Storm Clean-up: Town Highway crews only pick up storm debris from trees in Town right-of-way
Yard waste pick up by SaniPro is every Monday (except the Mon. after Thanksgiving) through Dec. 19
November 11, 2011
by Christine Yeres
Town highway crews have 100 miles of roadway to cover. They will not pick up or chip brush from Irene unless the material was originally in the Town’s right-of-way—around 25 feet on either side of the road, as measured from the center of the road. No dragging out all your yard debris to curbside! It’s evident to crews that it didn’t fall there from above—and they will leave it behind. However, SaniPro will pick up your yard waste if property packaged.
If you expect SaniPro to take the yard waste, branches (up to 5 inches in diameter not more) must be cut to four feet in length, bundled with twine or string, and placed curbside. The bundles can weight up to 60 pounds each. Or place material in large paper bags, available at the town’s Recycle Center (and at the Chappaqua Farmers Market tomorrow). Otherwise, hire a private contractor to haul tree debris away or to chip it.
From the town’s website: Yard waste pickup is every Monday except for the week of Thanksgiving through December 19th. (Extended one week.) Brush needs to be cut to 4 feet or less and bundled with twine or placed in brown paper bags in order for SaniPro pick up. Anything over 5 inches in diameter or greater than 60 pounds will not be picked up by SaniPro. All private/ residential storm related tree debris must conform to these specifications before it is put at the edge of the road or at the end of the driveway for pickup by Sanipro.
As always the residential yard waste drop off area on Hunt’s Lane (Recycling Center) is open Monday-Saturday from 7-2:30 p.m. for residents wishing to bring down debris themselves. The Town will not be picking up full size uncut branches from private property.
Really?
We pay ever increasing taxes only to see waste removal be reduced to one day a week and we are then advised that the town is unable to help when help is truly needed.
Ossining still has 2 days of waste removal, and is helping with debris clean up…..I would suspect other towns are following suit as well.
New Castle is not about EDUCATION only. We need our town services especially after a storm such as this past one where damage is extensive and widespread.
Couldn’t have said it better, SL!
This is surprising and disappointing. None of my neighbors worried about whose tree fell on which part of whose yard or which branches fell on Town right of way - we all just pitched in and cleaned up together.
Everyone dragged branches to the curb and stacked them neatly. I’m wondering now if I should go out and try to guess which branches fell in the town right of way and which didn’t and try to sort these into two piles - one for the town and one for a private contractor? Seems kind of dumb.
It would seem most efficient for the town to collect all branches.
Editor’s Note: Take heart! SaniPro WILL PICK UP those stacked, bound bundles (no branch more than 5” in diameter, overall weight not more than 60 lbs. per bundle) or brown-bagged yard waste. It’s SaniPro’s job. Every Monday from now through Dec. 19 (but not on the day after
We’re saying in our piece above that it is not the town’s responsibility to pick up THAT very yard waste.
The TOWN’s job is to handle branches, brush and trunks that fell IN THE RIGHT OF WAY (25’ from center of road). Your work and your neighbors’ was not in vain—unless you didn’t bundle or bag the materials? Go tie and bag!</strong><strong>
Please tell me what our taxes do cover if not for an event like the October snow storm, where almost everyone in town was effected, many without power for numerous days. Most of us cleaned up debris that had fallen onto the road (IN THE RIGHT OF WAY) near our property, not waiting for the Town to send out crews. Now, the town is penalizing us for promptly reacting to the situation. The town should reconsider their decision.
Dear Supervisor Gerrard,
It has been a very difficult few weeks for most of us here in New Castle….branches down, no power, damage everywhere. Thank you for your efforts during the storm Halloween weekend; the email blasts from the town were very helpful.
In my opinion, the biggest hurdle after each storm has been the endless amount of yard waste accumulated per household (as well as the $$$ required to remove it). Unless it can be gathered in brown bags (leaves) or bundled with twine (small twigs), SaniPro will not take it curbside. Most homes pay to have it removed/chipped by their lawn/tree company, and they cannot deposit at the Recycling Center.
An exception was made this storm to allow spoiled food to be brought to the Center. Can New Castle please have an arrangement with SaniPro to collect ALL yardwaste curbside the next 2 weeks (as done in Mt. Kisco and all neighboring towns), irregardless as to how it is “packaged”? I would gladly drag all my yard waste (branches, limbs, trunks) to the side of the street, pile it neatly, if someone would take it from me without cost and take it “as is”.
Thank you.
I agree with all the comments above. Friends who live in surrounding towns call New Castle “the town of no”.
Please be aware that if you live on a NY state road (such as Millwood Road - Rt. 133), such as I do, the town will not pick up any debris originally in the right-of-way since that area is not owned by the town, but rather the state.
I cleared all the yard waste debris in front of my fence lining the street and brought into my front yard where it now sits. I will wait for my lawn service to (sometime in December) load all this yard debris (for a fee) into their dump truck and bring to the Recycling Center to dump (for another fee). With my luck, we will have another storm, and this wood will sit til spring.
I am glad to read the above comments, because I found the admonition “no dragging out your yard debris to the curb” beyond insulting. We are not children nor felons. We are the citizens and taxpayers who cleared the roads OURSELVES during and after the storm because there was no one from the town in evidence for several days. We got the message loud and clear on Sunday that we were on our own, and those of us who did not have generators left to stay with friends or check into hotels.
We don’t need to be scolded by anyone in the town, and we certainly don’t need to have our piles of branches assessed and critiqued by road crews like we are trying to pull off a big scam. Just send the trucks out and pick it up!
Editor’s Note: That tone was mine, having seen in other storms as well as in this most recent one, that there are people who do exactly that: drag everything from their yards out to the street in the hope that the town will pick it up, as opposed to SaniPro, which needs the debris to be packaged as described. It’s not the town’s responsibility. If you think it should be, then pay attention to the budget hearings.
~C. Yeres
Ah, the entitled in town. Don’t want to follow the rules. Put yourself in the shoes of SaniPro or the town. 60 pound bundles are not light - but that’s a reasonable size for them to handle. Have you tried to wrangle out a 4 inch round, 15 foot long branch from a large pile and feed it into a shredder? Suppose if you had customers and they didn’t follow your rules - how long would you take it? Personal responsibility in this town has gone out the window for some. Not all, there are plenty of hard working people that took it upon themselves to clean up their yards and bundle accordingly or take it down to the recycling center. Others just expect others to do what they don’t want to…Please teach your kids that working outside is not all bad - it’s good exercise as well. Follow the rules, after all, isn’t that what you tell your kids?
Obviously Martin did not lose any trees. It’s always easy to point the finger when you have not been impacted….
Sorry wow, I didn’t lose any trees, but lots of branches and some hit the house. Chainsaw required size branches. I piled all my slash and took some to the recycling center and paid, yes, paid a tree company a reasonably small sum to chip the rest as it would have taken me about 15 trips to the center to dispose of it myself. Out of power like many as well. Obviously you are still waiting for help…
This storm on top of Irene has turned areas of the town into a visual nightmare that certainly do not reflect the taxes we pay. Financially this was one of our most difficult years yet we managed to clear up our yard and alot of that entailed visiting the yard waste center ourselves. It is more than depressing to drive around especially the sooner I arrive home. Since real estate values are spiraling downwards anyway or at the very least not rising these home owners and the town can rest assured to keep them that way!!!
with all the taxes that are expected of the residents ,,,I agree that the town should pick up branches and debris,,,of course not tree limbs,,,but branches…Oh maybe the town will ticket us for parking them in front of our house for more than and hour or two limit, like they have decided to do in town…
Martin is spot on, working in the yard is good exercise.
These storms will continue to worsen, as we learned on Tuesday at Town Hall with the Climate Reality Project.
This is the new reality.
We must learn to become more resilient. Because clean up funding, even FEMA, is running low.
Perhaps its time to gather your neighbors and share chainsaws and skills. Many hands make little work.
“These storms will continue to worsen, as we learned on Tuesday at Town Hall with the Climate Reality Project.”
Climate Reality Project—now there’s an oxymoron.
AGW is a hoax. The books were cooked.
What ConEd does in the name of protecting the power connections leads to immense problems. Just a few examples. If a Norway Spruce (think Rockefeller Center type tree) has branches near wires, they strip all the branches on that side of the tree. This makes the tree unbalanced and when snow piles on the remaining branches on the non-stripped side, it creates great pressure for the tree and makes it far more likely to crack or topple over. Such trees should be left alone except for extreme examples. For deciduous trees, they cut the branches that are above a wire leaving many trees that have “Y” shapes. The problem with this is, they leave a tree that has deficiencies (some of ConEd’s own making) including bad notches and not enough leaves to keep the remaining portions healthy. These too tend to crack and topple because the pruning created weaknesses. Really, in many cases it would make more sense to take out the small tree in their entirety and it would probably be just as quick. But the crews don’t, they prune and leave an unsightly weakened “stalk” of a tree ready to go in a future storm—it is not just branches above a wire that create problems if the remaining tree decides to tip over or split. Then, the crews leave lots of young Norway Maples (the trees that are still bright yellow with big leaves) and all these trees do is cause problems because they drain the soil of nutrients and over time, even a nearby healthy tree is going to be weakened. They should take those saplings out whenever they can. They are considered an invasive species of tree that has nothing good to offer. I have talked to the guys on the crews and they are largely just hired guys who cut without knowing where it is desirable and they certainly don’t seem to know one variety of tree from another. My point is, they need to reassess their whole approach to tree work because what they are doing is not helping and is in fact making it far worse.
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