Ephrata schedules leaf pickup

EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council has scheduled its annual leaf pickup for the week beginning Monday, Nov. 14, and continuing through the following week to end on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

For the last several years, the city has picked up bagged leaves from residents’ homes at no extra cost in order to make sure fall leaves don’t make their way into the city’s storm drains and sewer system, according to City Manager Wes Crago.

City crews will follow the garbage collection routes and schedule, Crago added.

When asked where the leaves would go, Crago said they would be taken to the city dump. In years past, the city had provided those leaves to an organic farmer or has tried composting them, but found there were simply too many leaves to be used effectively.

“You don’t need that many leaves for organic farming or composting,” Cargo said. “Plus, we had issues with other things — like used diapers — ending up in the leaf bags.”

— Staff report