Chesterton Street Department to begin annual leaf program on Monday Oct 26

The Town of Chesterton said the following on its Facebook page:

“NOTE: During the first week of the leaf program—beginning, again, on Monday, Oct. 26—crews will NOT be following the customary schedule. Instead, they’ll collect leaves where they find them, on what is more a shakedown cruise than anything else, to ensure that the leaf vacs have been fine-tuned and are mechanically sound after many months in storage.

“THEN, on Monday, Nov. 2, the crews will follow the traditional pickup schedule per the map below (as much as the weather and leaf volumes permit).”

The Town of Chesterton says Street Department Commissioner John Schnadenberg is hopeful that the crews will visit every neighborhood at least five times before the end of November.

“Please keep the following in mind:

DO NOT MIX BRUSH, GARBAGE, POP CANS, OR OTHER DEBRIS WITH LEAVES. The leaf vacuums are designed for leaves only and could be damaged by brush and other debris.

*DO NOT PLACE LEAF PILES IN ALLEYS: The Street Department’s leaf vacs are large pieces of machinery unable to negotiate the narrow alleys. Please rake your leaf piles to curbside.

*DO NOT PLACE LEAVES IN DITCHES: The leaf vacs work poorly in ditches and tend to collect water along with the leaves, leaving them sodden. For that reason crews have to rake the leaves out of the ditches and that takes time. Rake your piles to the flat surface at the road’s edge.”