Beginning in October, the Town of Wake Forest will transition from providing weekly to bi-monthly (twice a month) loose-leaf collection service.
During its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 16, the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners approved the new schedule, which calls for crews to service each town street twice each month.
For years, the Town has attempted to provide weekly loose-leaf collection service with mixed success. Several factors, including weather, mechanical issues and the sheer volume of leaves, have made it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to honor such a schedule.
The town has two vacuum trucks for the loose-leaf collection, and each is operated by the driver who controls the vacuum with a joystick in the cab. The collected leaves are disposed of at the City of Raleigh Facility, Capital Materials, Rowland Landfill and Averette Road in Wake Forest depending on capacity, cost and availability to accept leaves.
Allison Snyder, the assistant public works director, said there are pros and cons for the two leaf collection systems: vacuuming or collecting bags of leaves. “When vacuuming leaves, factors like weather and non-leaves slow down the process. When using plastic bags, they are unbagged prior to the leaves entering the truck, which is an additional step.”
She also said the town will deliver a truckload or truckloads of leaves for mulch on gardens, plants and trees. All you have to do is call Wake Forest Public Works and ask.
The bi-monthly service will take effect during the upcoming leaf collection season, which extends from the first Monday in October through the second Friday in March.
For more information, contact Snyder at 919-435-9585 or asnyder@wakeforestnc.gov<mailto:asnyder@wakeforestnc.gov>.
2 Responses
“the sheer volume of leaves, have made it difficult”… so we are going to pick up every other week instead of every week. OK. Government doing math. Don’t try this at home!
In other words, the town is reducing the service by 50% even as the tax base grows. Got it.