I am writing in response to Ken Trainor’s thoughts about “leaf dreck” [Thank you very mulch, Viewpoints, Jan. 14]. Our local government caused this problem and it is theirs to fix. A service we had for years, which was covered in the village budget, was discontinued and the tremendous amount of time and expense transferred to property owners, while eliminating it from the budget. This was justified based on a villager parking his hot car on leaves and starting a fire as well as concerns over child safety, although no events were cited to support this.
When this service was provided, homeowners and lawn services deposited leaves along the curb and village services removed the debris. It was efficient and we were much cleaner. Bagging leaves by the homeowner is more time-consuming, less efficient, has less participation and has resulted in less complete cleanup. Lawn services will carry the leaves away, but at a significant upcharge to the homeowner. Some homeowners have chosen to do nothing with the leaves rather than spend the time or money. Much of it migrates to the street. In spite of the village’s suggestions, homeowners will not be cleaning our streets and the village has not done so either.
Another contributing factor is global warming. Bag pickup ended in early December when the trees were still full. This was complicated by a large early snow. The old service wouldn’t have addressed this, but we would have been in better shape. Going forward, fall cleanup may need to extend into late December or early January. Many lawn services don’t work past late November but a few were working in December and January, once the snow cleared.
For those of us who use lawn services, their time and expense has been impacted and passed on to us. They will not bag leaves but will load them into their truck and take them away as part of a single fall cleanup. Last year it cost us an additional $100 above our previous fee and this year they wanted $150 more, close to doubling our expense, to provide this service. Their services for the year were also impacted by outlawing gas leaf blowers in the name of environmental protection. While I don’t dispute the intent, it is low-hanging fruit and contributes minimally compared to the gas riding mowers or our cars. This required new equipment purchases. The battery-powered blowers aren’t as strong and therefore less effective and add to their time. All was passed on to the consumer.
I believe the village plan is a failure, is the cause of our beautiful village being an embarrassing mess and eroding the pride we have had in our appearance. Our drains are clogged and snow removal has been impacted by the buildup along the curbs. What will happen in the spring?
I strongly urge the village to return to what works and increase service time to address seasonal change. Do it now while contracts for 2026 can be put in place.
Michael Goodman
Oak Park
