The City of Nelson is once again asking for residents’ assistance removing leaves from boulevards in front of their homes.
Public Works supervisor Karen MacDonald said City crews, if requested, will pick up boulevard leaves, after they’ve been raked from onto the side of the road, along the curb.
However, leaves that fall onto individual yards, or from trees on private property, should be disposed of by the homeowners, by either composting them or delivering them to the transfer station. The City does not offer curb side pickup for yard waste collected from private property, nor does it clear leaves from the alleyways (that’s the responsibility of whoever’s tree the leaves fell from).
“It would be too cost prohibitive to use staff time picking people’s yard leaves,” MacDonald explained. “We hope everyone will chip in to help keep their neighbourhoods looking good.”
City crews will use their leaf blowers to clear parks and other public property, such as the landscaped medians along Vernon Street.
The leaves the City collects are composted and mixed with excess winter sand to make top soil that’s used in public gardens.
“Nothing is wasted,” MacDonald said.
To schedule a time to have public works pickup leaves raked off the boulevard, call 250-352-8238.
Personal yard waste can be dropped off at the Nelson transfer station, at 70 Lakeside Drive, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The fee to drop off residential yard waste is $5 per pickup truck load, while larger trucks will be charged $30 per tonne.
