Public Works Superintendent Presents Leaf Collection Plan

The Borough had planned to improve its leaf pickup this fall with a new piece of equipment: an automated leaf truck that can be manned by one worker and can vacuum, shred and compact leaves in the field.

But the truck likely won't arrive until the end of the leaf season in late November because of how late the Borough went out to bid for it, the Mayor and Council learned Tuesday.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Guy Picone presented a plan to the Mayor and Council to complete leaf pickup without the use of the new truck at their work session. The Borough struggled to last year, with foliage on the ground as late as December.

One of the problems then was a lack of manpower, Picone said. With less grass to pick up as it gets colder, Picone plans to gain an extra crew by devoting one of the Wednesday grass collection teams to leaf pickup.

The other grass collection routes will be expanded to cover the lost crew, he said.

"We're going to do one less route and that crew will be put out on leaf equipment," Picone said.

Picone also proposed allowing leaf crews to work one hour of overtime a day and three Saturdays, a cost of less than $18,000. The money will come, not from Borough coffers, but from a Clean Communities grant, which allows municipalities to use funds for litter cleanup and removal.

More money is available in the Clean Communities fund if Borough workers need more time to collect leaves, Picone said.

Picone added that the Borough will benefit from not having to pick up garbage and recycling in Oradell as it did last year. The Borough terminated that shared service agreement earlier this year, freeing up more manpower for leaf pickup this fall.

"I believe we can make this work," he told the Mayor and Council.

And though the automated leaf vacuum truck looks to be arriving late, it won't have outlived its usefulness if there's another snowy winter—the truck can be outfitted with a plow.