Lincolnshire officials want to make sure someone will be picking up residents’ leaves later this fall.
What remains to be seen, though, is whether the pick-up service will continue to be handled by Lincolnshire public works crews or trucks from regional company Waste Management.
As Lincolnshire Village Board members consider outsourcing the service, a move that could save them at least $41,000, Mayor Liz Brandt still can remember the type of response residents gave in 2009, when trustees considered doing away with the service entirely.
“Pitchforks,” she recalled.
Village Manager Brad Burke said that since the 1970s, public works employees have picked up leaves that residents rake off their yards and set along the curb in bags. His staff makes three passes up and down every residential street during a six-week span from late October to early December.
The effort can lead to 11-hour work days and overtime expenses, he said. Of Lincolnshire’s 1,707 single-family houses, about 1,200 use the service.
But Waste Management may be able to do it cheaper by adding leaf pickup for an extra $90,000 in its next contract with Lincolnshire. Burke and Brandt both said the current, baseline expenses for public works to do the service in-house totals around $131,000.
Waste Management has worked as the residential hauler in Lincolnshire since 1996, allowing for an easy transition if the company and village both agree to add leaf pickup on top of its waste-hauling duties, Brandt said.
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Waste Management representatives have not yet returned calls for comment. Public works staff could address other needs and the village could see savings with the move, Brandt said.
“If we can free up $41,000 and save our public works crew some time, that makes some sense,” she said.
Lincolnshire owns three, specially equipped trucks for leaf collection, Burke said. One public works crew member drives each vehicle, while a partner operates the machine attached to it.
They take the day’s haul to the public works facility, where a private contractor picks them up and drives them to a disposal location in southern Wisconsin.
If the change in service happens, the village likely would auction off the two older trucks but keep the newer one as a back-up for days when the Waste Management is behind schedule, Burke said.
The trustees have discussed a possible service switch during meetings on July 25 and Aug. 8. They could vote on a proposal during their meeting Aug. 22.
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