also think the this helps with city beautification efforts, by making it easy for residents to clean up their yards in the fall. Lastly, these leaves could be taken away before they end up in our streets and sewer systems which would add casts on to those types of maintenance costs. It would also be a shame to see all those leaves end up in a landfill somewhere, which leads me to the next point. At the very least, if you feel you absolutely need to eliminate the pickup program because you are not able to come up with a creative solution to keep it, you should not eliminate the compost site. I have not lived in the city relatively as long as many folks in Roseville, but I sense with all the parks and mature centers and arboretums, that Roseville, it could be argued, is a "green" community. And any "green" community should have a compost site. I'm not sure how much resources it tapes to maintain the site, but I wouldn't think that it would be very much. Again, if the compost didn't go there it would more than likely end up in a landfill somewhere. It would also allow residents who did not want to bag to send the leaves In bulk to a convenient drop off location. I realize that the city faces some near term budget shortfalls, and the pickup program is not an essential program like the fire and police departments. I know it loses money each year and it is an easy target. gut, from this resident's perspective, eliminating these successful. 30+ year old programs is wrong. 1 challenge you, as a council, to figure something out, whether it be increasing user fees (I have always thought $10 for leaf pickup was a steal, and I am willing to pay more) or maybe contracting some of it out, there has to be a way to keep both programs. you have made things work in the past (i.e. the Roseville Wrap, a similar type budget item) , you can do the same thing here. Brent Engebretson 912 Transit Avenue 1