City of Anna won't be picking up leaves for now
source="2b8dc2b236a92e7950002d24d5281e05.jpg"
<p class="p1">For now, the City of Anna won't be in the business of picking up leaves.</p><p class="p1">The topic of leaf pick up and disposal again was on the agenda when the Anna City Council met last week in regular session.</p><p class="p1">The meeting was Tuesday evening, Nov. 3, at Anna City Hall.</p><p class="p1">The leaf issue has been the focus of discussion numerous times at Anna City Council meetings. The topic was addressed at length at one of the council's meetings in October.</p><p class="p1">For many years, the city picked up leaves and transported them to its landfill site north of Anna. Operations at the landfill came to an end in the 1990s. The city now is in the final stages of formally closing the site.</p><p class="p1">The leaves were burned after they were taken to the landfill site. However, that method of disposing of the leaves was halted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Since that action, city officials have been trying to determine what to do with fallen leaves, tree limbs and brush.</p><p class="p1">Talks at the Nov. 3 meeting came to the point that Mayor Steve Hartline twice made a motion regarding the matter.</p><p class="p1">The mayor's motion called for the city to pick up leaves in Anna and transport them to the city's business park. The business park is located at the east edge of the Union County city, along Illinois Route 146. Anna residents would not be charged for the service supported by the mayor.</p><p class="p1">Once the leaves were at the business park, they would be plowed, or incorporated, into the ground. That method of disposal also is governed by environmental regulations, city administrator Steve Guined noted at the Nov. 3 meeting.</p><p class="p1">The proposal supported by the mayor was one of two options for leaf pick up and disposal which were on the agenda for last week's city council meeting.</p><p class="p1">The other option involved contracting with Republic Services to pick up the leaves. Republic Services provides trash pick up in Anna. </p><p class="p1">A projected baseline cost of about $34,000 a year for the leaf pick up service was presented to the council. </p><p class="p1">That cost would be for four pick ups. Leaves would be picked up four times, either for four consecutive weeks or for eight weeks. </p><p class="p1">The service would cost customers $1.60 a month for 12 months. The council also discussed the possibility of having eight pick-up times, which would cost more. Trash pick up service is provided to about 1,800 customers in Anna.</p><p class="p1">If such a service were to be utilized, people in Anna would be asked to pick up leaves and place them in biodegradable paper bags or clean metal or plastic containers. </p><p class="p1">City council member Brandon Bierstedt asked the mayor if he had determined a cost for his proposed method of disposing of the leaves at the business park.</p><p class="p1">The mayor said that he did not have firm numbers in place for his proposal. Hartline said he wanted to see if the city council would support his proposal and then move forward with addressing costs.</p><p class="p1">After the mayor initially made his motion regarding disposal of leaves, discussion continued on the matter, with several council members voicing concerns about the proposal.</p><p class="p1">"We need to know the cost," city council member Al Kamp said. Kamp said he would not vote for any proposal without knowing a cost. "I think we need a number," he said.</p><p class="p1">The council then turned to discussion about the number of hours which city employees would have to work to pick up, transport and dispose of the leaves. </p><p class="p1">Hartline then declared that he was still making his motion – adding, "I'm tired of listening to it." City council member Martha Ann Webb seconded the motion.</p><p class="p1">As the council prepared to vote on the mayor's motion, Hartline suggested that one other choice was possible.</p><p class="p1">"There's a third option," he said. "Do nothing."</p><p class="p1">A roll call vote followed on the mayor's motion. </p><p class="p1">Council member Bierstedt, after a long pause, voted no. Bierstedt reiterated that he wanted to see a cost for the proposal.</p><p class="p1">"I can't give you the numbers," the mayor said, adding: "Don't you think that we've beat this to death? I'm done with it."</p><p class="p1">Council members Kamp and David Isom also voted no on the motion. Hartline and Webb voted in support of the motion.</p>