By: Diane Benjamin
Yesterday I got an email from a citizen after they saw leaves being collected in their neighborhood on Sunday. They wanted to know if staff was being paid overtime to do it. I’ve also had inquiries about staff emptying garbage cans on Sundays in parks.
I asked Public Works about both. The Director answered me himself:
I’m lucky, mine blow away.
The email said 2 guys raked the leaves into the street where a bucket picked them up, No vacuum trucks?
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I asked the workers who were picking up leaves in my neighborhood. The fellow said they don’t have the staff to use the vacuum trucks right now. He also said they can’t pick up the bulk waste like branches, mums,etc. until 2nd week of December here due to reduced staff. The workers wanted weekend overtime to get it done but management, then, wouldn’t agree to it. (Last Thursday.)
In our area they have picked up everything. I was in a meeting with someone who reported the vacuum truck on their street. They could have been mistaken but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Renner/Gleason/Tyus admin could not get things right.
I thought the City of Bloomington used to hire “seasonal help” for the entry level labor jobs (like raking leaves) – Sure seems like a better solution than paying over-time for well-paid resources.
Diane,Bloomington does use endloader and trucks in neighborhoods where many houses have leaves piled up about 3 feet or higher. That may be more cost effective than using the leaf vacuums and allows the vacuums to be used on streets where they stop for reasonably short periods. Also the big dump trucks may sit idle at this time of year because of doing fewer street repairs etc. now that it freezes overnite. R
Our leaves have been sitting for 3 weeks now with no truck of any kind in site. It is becoming a road hazard in our neighborhood with large piles on both sides of the street. Will see if we get a refund on our city bill for it….hahahaha