Press release from the City of Asheville:
Through the COVID-19 public health emergency, Asheville Sanitation has been working to balance service to our residents with safety considerations of its employees. The health and safety of our community is our highest priority. Some operations, such as brush collection, require two- to three-person crews, which makes it difficult to adhere to physical distancing guidelines under Buncombe County’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order to avoid contagion.
And each week we make a little more progress in adjusting operations and implementing methods to collect brush safely for our employees.
Asheville Sanitation claw trucks have been out collecting large brush piles for the duration of the pandemic. These trucks will continue running and collecting large brush piles. If you have a large pile that needs to be collected with the claw truck, please put in a service request by calling 828-251-1122.In addition to claw truck brush collection of large piles, the Sanitation Division has restarted small brush and bagged leaf collection with a modified rear packer collection operation. The smaller brush operation usually involves a 3 person crew on one truck. Other divisions within the Public Works Department for the City have assigned employees to support Sanitation with this effort. Now, one worker will be driving the rear packer truck followed by another individual in a regular vehicle. The two person crew will stop at a brush pile and load the brush together while each wearing cloth face coverings.Residents do not need to place a request for collection of small brush or bagged leaves at this time.
Please drive with care around our collection trucks and staff, as the operations will be modified from our usual procedures in order to maintain social distancing.Despite this increased ability to collect brush, Sanitation will not yet be able to run brush routes on a regular schedule during this COVID-19 pandemic. We will start with residents on Brush Collection Week A and collect at each location until we have run through all locations, then move to Brush Collection Week B.Brush collection pace will depend on availability of staff and resources.
You can help Asheville Sanitation workers do their job more effectively by incorporating these measures:· Sanitation highly encourages use of reusable containers (marked as “brush”) or paper bags for leaves and small brush.
· Paper bags and reusable containers make collection faster, cleaner, and more efficient.
Other options:
Find home composting information at https://www.ashevillenc.gov/service/backyard-composting
Find creative uses for brush at https://www.ashevillegreenworks.org/latest-news/ashevilles-brush-collection-is-delayed-youve-still-got-options
Stay in touch:
Sign up for Sanitation and brush collection service alerts at ashevillenc.gov/AVLcollects or download the AVL Collects app for your smart device.
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