Public Works of Bowling Green shares process of leaf pickup

Bowling Green, KY.- As leaves continue to fall from the trees and litter your front yard, Public Works of Bowling Green is moving throughout the city to pick up the natural debris.

Director of Public Works for the City of Bowling Green, Andy Souza, says “Our crews will come by, and we’ll get your leaves for free. What a great service provided by the city. We do it to help keep our streets safe and to keep our storm sewers clean, and we do it for you as a taxpayer because it’s a great benefit.”

Leaves should be raked to the road but not in the road, storm drains or around vehicles. In order to keep the equipment in operation, piles should consist of only leaves, meaning no limbs, cans or garbage.

Souza also says this cleanup benefits the city as a whole, keeping it clean and safe.

“The benefit for us as a city is really that it doesn’t get into our storm sewers, and because Kentucky is known for its karst, or cave systems, this keeps our drains clean and clear. So, as we get ready for the snow to come, as that snow melts, we don’t want anything clogging our drains.”

In the first week of operation, Public Works has picked up 30 tons of leaves – that’s nearly 60,000 pounds. But how does this operation work?

Matthew Barrow of the operations division for Public Works says that “Our rakers will rake them up and get them out as close as they can to the road. Then I will come through with the pipe, suck up as far out as I can possibly reach, and move onto the next pile.”

The city is divided into 10 zones, each with a pick-up in November and December, and, as requested, in January. After the trailer is full, the leaves are then composted.

Barrow says, “They all get deposited into the trailer or the leaf machine, as we call it, and then when we’re done, we’ll take it out to Western at the Ag Expo and dump it there.”

To find out which zone you are located in, and to see the leaf pickup schedule, visit bgky.org.