2002-09-26_PWETC_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 Leaf Pickup Program History/Trends: Minnesota banned burning yard waste effective January I, 1971 and banned putting yard waste in with your garbage effective January I, 1990. Prior to the bans residents were allowed to dispose of yard waste as they disposed of any other garbage. In response to the 1971 ban on yard waste burning Roseville began curbside collection ofleaves. Roseville is one of few cities in the metro area to offer a Leaf Pickup Program although other cities include leaves in their yard waste collection programs. The Leaf Pickup Program allows residents to rake leaves from their property to the curb where City crews use a specially equipped truck to vacuum up the leaves according to a published schedule (typically the end of October and beginning of November). Leaves are hauled to the Roseville leaf compost site off Dale just south of County Road C where they are composted. (At other times of the year the Vac-all is used to clean parts of the sewer system and on other related projects.) The leaves are stored in windrows to speed their decomposition. Roseville contracts with a private company to turn the windrows four times a year. That charge of $8-10,000 a year is taken out of a budget account that deals specifically with the compost facility. It typically takes a little over a year for the leaves to decompose into usable compost. Thc compost is available for residents to pick up free of charge. There is a small charge for home delivery. The charge ($30 a 6 cubic yard truck load) is just enough to cover the cost of delivery; it does not subsidize the facility. Residents use approximately 80% of the compost. The rest is used in City projects. All the available compost is used during the year it is available. Roseville addressed concerns about runoff from the compost site noted in thc 1991 report by constructing a filter benn in 1992 to filter the leachate. That berm will need to be repaired and regraded in a few years. The leaf pickup program was run at no additional cost to participants until 1997. Homeowners were then asked to pay a $15 fee that was added to their water bill. Participation rates fell and the City lowered the fee to $10 a year. Participation has fallen by 50% since Roseville began charging a fee, however the City still collects 2/3 of the volume. However after the initial decline the number of homeowners signing up for the program has been growing. In 1998 it was 2,500, in 1999 it was 2575, in 2000 it was 2652 and in 2001 it was 2750. Leaf Pickup Program Sign Ups 1998 1999 2000 2001 2,500 2,575 2,652 2,750 Residents may drop leaves off at the site for free. The site is open in the fall during October and the beginning of November and again in the spring in April and May. According to the 2002 survey of homeowners 38% said they dispose of their leaves by taking them to thc City's 50