City Groundskeeping picked up over 500 loose leaf piles last fall

Kenneth Cummings, Communications Director

The City of Jackson announced, last fall, the implementation of new leaf pickup process. The city’s Groundskeeping Department began running leaf machine starting in November through the end of March 2021.

City Groundskeeping Superintendent JD Sims said that the new process of picking up loose leaves by district is more efficient for his team and the public compared to working on a call-by-call basis.

"This process is a lot more efficient because [crews] are spending less drive time and more time picking up leaves," Sims said. "Sweeping allows crews to pick up more leaves and less drive and travel time.

Over 500 piles of leaves were picked up during the 2020
2021 season.

The previous process included 26 zones throughout the city. The new method covers the city in 4 districts.

"We have a dedicated crew in each zone and instead of working on a call system, we are sweeping through an entire district before starting over and doing it again," Sims said.

Leaf Pick Up District Maps

DISTRICT 1	DISTRICT 2 - North	DISTRICT 2 - South
DISTRICT 3	DISTRICT 4	ALL DISTRICTS

Jackson residents do not have to call to request leaf pick-up during the loose leaf pickup season due to the new sweep-thru method. Leaf pickup crews start at one end of their district and sweep-thru neighborhood by neighborhood without skipping and then start over.

"Anyone who sees the leaf pickup crew coming through their neighborhood but didn't get their leaves out until a couple of days later will have to wait until the next sweep-thru," Sims said. "If you see them in your neighborhood in early November, then don't think that's the only time they'll be there. Once they get done with the whole area, they will be back. You haven't missed your chance."

 
Leaves are cleared in front of a home in Jackson, TN. Leaf pickup season runs from November to March.
During the off season, residents can dial 3-1-1 for leaf pickup.

Over 500 loads of leaves picked up

Throughout the season, groundskeeping crews picked up approximately 536 loads of leaves which equals out to 5.36M pounds of leaves.

During a span of 8 weeks, leaf volume dropped significantly due to the efficiency of sweeping through districts.

"We went from 41 loads a week to 14.5 loads for the week ending January 22, 2021," Sims said. "We were spending more time driving and searching than actually picking up leaves."

Sims and his team began making a list of piles that each employee saw or was called in by a citizen.

"We would then send 1 to 2 crews out for a day or so to pick up all of the addresses listed," Sims said. "The final 2 weeks of the season we sent all 4 crews to do one final sweep of their respective districts."

The top graph highlights the number of piles picked up in each of the four districts serviced by our city Groundskeeping Department during the loose-leaf pickup season including the final sweep from March 22-31, 2021.

The second graph shows the total number of piles picked up in all districts due to a low leaf-pile volume for each district.

The future of loose leaf pickup season

Sims said that during the off-season, he and his crews will be tweaking the process to make it even more efficient for his team and the citizens of Jackson.  

"One thing we plan on doing is putting GPS trackers on all the leaf machines so citizens can log on to the website to see exactly what neighborhood they're in and how far they are away from their neighborhood," Sims said.

"I just want to say thank you to the citizens for getting their leaves out in a timely manner and bearing with us as we roll out this new process," Sims said. "It's a learning process for us as well as them and we're going to do everything we can to tweak it and make it as efficient as possible so we can get it taken care of."

The loose leaf pickup season runs from the first Monday in November through the 31st of March. Any remaining leaves will have to be bagged and picked up by a claw truck that can be submitted through the Ready 311 app or by dialing 3-1-1.