Editor, The Spotlight;
In my role as Bethlehem’s Highway Superintendent, I write to provide an update to Bethlehem regarding an important town service — our fall leaf pickup program. This is an important program, along with many other services the Highway Department provides, and this year was particularly challenging. I received a great amount of feedback this year about the fall leaf pickup and appreciate that so many residents took the time to share their concerns.
First, let me tell you what has not changed related to our fall leaf pickup program. Our challenges this fall were not due to a change in funding, staffing or any kind of reduction in the level of service that we provide in picking up leaves multiple times on each street in Bethlehem. What was challenging to the Highway Department’s leaf pickup program was that the leaves dropped later than usual, followed by early significant winter weather. This was true for many communities in upstate New York.
We started picking up leaves in mid-October and we were on schedule until the Thanksgiving snowstorm. This snowstorm, and the one that followed in early December, greatly hampered our plan to continue (and finish) the fall leaf pickup. Since the early fall, I have committed all the resources that I can on a daily basis — and have employed temporary and authorized overtime in an effort to finish our fall leaf pickup. My team is still picking up leaves and I expect that to continue as long as the weather cooperates. The third round of leaf pickup should be completed within a week. For the coming spring, I intend to start Spring Cleanup as early as possible, depending on the weather, and start repairing lawns as soon as the weather permits.
For next year, I will use the lessons learned from this season to improve the service — which I am strongly committed to. Specifically, I will make every effort to complete three rounds of leaf pickup by Thanksgiving, improve communication with the residents regarding leaf pickup scheduling and planning, look at ways to alter the schedule of the leaf pickups to address neighborhoods that have greater volumes of leaves, and ensure that needed personnel and equipment are available by increasing the use of temporary drivers as well as laborers. If you have ideas that you would like to share, I welcome them. Contact me at [email protected].
I greatly appreciate everyone’s patience during this difficult leaf pickup season. My team and I were frustrated too and look to use this year’s lessons to make positive changes to improve service for next year. Thank you.
Brent Meredith
Highway Superintendent
