Jefferson City officials are reminding residents not to rake yard waste into street drains for fear of stormwater flooding.
Jefferson City stormwater engineer Don Fontana said it's common for people to blow leaves and grass clippings into the street and stormwater drains, particularly during the fall. However, those items can cover the drains and instigate flooding.
City code prohibits residents from placing items into the drainage system if there is a chance it will block or interfere with the stormwater infrastructure.
The city's street sweepers clean the streets on a regular basis, including yard waste that falls naturally into roads, but they cannot clean up large amounts of leaves or sticks blown into the street.
"If sweepers are out on the streets and notice someone who obviously blew a large volume of leaves into the street, we simply will bypass that and contact our code enforcement folks for possible follow-up action," said Britt Smith, operation division director for the city's Department of Public Works. "The reason for that isn't because we don't want to pick up folks' leaves, but it's simply that our machines cannot handle that kind of volume - it's designed for anything that would fall on the road in a natural setting."
Those who violate this city code can be fined up to $500 in addition to any expenses from damage done to the stormwater system.
While residents can place leaves and grass clippings in ditches on their properties, that could suffocate vegetation in the ditch and promote more erosion, Smith and Fontana said.
City staff encourage residents to use the yard waste facility at 2417 Southridge Drive. Residents can take tree limbs, grass clippings, leaves, wood chips and flocked Christmas trees to the facility for free.
"We're trying to prevent it from going into the street and the storm drains, so we're trying to provide an outlet that you can take it to," Jefferson City Environmental Health Manager David Grellner said.
The facility is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays from Dec. 1-March 15. The building is open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays from March 16-Nov. 30.
For non-residential properties, it costs $15 to use the yard waste facility or $15 per cubic yard for large or commercial vehicles.
This fall, the city conducted a survey about the yard waste facility.
Almost 76 percent of respondents said they use the facility, with 60 percent using it one to four times a year.
Some respondents requested a curbside service, and Grellner said the city would look into its feasibility. He said they will also fix holes, including situations where residents might have to pay to use the facility.
"Let's say my friend has a truck, so he takes my yard waste to the site. He would have to pay to do that, because I'm not there," Grellner said. "So we're working on some kind of form that says, 'This person is allowed to take my yard waste,' because it's really not fair to have my friend haul my stuff over there and have to pay even though it came from residential property in Jefferson City."
Smith said people who notice clogged stormwater drains or see others blowing leaves and grass clippings into the street can call the Jefferson City Department of Planning and Protective Services at 634-6410.