This year, Lakewood Township Public Works will be making slight changes to its previous policy regarding leaf pick up.

Leaf season officially starts on October 30th and ends December 29^th. During this time, there will be NO citizen request for leaf pick up. Instead the Lakewood Township Department of Public Works will be doing leaf pick up by zone.

The following explains the changes: leaf trucks will follow the bulk pick up schedule with a slight difference. It will go by week and zone. For example, the first week in November, leaf pick up will be in the zone 1 area for that entire week. Same for zones 2, 3, and 4. Even though there are holidays in that month (4) total, leaf pick up will still continue throughout that week.

As I’ve stated in previous postings The Northern Ocean County Recycling Center dictates the rules and regulations of what is and is not accepted. Due to the fact that we use this facility to unload, the Township must adhere to and abide by their rules. Leaf pick up is separated into 3 categories: leaves, brush and logs. Please keep in mind that there are two separate trucks that pick up brush and leaves. With that being said, please have the piles separated by at least 4-6 feet away from each other.

With regards to leaf pick up, public works has recently purchased vacuum trucks for the leaf department, these trucks are specific and delicate with their performance. Please ensure that there are no branches attached and that the leaves are raked into a neat pile. Make sure there are no rocks, debris and/or garbage mixed with your pile. Anything other than leaves that gets sucked up by the truck can damage it, sometimes irreparably. This can be very costly to repair and will slow down the leaf pick up schedule. Leaves CANNOT be placed in bags. Leaf piles MUST be kept away from bulk piles, storm drains and curb corners due to the potential safety hazard they may pose.

Brush is another term for branches. Here is how to place them for pick up: cut the branches into 4 foot lengths and place them separate from the leaves, with the cut ends facing the same direction. Branches that are larger than 4 feet in length and/or 3 inches in diameter are considered logs. The township does not and cannot pick up logs. With that being said, public works will be mainly focusing on leaf pick up. If your brush pile is skipped, please don’t be concerned, it will be picked up.