Citizens Waste Management Advisory and City Response

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To date, City crews have operated City owned vacuum machines to transfer the leaves from the curb to a truck. City staff indicate this speciaiized equipment is expensive to purchase and maintain and has only one use, the pickup of leaves. It must be stored for most of the year, except for the brief leaf callection period. City staff state that existing equipment saan will be.unrepairable due ta its age and condition. In 1989 the equipment broke down. To complete the collection the City contracted with a local waste hauler for the us� of a replacement vacuum. In 1988 leaves were picked up with a front end loader and dump trucks, after the specialized equipment br�ke down. In 1987 due to an early snowfall and frast, some leaves were frozen tight against �he ground and could not be picked up. The C�ty of Roseville is virtually unique among metrQ area municipalities in its appraach to leaf collection. On�y a few other local cities provides•assistance to citizens in leaf collection or disposal. It is a popular program. Collectian statistics indicate 58 percent of all potential households participate in the collection program. In addition, the volume of leaves collected remains high, ranging from 1,490 to 1,800 tons in the yeaxs 1984 through 1989 (see Figure 1}. There is no indication volume will diminish. Indeed, the 1990 yard waste ban probably w�ll resuit in an increase. 4.2. Roseville Leaf Compost Sxte Roseville's leaf compost site has been used continuously since 1971. It is lacated on a City owned site on the east side of Dale Street between County B-2 and County C(see Map 1). The xecently opened RoseviZle Nature Center is located in a portion of Central Park, just south of the leaf compost site. Each fall, leaves are accepted at the site. No other form of yard waste is accepted. Whzle a majority of the leav�s at the site came from the City's leaf collection program, there has been a growing volume of leaves dropped off by C�ty residenis. This later volume has risen from an estimated 290 tons in 1986 ta an estimated 1,8�0 tons in 1989--a 368 percent increase! Leaf volume dropped off by residents at the compost site wi11 iikely increase due to the new yard waste restrictions. The site is open in the fall during the last two weekends of October and every weekend in Novemlier. Hours are Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, N�an - 4:00 p.m. A"guard" is an the site during those hours to assur� only leaves are left (no other waste or bags}, the leaves are placed on the proper pile, and the leaves are delivered by a Roseville resident. �