CITY NOTES: An update on leaf pickup, trash policy

By Trudy O'Donnell, Charles City City Clerk

Happy fall everyone! Of course, with fall comes falling leaves, so a note about our annual leaf pickup is in order.

We will do our first leaf pickup the week of Oct.r 22. A second one may be done at a later date, weather permitting and will be announced on the radio, on our Facebook page and on the city website.

For the pickup, we ask that you put your leaves in the street in front of your house and about 12 inches away from the curb. This will allow water to flow in the event of rain.

If you miss the leaf pickup, you can always take leaves out to Shaw Avenue at any time. Please be sure to put them in the proper area out there.

Oct. 22 will also be the last scheduled brush pickup of the year.

If you have any questions about either of these processes, please don’t hesitate to contact city hall at 641-257-6300.

The new garbage tote system has been in place since April and for the most part, it seems to be going well.

Just a couple of reminders about the policies for this service. The lid on the tote must be completely closed in order to be picked up. We can’t allow just an inch or two opening, it must be totally closed.

You can still use the orange bags to set out garbage that won’t fit into the tote, but we ask that you not make a habit of doing that. If the haulers consistently find an orange bag next to your tote, you will automatically be moved up to the next size of tote.

You can switch out sizes of totes up to two times a year without any penalty. All changes must go through city hall so we can adjust the billing accordingly.

If you are switching sizes, Jendro will call you to set up a time for you to set out your old tote so they can swap them out. Billing changes will take place on the first of the month following the change.

It was quite an ordeal to get this all set up and running, so we appreciate your patience as we work through this. As with any new process, it is a work in progress and we will make any changes we can to keep this as smooth as possible.

We just got a credit card machine installed this week at City Hall to accept credit card payments on water bills, dog registrations, building permits, etc.

The fees for using a credit card or debit card in city hall will be passed on to the person using the card, the same way that the online utility bill payments are set up. That fee right now for City Hall is $1.95 per transaction.

We will not accept credit card payments over the phone since we feel that you can go online and set up an account there if needed. So please be aware of that.

This is a good time to also remind everyone that when you pay your utility bill online, it takes 24 to 48 hours to be processed and sent to us. So, we don’t consider your account paid until it fully processes. If it is right up against a deadline for tag fees or shut off, please be aware of this.

The City Council recently discussed tree trimming policies at a council planning session. The city code states that it is the responsibility of the abutting property owner to trim trees in the boulevard on both the street and sidewalk side.

Street side needs to be trimmed to at least 15 feet and the sidewalk side needs to be trimmed to at least 8 feet.

There have been reports of damage being done to higher profile vehicles from low hanging branches in the street. And with more people walking, it would be very beneficial for the branches to be trimmed over the sidewalks.

I’m pretty short so this usually doesn’t affect me, but I’m sure my taller friends would appreciate not getting slapped in the face with a branch when they’re on the sidewalk.

If these problems persist, council may further discuss a program for having the city trim the trees and assess the costs to the appropriate property. We appreciate your help with this important matter.

Even though it’s still beautiful fall weather, snow will be making an appearance soon. I’d like to remind everyone that as the snow piles up, it will help both you and the city if you can keep any fire hydrants on your property shoveled out.

In the event of a fire, quick access to a hydrant could make a huge difference in the amount of the damage. If you can help out with this matter, it is truly appreciated.

I would like to end with stating that if any of you ever have any questions on city policies or items discussed at a City Council meeting, the best way to get answers is to call City Hall.

All meetings are open to the public as well, so feel free to attend a meeting to hear what’s going on in our city. We do occasionally go into a closed session, but the reasons for being able to do this are very limited by state code and any possible closed session would be listed on a council agenda.

We meet at 6 p.m. the first, third and fourth Monday and the second Wednesday of every month.

There can be a lot of incorrect information floating around out there and that doesn’t help anyone understand what’s going on. The phone number for city hall is 641-257-6300 or you can submit a question online on the city’s website and direct it to whatever city department for which your question pertains.

We are ready to help in any way we can.