Hello Everyone! It’s been a few weeks since you have heard from me. A lot has gone on.
For one thing, the Idaho Hospital Association held their annual conference in Sun Valley. Cathy went with me as she usually does and had a nice time. For me, it was mainly sitting in sessions and furiously taking notes as information was presented. What I learned was worthwhile and had application not only to the hospital, but much of it could be applied to managing the City as well.
The most enjoyable part of the trip for me was driving back through the Stanley Basin and Loman with the fall colors. It was gorgeous.
Something else we did in the last couple of weeks have the grandsons overnight. I’ve mentioned before that it is interesting to watch their interests change as they get older. The thing that was most notable this time was their interest in art and painting. We have taken them to a local art shop before to paint treasure boxes and little wooden toys and they have enjoyed this.
However, this time was different. They painted pictures. One was on a blank canvas and the other on a blank wooden puzzle. The canvas was a ghost scene for Halloween and the blank puzzle became a picture of a Seattle Seahawks football helmet lying in the grass. I know Cathy and I are slightly prejudiced when it comes to these boys, but I thought the pictures were quite good for their ages. We just might have a couple of junior Michelangelos on our hands.
Well, now on to City business.
It is not only the Stanley Basin and Loman area that look great this time of year, but Weiser looks awfully good as well with the leaves turning. Which brings up the subject leaves falling.
For those of you who might not know, the City provides you with a leaf pickup service. All that you need to do is to rake your leaves into the street next to the curb. The City will come by throughout the fall to vacuum up leaves. The leaves are then taken to the County Transfer Site where they are disposed of.
That being said, there are a few things to know that make the process work best with the least amount of disruption and expense to you as a taxpayer.
- If you do not have a curb, rake the leaves onto the pavement at the side of the street. The City uses a vacuum. If leaves are not on the asphalt, rocks and dirt will be vacuumed into the blades.
- Do not have anything mixed in with the leaves. Again, sticks, rocks, and other objects will damage the fan blades and cause stress on the clutch.
- Do not park on or drive through leaf piles. Squashing the leaves, especially if they become wet, and even worse, freeze, makes it much more difficult to vacuum the leaves. Also, cars are difficult to vacuum under, much like your furniture.
- Do not pile leaves in the alley to be picked up with the alley clean up. You may not be aware, but the County Transfer Site requires different materials to be separated, including leaves. Leaving leaves in the alley requires the crews to separate the leaves out from your yard waste which increases costs.
- Do not include grass clippings in with the leaves. The grass is denser than leaves and causes stress on the vacuum’s clutch, which tends to be sensitive and easy to blow out.
- Here is a new one: Do not place cinder blocks or bricks on the bottom of your pile to keep cars from driving through your leaves. This may not only be hard on the City’s equipment, but it may result in a car permanently disabled on your leaves.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope you are enjoying this wonderful fall weather! Have a great week!
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