It's Leaf Fest time in Coeur d'Alene
Phil Ellsworth walks Rohan, a 7-year-old golden retriever, on the sidewalk of Wallace Avenue in Coeur d’Alene Monday past a row of leaves waiting to be picked up in the city’s annual leaf pickup, which begins today. (RALPH BARTHOLDT/Press)
By RALPH BARTHOLDT
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — The fallen leaves from the Betts’s chestnut tree are oblong, lightly-lobed and big as a glove.
For a few days now the large, yellow leaves from the massive tree in the Betts’s front yard have been piled into a berm that snakes along Government Way in front of the couple’s two-story home.
The narrow berm follows curbs on both sides of the street from the Kootenai County courthouse north to Harrison Avenue.
“We all raked. We all used the blower,” Dani Betts said.
And they helped their retired neighbors add leaves to the berm.
“We pitch in and help them. We all help each other,” Zach Betts said.
Two feet deep and comprised of maple, oak and elm, chestnut and basswood — pine needles form separate piles — the berm is the result of neighbors up and down the street blowing, raking and shoveling leaves from their yards in time for street crews to gather up the debris beginning today.
Each year city crews collect around 700 dump truck loads amassing approximately 2,000 tons of leaves.
City Council member Woody McEvers can’t remember exactly when the effort started, but for the last two years, he said, the city has been using the tonnage as compost, tilling it into soil at the Coeur d’Alene airport.
“We used to take it to the dump and grind it,” McEvers said.
The latest effort saves the city money, he said.
The annual leaf fest will have city crews, using trucks and front-end loaders working seemingly nonstop throughout Coeur d’Alene until the end of the month gathering and disposing of autumnal offerings from the city’s trees.
Leaf pickup starts today south of Sherman Avenue and will move north, east to west. A map on the city’s website shows where crews will work on any given day.
Crews ask that leaves be stacked at least a foot from the curb to allow rainwater to run freely to storm drains. Don’t add litter to the piles of leaves including garbage bags, move vehicles when crews are scheduled and do not park on leaf berms.
Street sweepers will follow crews as they move through town, according to the city.
Some of the leaves in front of the Betts’s home are from three maples that separate the property. It isn’t just the leaves that become piles. Maple seeds that spin from the sky like tiny eco-friendly helicopters, are also added to the berm.
There are a lot of those this year, Zach Betts said. In the decade the couple has lived on the property they have never seen so many maple seed pods — which he calls whirlybirds.
“It’s a banner year for the whirlybirds,” He said. “We probably got 10 times more than what we’ve gotten in the past.”