With leaves still clinging to trees in multitudes across the community, Oak Bay extended its leaf collection program that begins Monday.
The annual blitz is to help prevent catch basins and storm mains from becoming clogged during a moderate to heavy rainfall.
The process changed this year to visit designated areas for pickup on designated dates.
“The biggest reason for the changes is to be more efficient with our leaf pickup crews,” said Dan Horan, Oak Bay’s director of engineering. “In the past we spent a lot of time reacting to reports of missed addresses – situations where residents would put their leaves on the street shortly after our crews had already been by to do the pickup.”
That meant they would pick up in a neighbourhood one week, proceed to another area of the district then get get reports of missed areas.
“The idea was to communicate well in advance the plan so the residents know what to expect, and we can ensure that we are approaching this in a focussed and more efficient manner,” Horan said. “It’s about keeping the same resources as we have traditionally had, but increasing our level of service to better serve our residents.”
Since being released earlier this month the leaf pickup schedule has changed to add a week into December. Pickup will occur in each colour-coded area twice. Public works also reminds residents to not leave other garden or tree trimmings as only leaves are cleared through the vacuum. Also, do not gather leaves in plastic bags that can clog the vacuum.
Leaves will not be picked up after designated dates.
As municipal crews prepare for the annual leaf clearing, residents are reminded to keep their piles to the boulevard. Leaves left on the street, in gutters or on sidewalks pose a hazard to road users and can disrupt the storm system.
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