County backs off plan to eliminate vacuum leaf service next year
Mason District residents concerned about Fairfax County’s plan to eliminate vacuum leaf service are getting a temporary reprieve.
An Oct. 16 email from Mason Supervisor Penny Gross says the director of the Public Works and Environmental Services Department is “withdrawing the staff proposal to end county vacuum leaf service next winter.”
“The withdrawal will provide more time for community discussion about potential alternatives to vacuum leaf collection in the future,” Gross states. “As a result, there will not be a public hearing about leaf collection before the Board of Supervisors this fall, and the service will be provided this winter and next winter at least.”
Only a small proportion of county residents receive leaf vacuuming services from the county. But the vast majority of those who do receive the service live in Mason District.
DPWES had announced in July its intent to recommend that the Board of Supervisors eliminate the program after the 2023-24 season, which runs from November to January.
The department proposed terminating the service because the amount of tax revenue received for the service didn’t cover the cost. As a result, the county projected a $900,000 deficit for the program in 2023. Various problems last year led to significant delays in leaf collections.
Related story: Fairfax County could end leaf vacuum service
An online petition posted Oct. 10 by Seven Corners resident Kathleen Brown urging the county to continue the service has gotten 1,376 signatures.
“The DPWES staff want to discontinue this long valued and environmentally sound program after their failure to provide consistent and reliably timed service,” the petition states. “They have cited examples of what happens when the service is not undertaken on a timely basis and then remarkably suggested that those examples are reasons to simply end the service instead of correcting the management and operation of it.”
While county staff suggested that residents compost leaves on site, the petition says that’s not a viable option for properties with many mature trees.
Ending the vacuum leaf collection program will be detrimental to the environment, the petition notes, as it will lead to many more private contractors blocking roads in neighborhoods and creating more air pollution.
Also, uncollected leaves left in the street will be washed into storm drains, leading to pollution in Holmes Run, Lake Barcroft, and other waterways.
The 900k deficit was from gross mismanagement, if I recall correctly, three different subcontractors were paid huge sums and never performed the services … so it’s not entirely accurate to say the leaf collection runs at a deficit by default
and as stated in the draft proposal , the staff has annuallyREDUCED the rate charged for the service for the past few years FOR WHICH THE PAPER GAVE NO REASON!
#DISAPPOINTED. If the program is not revenue neutral or positive, it should be axed. There is no reason for the county to complete with private lawn care providers who quickly service properties and remove leaves in a timely manner.
there is an alternative… the county can fix the program. I don’t think there will be anyone who disagrees that this shouldn’t may be a revenue neutral program, but the idea that it is that far in the red shows something is woefully mismanaged. It is beyond irritating that DPWES went to cancel the program rather than fix its flaws.
This is the silliest boondoggle and plans to eliminate this service were fiscally responsible, so of course the board put this on hold. These are extremely greedy, entitled homeowners. Most of us have to provide for our own refuse services.
As well, I despise driving and walking through adjacent neighborhoods with leaves piled on the streets.
Raise the tax to fully cover the cost of providing this premium service, or eliminate it. It seems like they are on the slow path to eliminating it, it’ll just take a few years.
Dawna, why do you hate the environment?
I will just burn my leaves. It’s perfectly legal, cost-effective, and pollutes less than having private companies clog the air with their diesel engines.
We used to burn ours until the country put a stop to that. We then dragged them down to Holmes Run until they started vacuuming.
You can still legally burn them if you have a pit. That’s what I do on my front lawn. Dragging them to the creek is much more harmful than burning them. For once I agree with the county (albeit from years past).
I e suggested to Penny gross for years that 2 collections in the fall is adequate and add one in the spring. She was as quiet as a church on Monday morning
Everyone could have a composting bin where the leaves could be disposed at home if you really must collect leaves.
What a great idea! Except, my composting bin would have to be the size of an Olympic swimming pool. I already have composting bins and several massive 20’x20’ composting piles that are decomposing. My husband turns the piles several times a year to use in the garden. All the bins with handles are full. Just the acorns alone in my yard would fill up 40-50 of the black composting bins.
My leaves fill a space of about 30′ long x 15′ wide x 5′ high three times during the season. Three times! No one has that kind of space for composting leaves. That space is an off street parking area by the curb so my leaves don’t obstruct the street. My neighbors and I need this program to continue. The county should fix it and if necessary, raise the price. Note that residents in the program pay the cost. The rest of the county does not.