Oak Park’s village board indicated it is supportive of an alternative leaf collection program that would allow residents to place an unlimited number of bags of leaves in their parkway, or the area between the sidewalk and street, for collection on a designated day, rather than collecting big piles of leaves in the street.
“What we have right now is not working,” village president Vicki Scaman said.
At the Nov. 20, 2023, meeting, the board expressed concerns about leaf disposal safety and related environmental concerns.
Since November, the publics work department staff had meetings with Lakeshore Recycling Systems, the village’s leaf collection service, reviewed case studies of leaf collection programs, tracked collection costs, worked with a Vision Zero consultant and consulted with other affected departments, according to the village.
The leaf collection program has been a six- to eight-week operation from late October to early December since 1994. The newly proposed program would be for six weeks.
In 2023, almost 2,200 tons of leaves were collected over six weeks. Roughly $193,000 was paid to the hauler, LRS, to collect them.
For many years, residents of single-family homes raked their leaves into the street. Village employees would push the leaves to large piles for the hauler to pick up the next day. The leaf pile method raised safety concerns, including vehicle fires, impaired visibility, clogged drains, illegally parked cars and children playing in leaf piles, who could be easily overlooked by drivers.
Another issue is that multi-family units, commercial buildings and other institutions did not contribute to the cost, but often still reaped the benefits of having their leaves collected. It was “nearly impossible” to identify violating parties after leaves were pushed together, the village states. Landscaping companies were also reportedly witnessed dumping leaves into village piles.
Village officials said they are supportive of the new program, despite some minor concerns.
For example, having to purchase landscape bags for leaf collection may place a financial burden on residents, impacting single-family homeowners most, and the act of bagging may be more physically demanding on some.
Scaman said she is concerned about that demand on indiviuals with disabilities and older residents to bag their leaves. Other board members echoed that apprehension.
Trustee Susan Buchanan pointed out that if residents do not want to bag their leaves, or can’t, the new program does allow them to let the leaves lay where they are and compost. Residents can also run over the leaves with a lawnmower instead, she said.
Rob Sproule, the public works director, also said staff can engage with relevant groups, including the aging in communities commission and disability access commission, while working toward implementation of the program.
There would be no increase in program cost to the village or its residents with the new program. LRS will honor the program rate of $2.42 per month per household until the end of the contract in March 2027, according to the village.
Trustee Cory Wesley said he does not like that Oak Park would essentially be doing the work to bag leaves, but LRS will be charging the same amount. Sproule said the volume of leaves may dictate cost in the future, but for now, reached an agreement to maintain the current contract price.
Other benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, decreased labor costs, decreased leaf volume, increased waste reduction, safer streets and fewer blocked drains. Residents would also be encouraged to mulch and compost their leaves, as Buchanan mentioned.
Potential disadvantages include new costs, such as residents purchasing landscape bags, overtime costs for enforcement and education materials during the transition to the new program.
To successfully implement the new program, the village will need outreach, education and enforcement measures, according to the village, in addition to potential code revisions.
Wesley questioned whether enforcement would result in residents receiving tickets for pushing leaves into the street rather than bagging them, calling it potentially “punitive” to do so. Sproule said that would not be the village’s intent, but enforcement measures may be necessary if residents are well informed about a change and not following new guidelines.