Posted at: 11/09/2009 4:51 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 11/10/2009 9:31 AM
By: Ray Levato

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Different towns, different leaf pick-up policies

Different towns, different leaf pick-up policies.

Depending on which side of the Brighton-Penfield town line they live on, people say leaf pickup can either be a chore or downright drudgery.

It took Jordan McCullough and his father several hours to bag leaves and there's still more to do.

Not far away, Brighton residents Beth Ehret and her neighbor Cal Wasco like the way their town does it. Just rake them to the street and leave them for the town to pick up with heavy equipment. No bags needed. 

Ehret said, “It's very convenient. Out they go on a tarp and the big bulldozers come and the kids love to watch them being scooped up. It's nice and simple.”

“The raking part is the same regardless, but putting them on a tarp is a lot easier,” Wasco said. “And the bagging, you've got to keep holding the darn things open and stuff them and tie them. And you've got to find a place to stack them and it costs you for the bags.”

In the old days, before the health department banned the practice, people would burn their leaves and use put the residue in their gardens.

Penfield Town Supervisor George Wiedemer said, “In the end it boils down to how we're going to use the taxpayer dollars. Some towns have police departments, some do leaf pickup. We happen to think here that our residents get good value from their recreation dollars and the parks dollars.”

Penfield says its town tax rate is the fifth or sixth lowest in the county.
 
Brighton says its leaf pickup costs about $500,000 and is one of the most popular services the town offers.

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