SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Though fall leaf color is in full swing, leaves falling will be an issue for residents across Michiana soon. The City of South Bend has announced the leaf pickup schedule, beginning Nov. 2.
South Bend residents will notice an additional fee on their utilities bill for the leaf pickup.
The Office of Public Works says it should be filed under the Clean Air utility, since the city composts the leaves instead of burning them. This is also a reminder that inside city limits, burning leaves is prohibited.
The first round of leaf pickups should be finished by Thanksgiving, with the second-round schedule being released by then, Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works, said.
“We always try to do two rounds of pickup throughout the city, but we release the second round a little bit later in the season because by that time we have a better sense of, you know, where we are with pickup, where we are with weather conditions”
While Michiana’s winter will hopefully be on the milder side this year, South Bend’s Office of Public Works is ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.
“We will be going throughout the city, neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street”
At least that’s the plan…but planning for Michiana weather is hardly simple
“But last year was unusual. We had snowfall pretty continuously from the end of October through sometime this spring. So, we're hoping that doesn't happen again.”
Kain tells us the city uses the same crews for leaf pickup in the fall, snow removal in the winter, and pothole filling in the spring. Any adverse weather can set back one program or the other.
“So, when we do have weather, we have to convert the fleet and redirect our crews. And if that happens again, we would have to kind of have the same program as last year and resume leaf pickup as soon as the weather allows.”
The good news for us is this winter looks significantly more mild than usual, especially compared to last year, so leaf pickup will hopefully not be delayed until the spring like a couple months ago.