Another Call To End Leaf Pickup Program

LA GRANGE, IL – A La Grange resident this week called for eliminating the village's leaf pickup program.

In the fall, the village sends trucks around to pick up leaves that residents rake to the curb.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Glenn Thompson, a member of the village's Environmental Quality Commission, called for the village to do away with the program.

Thompson, a Spring Avenue resident, said its elimination would offset the loss of $90,000 from a lower-than-recommended property tax levy. But he had other reasons.

"It's extra work. We're putting carbon vapors in the air by having extra trucks running around town and sweeping up streets," he said. "It's a privilege that we do this leaf program for the convenience of our citizens. It's not the right program."

If residents don't want to mulch their leaves, Thompson said, they can bag them and pay the fee under the regular yard waste program. He said the Environmental Quality Commission was "totally against" the leaf program.

"There's your $90,000 put back in the bank and the program's eliminated," he told the board. "I wish you would think about that."

Village trustees did not respond.

At a Village Board meeting last year, Stone Avenue resident Rose Naseef, another commission member, also requested trustees end the program.

She presented similar reasons and urged residents to incorporate leaves in their yards.

At the time, Village President Mark Kuchler said the village wasn't ready to end the program.

"Baby steps sometimes keep us moving forward," he said.