Autumn comes around every year, does it not? And we pretty well know what happens in autumn, correct? But:
The city's Board of Public Works has approved buying a new machine to dispose of 50,000 tons of excess leaves next year.
Beginning next year, either Fox Contractors of Fort Wayne, which has a had city contract for leaf disposal for the past five years, or another company will be responsible for processing and disposing of 25,000 to 30,000 tons of leaves annually.
Currently, the city's contract with Fox only calls for the disposal of 10,000 tons of leaves a year. The leaves are stored at the city's yard-waste recycling facility, 6202 Lake Ave., in giant mounds. The board also approved buying a machine that provides the necessary oxygen to turn the leaves into compost, said Wendy Barrott, the city's director of energy and environmental services.
“We have to get a handle on this,” Barrott said.
Maybe it's just me, but leaf collection would seem to be one of the basics. I think I would like city government to try to get that right before it tries to tackle something like "ending homelessness in 10 years" or enacting a green program to help save the planet.
