Oregon council to discuss new guidelines for brush pickup

OREGON — City officials are in the process of reviewing policies for brush pickup for residents and how long yard waste bags can be put out prior to collection.

City Manager Darin DeHaan told the council Oct. 8 that some residents had placed large bushes, branches and sections of trees out on the terrace for collection by city crews.

“I just want to clarify what we will accept. I don’t think it is our job to take a private tree off a lot and dispose of it,” DeHaan said.

He suggested specifying a maximum diameter limit for bushes and tree limbs.

“What if we have a storm,” asked Mayor Ken Williams, noting that when he owned a large lot with trees he used to cut up fallen trees with a chainsaw before placing them on the terrace for collection. “I used to do it all the time.”

He said the city used to allow residents to take large limbs and sections of trees to the city dump, located on Liberty Hill, west of town. He said the city stopped that service.

“Are you are saying it is getting too expensive,” asked Williams, referring to the manpower needed for brush pickup. ”My first reaction is we took something away from citizens several years ago and now we’re talking about taking another [service] away.”

DeHaan said he was looking for input from the council members on how they want to run the brush collection program.

“We don’t want to take away, this is just discussion,” he said.

The city currently offers brush pickup (branches larger than 1 inch in diameter) one day a month as long as the brush is placed at the terrace by 7 a.m. on the pickup day, parallel and as close to the curb as possible. Brush piles are not to exceed 4 feet in height, 4 feet in depth, and 12 feet in length, with 1 foot spacing between piles.

Branches less than 1 inch are considered yard waste, like leaves, and can be placed in biodegradable bags or placed in containers as long as each bag or container does not exceed 30 pounds.

Public Works Director Bill Covell said the city’s last brush collection took one and a half days to complete. He said brush is taken to the city dump and then burned.

“Our dump is overflowing. We can’t burn until the winter,” he said. “That is one of the issues we are having. We are usually very flexible. There were just a few bad apples that put out an excessive amount.”

Commissioner Melanie Cozzi suggested the city invest in a wood chipper rather than burning it.

Covell said having a city worker chip the wood will result in a lot of labor.

Williams said some cities do chip brush and then offer the wood chips to the public. He asked Covell to estimate what the cost for doing that, including labor, would be.

DeHaan said the city could consider billing residents with larger amounts of brush and then use those fees to purchase a chipper.

“I just wanted to spark the conversation,” DeHaan said. “We want to offer the service, but not be taken advantage of.”

DeHaan also said yard waste (leaf collection) will soon be offered every other week rather than each week.

“We need to regulate how early bags can be put on the terrace, now that we are going to every two weeks,” DeHaan said. “I’d like to consider this for the next meeting. If we want to start regulating that, now would be the time to do it.”