We are heading into a nearly perfect fall weekend.
For many that means a lot of yard work.
9&10’s Cody Boyer and photojournalist Derrick Larr grabbed rakes to join in on the clean-up in Cadillac and learn how to get rid of those leaves properly.
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“I like to do a lot,” says Althea Lefevre, Cadillac resident. “I think it’s relaxing."
Whether you love it like Althea or consider it a chore, the leaf clean-up is inevitable every fall.
“I go out and get the leaves and they pick them up," Lefevre says.
"They" meaning the city.
“In the city of Cadillac, we do have a leaf collection service,” says Jeff Dietlin, Utilities Director for the City of Cadillac. “It’s part of the trash that you pay for every month."
And they are busy.
“We’re out there full shifts and we’re running two machines, cleaning up pretty much all the time right now with the leaves,” Dietlin says.
With a messy yard like this, it might occur to you that it’s a simple and easy idea to just push these leaves out into the road but that, in fact, is illegal in Cadillac because you can cover storm drains like this, keeping them from actually being useful.
“There’s a lot of storm sewers that will get clogged because of the debris that is caused by the leaves collecting there,” Dietlin says. “We’re trying to keep the storm sewers open."
So the options are bagging the leaves or putting them in a trash can labeled yard waste … no burning allowed.
Cleaning up correctly can keep you out of trouble and keep that yard looking good.
“I try to do it every day,” Lefevre says. “It’s just raking, raking, raking."
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