The Citizen Finds Out

Henrico County offers two residential leaf-collection options:

• free bagged leaf collection, through which Henrico Department of Public Works crews visit many streets in the county twice (and others on demand by request) between Nov. 13 and Feb. 10, according to this schedule;

• a leaf-vacuum service that costs $30 per order, offered in two month-long sessions annually, through which crews will vacuum leaf piles that citizens leave in front of their properties.

The latter service offered an initial order period from Nov. 6 to Dec. 1, after which crews began fulfilling the 3,800 orders they received. Henrico Public Works Director Terrell Hughes told the Citizen that collection is not yet complete but that the process is running ahead of the pace of previous years and should be finished by Jan. 12. He expects at least

“Individual homeowner experiences may vary depending on various factors such as when the order is placed, when our crews worked through their zones, weather, and equipment issues,” Hughes said.

One factor that has slowed progress a bit this year: December’s rain. Last month was the wettest ever recorded in the Richmond region, making leaves heavier and slowing the collection process, Hughes said.

“This pushed the completion of leaf vacuum collection to after Christmas for some residents,” he said.

Crews now are working to collect the remaining leaves before they freeze together, according to Hughes.

If you didn’t place an order for leaf vacuuming but want to get rid of your leaves soon, you can either bag them and leave them in your front yard near the road – but not in the roadway or ditch – for free pickup (the second round of collections begins Jan. 8) or take them to Henrico’s Public Use areas for free disposal through Feb. 10.

If you don’t want to bag or haul them and don’t mind waiting, the second round of orders for the leaf vacuuming service will open Feb. 26 and run through March 29. Call (804) 727-8779 during that timeframe to request the service. The $30 charge will be reflected on an upcoming water and sewer utility bill.

Last year, the county received a total of about 7,200 orders for the leaf-vacuuming service – a total that it could surpass this year. The program had only 4,800 orders 15 years ago, Hughes said.

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