Top 3 causes your leaves will not be collected and passed by, but never "missed"

 Too many subscribers wait until they hear the vacs in their neighborhood, fly out of the house to blow their leaves to the curb after the vac goes by and then call or file a "miss" form saying "your vac crew missed me". Vac crews see it all the time. The vac crews took date & time stamped pictures of your empty curb when they passed. Vac crews are routed from subscriber to subscriber and are not allowed to deviate from their routes due to right hand routing for safety best practices. If they have already passed your house they cannot return until the next pass, weather permitting.

Never wait until it's too late .......... All leaves must be raked to the front of your home at the subscription marker curb before 6am of the scheduled pass when your area is marked in progress on the status map. Leaves not at curbline b4 6am will not be collected when the vac crews complete your service area. Leaves raked to the Curb after the vacs have passed by will not be collected unless you have a future pass scheduled for your home. 

Pile not at Subscription Marker/On mailing address curb line/in front of home curb line - No side yard / No common area/s / No Middle of Cul d' sac and No Court Piles allowed - HOA Common area subscriptions are available - Standard Subscriptions DO NOT allow common piles or neighbor sharing piles aka Subscription Sharing. 

Leaf Piles are required to only be located where your Subscription Marker is installed and marked by St Joe County Recycling. No exceptions.

All leaf piles required to be raked to the front address curbline only where your subscription marker is installed. Subscription markers are required to remain where they are installed by SJCR and if they are removed for any reason must be reinstalled at the identical location to ensure collection. If subscription markers are relocated for any reason and the marker support is not reinstalled in the same originally painted location your leaves will not be collected. 

Rear Lot / In the Cul de sac / Side Lot / Across the street lawn piles WILL NOT BE COLLECTED - NO EXCEPTIONS! Double/Second/Third lots require a non-standard subscription and have to adhere to single subscription marker location rules. Surcharges are for volume NOT 2nd collection location/marker.   

Contaminated Piles - see below

Subscription Marker Rules 

 What you must do to prevent subscription sharing......

Program rules require that all of the following be adhered to:

1. All leaves must be in front of the markers NOT beside it. The front of each marker is 5' from the curb. All leaves required within 5' of the curb for collection. Any leaves beyond 5' from curb will not be collected. Any leaves in roadway within 5' of curb will be collected. 

2. All leaves must be a minimum of 15' from any property line on both sides of the property line.

3. Leaves are required at the subscription markers. See subscription markers page for details/instructions.

4. Leaves required in the front of your home and not on the sides of the residence.

5. Leaves cannot be piled on rear/side property lines that provide opportunity for subscription sharing to occur without the subscriber's permission.

6. Leaves cannot be piled in common areas/cul d'sacs/courts.

7. Leaves cannot be piled on any common areas that prevent specific address/owner accountability for the leaf volume. Leaf volume is measured and required to be assignable to a subscriber address at all times/all passes.

8. All subscriptions are now measured every pass and annual totals by subscription address will be used for following season's subscription rates. Subscription Sharing causes high volume surcharges for the sharing subscriber the next season that may permanently exclude them from the program.   

DON'T BAG - Do not bag leaves if you would like them collected by the program. They will not be picked up and we will not return. 

Contaminated Piles - ONLY Leaves - NO grass clippings or pine needles of any amount, branches, compost, prior season leaf piles, dirt, mud, tree limbs, gravel, ice, snow, stones, lumber, pet feces and trash mixed with leaves will cause the entire leaf pile to be be "non-conforming" and the Vac crews will not return to that pile. Composted Leaf Piles left on the curb from prior season will not be collected. Disposal sites will not accept grass clippings in any amount and any contaminated piles. 

Residents are solely responsible for disposing of the composted/contaminated pile/s from prior seasons.

Resident curblines must be clear/free of any/all debris other than current season's leaves. In the Spring thi sdoes include last fall's leaves for current subscribers. Crews document the contaminated pile/s thru digital recording / doorhangers. Scouts note prior season leaf pile addresses so that vac crews skip them until the old composted leaves have been removed. If residents attempt to "hide" last season's leaves under fresh leaves the address will be permanently removed from the collection schedule until SJCR has been notified all old piles/debris have been disposed of and removed. The contact form at www.sjclp.com may be used for notification purposes. NO EXCEPTIONS. 

5' Rule - All leaves must be within 5' of the front lawn curb. If leaves spill/overflowin road we will collect them. During snow contingency leaves must be on the road if you are in a subdivision and leaves in road do not present a safety/traffic hazard. Otherwise they freeze/stick to the grass and do not collect cleanly.

Any Portion of the pile cannot extend more than 5 feet from the curb either direction whether on the lawn or road. All leaves must be on the front lawn address curbside or they will not be collected.  

Sidewalks - next to the roadway - Leaves must be raked completely onto the sidewalk for collection. The leaves beyond 5' will not be collected. If you have a 5' lawn between sidewalk and curb all leaves required to be on tree lawn within 5' of curb. 

Vacs are not allowed to leave the roadway due to potential property damage. The following pictures show violations of the 5' rule and disposal of all of the piles were the responsibility of the residents.

"Rake Rule" - An easy method to measure five feet from the curb/asphalt road is to use your rake length. The length of almost all rakes is 5' and provides an easy to use "measuring stick" already in your hands when raking leaves to the road. Scouts/Vac Crews use the front of the subscription marker.   

RAKED PILES -  All leaves must be raked into piles immediately along the front curb line to be collected. Vac crews are not responsible for raking your leaves into a pile for curbline collection. The subscription is for vacuuming leaves within 5' of the curb and is not a "lawn raking to the curb" program. All piles must be immediately along the front address curbline to be collected. Leaves that are not raked to the front address curb within 5' will not be collected. If your leaves get "wind blown", the best practice is to use a tarp to cover pile after raking them to the curbline to keep pile in place. See pictorial examples below of leaves that have not been raked into a pile at curb and are non-conforming. When any pile is non-conforming the entire pile will be passed by not "missed". 

NO BURNING ALLOWED -  Smoldering leaves or ashes of any kind are a Fire Hazard and will not be collected at any time and resident will be solely responsible for disposal.

Burning has been permanently banned in St Joe County. First offenders subject to up to a $ 1,000.00 fine per incident per day. See Air Pollution Ordinance page.

DAMAGE PREVENTION - All leaves must be easily accessible and at least 15' minimum from mailboxes & obstacles to prevent property damage. Leaves must be at least 28' from a parked vehicle to prevent damage to the vehicle. Do not leave trash cans/bags within 15' of leaf piles. Please DO NOT park on or near leaves if you want your pile collected. Crews will not return. In the event you do not have front lawn frontage to allow for the required distances you must rake leaves into the road as far from the obstacle/s as possible and within 5' of the curb. 

DITCHES- Keep all leaves out of ditches. Vac hoses do not have adequate reach to collect below road grade and crews do not rake piles out of ditches to the road. Crews are not authorized to leave the roadway at any time due to damage/safety rules. You may rake leaves into the road within 5' of the curbline if required to keep leaves out of the ditch and accessible for collection crews.    

DOORHANGERS – Pictures & Doorhangers documenting non-conformance/rule violations are forwarded to the County if you report a miss for a non-conforming pile. If you miss that pass due to a rule violation, you will be solely responsible for disposing of the pile. Doorhanger addresses are emailed to Customer Service with pictures/video of the Policy non-conformance/violation.

The non-conforming leaves may be marked with photo-degradable paint to clearly identify the non-conforming leaves to vac crews and for video recording purposes. Doorhangers/associated pictures may be posted online with date/time stamps. The violations are left to right and first row then second row beginning with too close to a mailbox, leaf pile on a stone bed, grass clippings mixed in pile, behind the house & too far off the alley, over the curb, off the sidewalk too far from the street, over 5' from road.

Fences/Walls  – Do not put leaves inside, on and/or near fences/walls of any type. Resident will be solely responsible for disposal. If you cannot leave at least 10' space from the fence to the pile please rake leaves into the road within 5' of the curbline for your leaves to be collected. This prevents damage to the fence/wall and/or vacs.  

Stone / Gravel – Any leaves on Stone/Gravel Beds will not be collected. Leaves must be on grass.  If your entire curb area is gravel/stone, your leaves are required to be in the road way or behind your stone in the 5' turf area or they will not be collected. This is an exception to the normal rule only for residents with 100% stone/gravel curb lines. The following pictures show violations of the Stone/Gravel rule and disposal of all of the piles were the responsibility of the residents.

Grass & Pine Needles - Do Not mix grass clippings or pine needles with leaves that come from mowing collection systems. Grass clippings clog vacs, delay service for other residents and are not allowed at disposal sites due to smell when decomposing. Please be considerate of other residents and do not mix grass with leaves which slows service. There are 2 easy solutions to prevent grass clippings in your leaves. Raise mowing deck or use leaf blowers to collect only leaves.

LAWNS - St. Joe County Recycling & St. Joseph County are not responsible for grass/lawn areas that discolor/die due to leaf accumulation. If resident has a major concern for lawn, resident should dispose of their own leaves within County guidelines. All leaves are required to be on the front lawn curbline only.

EZ way to prevent lawn damage on subdivision roadways (this will not work on main arterial roads) is to rake your leaves into the road within 5' of the curb. This prevents lawn die back and is the easiest surface to remove wet/frozen leaves.

Raking into the roadway is required when leaves get wet/frozen/snow covered. If you do not rake your leaves into the roadway during these conditions, vacs will leave a portion of the bottom of the pile that does not collect and you will be responsible for disposal when they thaw out. We do not return for partial piles due to leaving them in the lawn area after they get wet/frozen. 

FRONT LAWN CURB ONLY - Leaf Piles that are not on a residence front lawn within 5' of the curb except as noted herein per the Program Rules, will not be collected. County Program does not include collection on non-resident roadway/shoulders across from resident lawns or wooded lot curb lines without homes. Program will not collect behind homes, in the middle of culdsacs or courts, on islands across from your front/side curb lawn and/or in any area other than the front lawn per rules herein. NO EXCEPTIONS. 

NO OUTLET ROADS - Leaf Piles that are not farther than 80' from the end of "No Outlet" roads that do not have cul d sac turnarounds will not be collected. Trucks & Vac rig combined total length do not allow safe collection without backing up the rig on a residential street which is not authorized due to safety considerations.Crews are not authorized to back up the collection rigs for any reason due to safety considerations. In streets where vacs cannot access the leaf pile, the resident must rake the leaf pile to an area that is allowed per program guidelines that safely allows the vac crew to collect without endangering equipment and/or Team.

RESIDENTS ONLY – Program includes ONLY residents per COVERAGE tab & doesn't include Business/Commercial/Government/Non-profit/Parks or any other  property. We will provide quotes upon request specific to these property categories. 

ROADWAYS – Anytime that leaves are not dry and fluffy they should be raked into the street to preserve your lawn. The exception to this rule is leaves may not be raked onto any streets that are main arterials/roadways that the piles would cause any safety hazard/s.  

Thanksgiving is normally a time that if the weather has not yet turned cold and snowy it will change soon. To prepare for the cold weather and protect your lawn you should rake existing piles into the street and keep them as close to the curb as possible and within 5' of the curb.   

Wet, frozen, snow covered or compacted piles due to weather conditions are required to be raked into the street within 5' of the curb so that the pile may be collected as cleanly as possible. Vac crews will not return to collect partial piles that are sticking or frozen to the ground. 

Cul d'sacs/Courts - Residents cannot rake any leaves into the center of their cul dsac/court. Leaves that are not per the rules herein will not be collected.      

Spring piles are all required to be in the roadway for efficient collection and to allow your lawn to begin growing again as soon as possible. By moving your leaf pile to the street you will aerate your lawn surface and promote faster regrowth. By moving the leaf piles to the street you will also remove leaves from your lawn that the vac may not collect.  

Gated & Villa Communities  – Gated/Villa communities are solely responsible for their own curbside collection. Gated / Villa and maintenance free communities are not included in the program. The following Gated / Villa Communities are not included: Any/all Gated/Villa communities that have lawn care, including but not limited to: Berkshire Villas, Cloverleaf Villas, Country Village, Covington Shores Villas, Farmington Commons, Gumwood Crossing, Knollwood Park Villas, New London Condominiums, Quail Ridge Villas, Sable Ridge Villas, Shamrock Hills, Streamwood Villas, Summer Hill Villas, Tawny Lake Villas, Villas at Lake Blackthorn, Villas at Sandalwood, Wellington Park Villas, Wild Wing Plantation, Woodbridge Condominiums.

WOODED LOTS – All owners with natural wooded lots with less lawn than wooded area will NOT receive collection. It is recommended by the County that composting alternatives be incorporated by the owners. 

NO EXCEPTIONS

1. When will you be at my house?

ANSWER: See the SCHEDULE, STATUS MAP or SNOW PLAN.  Crews begin in Multiple Townships and work clockwise every pass. We cannot provide specific days per township due to conditions, variable leaf volume and the weather. Multiple townships are in progress at the same time using multiple vac crews. When the SNOW PLAN is in effect, priority is based on the SNOW PLAN. Your leaves are required to be at your curb on the first day of the pass. you may add to them any time prior to collection but waiting till you hear the vacs in your neighborhood is too late and vacs will not be back until the next pass IF another pass is scheduled and weather permits. You will receive pre-delivery texts that are NOT designed to notify you to BEGIN raking your leaves to the curb. Your leaves should already be at

your curb and you can add to the pile any time prior to your collection pass.     

2. I mulch my leaves with my mower which also picks up minor grass clippings. Will you pick up my leaves?

Answer: NO. Mulched & mowed leaves at the curbside present special problems for the vac crews beyond just the issue of grass clippings. Mulching mowers compact the leaves and normally exit the mower collection device in what we call a "brick". They are called "bricks" because due to the compaction and inherent density, these "bricks" will not vac up readily at the curbside without additional labor using special tools to break the "brick" into pieces that will readily flow through the vac without clogging. These "bricks" are sometimes "buried" in the curbside piles and the boom man inadvertently "hits" a "brick" and immediately can clog the machine losing as many as 3-4 mnhours, while the crew waits as the vac hose is unclogged. When the conditions turn cold and wet, the damage the "bricks" do to the efficiency of the crew is multiplied one hundred fold as the bricks frequently are very hard to break up into pieces that will vac up without clogging. Please do not include any grass clippings at the curbside with your leaves for collection. If you do you will be "passed by" NOT "missed" and you will be responsible for disposing of your leaf pile. If vac crews pass by due to grass clippings they will document your contaminated pile with a picture and forward the picture to St Joe County Recycling Customer Service and the County.  

3. Can I move my Guaranteed Collection Subscription Marker ?

Answer: NO, The Guaranteed Collection System aka Subscriber ID Program requires that any/all subscribers maintain a St Joe County Leaf Program Subscriber Marker to identify subscriber addresses and allow neighbors to identify any non-subscribers blowing their leaves into subscriber leaf piles. The marker location will be marked with photodegradeable paint at the base of each leg and at the curb to identify exactly where your leaf pile shall be located to ensure collection. See Rules page to assure pile is in compliance. All leaves are required to be located at your marker for collection. Leaves not at the marker location or on side yards will NOT be collected.   

4. You missed my house!!! When will you be back?!?!?!?

PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME YOU HAVE BEEN MISSED IF YOUR ZONE HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED on the Status Map. Please always check the Status Map before Emailing a "Miss" form. 

Please do not rake out after the vac has passed you by and claim a "miss". All vac drivers take pre and post service date and time stamped pictures on every pass for every subscriber. We measure and document every pass volume at your curb. 

Answer: All collection vehicles have GPS tracking units installed so that in the event any "miss" is filed online, the Care Center checks our tracking documentation to see if address was truly missed or vacs had already gone by and there were no leaves at the time. We also use video proof of service verification to confirm all GPS trails.  

We confirm service verification Four different ways:

a. Crew Leader documents completion reports by subdivision as completed.

b. Route Leader physically drives and scouts neighborhood and confirms in completion report.

c. GPS Satellite Tracking provides curb line tracking report so that we can "see" and document every curb line completed.

d. Scouts videotape curblines after collection to provide proof of service with date/time stamps.  

If vacs truly missed your residence and it was a conforming pile, vacs will return within 72 hrs. to collect. If vac crews haven't completed your area per the status map please wait to contact us until your area is completed on the status map. 1. 

5. QUESTION: Do you pick up brush & tree limbs or pine needles?

ANSWER: No. See "Contaminated Piles" rule and when any items other than leaves contaminate your pile, you will be solely responsible for disposal. Crews will not return. The primary reason that vacs cannot collect anything other than leaves is that the disposal sites take only leaves. Grass Clippings smell as they break down and are not allowed. No exceptions. Brush, pine needels, wood and other debris clog and damage equipment and create safety hazards.  

6. QUESTION: I have a limited area at the curb with many leaves to rake out. How do I keep from raking continually to keep the leaves at the curb?

ANSWER: Some residents use tarps over their leaf piles to maintain the leaves at the curb. Tarps also help keep the leaves dryer and snow free if totally covered. St Joe County Recycling will remove the tarps but is not responsible for tarps left at curbside after they are removed from your curb piles. DO NOT use bricks or stones to hold down tarps because they damage leaf vacs. 

7. QUESTION: Since St Joe County Recycling is picking up our leaves at curbside, will St Joe County Recycling also pick up the leaves from my lawn and beds on a periodic basis? This would keep them from blowing away. 

ANSWER: No, at this time individual residential collection is not provided.   

8. QUESTION: What happens when it gets cold and/or snows?

ANSWER: When the snow contingency plan is in effect all resident leaves must be in the roadway within 5' of the curb or they will not be collected. Temperatures must be above 39 degrees for 5 consecutive nights to allow collections. The Leaf Program will halt due to cold temperatures and/or while it is snowing, just like the County, to tend to snow & ice management issues and then return to the Leaf program as quickly as weather permits. Repeated Snowfall causes leaf piles to be "Layered" with snow and ice. To thaw layered snow and ice from piles typically requires a minimum of 5 to 10 days of temperatures above 34 degrees at night and continuously during the day time for the entire 1 to 2 week period. Leaf Piles are being periodically checked with a "pitch fork test". Sometimes pictures are taken of only the top of a leaf pile that appears thawed, but throughout the pile it is still frozen. Collecting chunks of frozen leaf piles causes significant damages to the equipment. If any snow is present or in the forecast, the Snow Plan will be in effect. Go to SNOW PLAN for details. 

9. QUESTION: When did the county program start when it was performed by the St. Joseph County Highway Department?

ANSWER: For 14 years the county program always started on the third Monday of October and continued through December 23rd, every year, weather permitting.

10. QUESTION: Was the county program successful when the highway department performed collections?

ANSWER: No, the highway dept. has conflicting critical services in the fall and South Bend Tribune archives tell the story of frustrated residents every fall season. The final year highway dept did the program they onlly completed one pass. Road chip/cracksealing and snow and ice management preparation and service created 3-5 day service gaps. St. Joseph County always gets snow in November and snow & ice service is a critical safety function of the highway dept that always had priority over the leaf program. If highway dept failed to chip/crackseal roads, substantial infrastructure damages would occur that would cost much more than the costs to outsource the program. The current vendor is also less than 50% of the cost for the highway dept to perform equal services and is back to collections immediately following any snow or ice event when temps allow.   

11. QUESTION: How do you suggest residents keep their leaves curbside to them from blowing away?

ANSWER: Some residents use tarps over their leaf piles to maintain the leaves at the curb. Tarps also help keep the leaves dry and snow free if totally covered. St Joe County Recycling will remove the tarps to collect the leaves but St Joe County Recycling is not responsible for tarps left at curbside after they are removed from your leaf piles. Never use bricks or stones to hold down the tarp because they will damage the vacs and the resident will be financially responsible for the damage. Tires or pieces of lumber longer than 3' in length are recommended to hold down the tarp. 

12. QUESTION: I Feel my subdivision classification volume should be classified as Very High/High. How do I get it reevaluated?

ANSWER: The County has prioritized neighborhoods/subdivisions by overall annual volume according to collections performed & Recorded by the St. Joseph County Highway Department. All Prioritization is based on neighborhoods/subdivisions averages, NOT on most leaves collected at any single address. Requests for reevaluations can be made on the contact form by checking the Customer Service option, completing the form and explaining in the “your message” area why you feel the reevaluation should be completed. Reevaluations will not occur during this season. Collection volume for this season will be reviewed for qualification for the following season.  

13. QUESTION: What is the cost for the St. Joseph County Leaf Program?

ANSWER: See Pricing Guidelines on Subscribe page.  

14. QUESTION: I don't see my address/subdivision listed on the medium to very high volume menu pull downs? 

ANSWER: If it is not listed it has been classified by the County as a low/very low volume subdivision but it will still be collected if you are subscriber in that subdivision. 

15. QUESTION: My house has many trees but I am in a medium or low volume classification subdivision? 

ANSWER: County DID NOT classify density/volume based on a single address or street in a subdivision. Volume classifications are based on the average for your subdivision in relationship to all other County subdivisions based on actual recorded volume for all subdivisions, NOT just your address. You receive the benefit of the average for your neighborhood.  

16. QUESTION: When is the Burning Amnesty Period ? 

ANSWER: See BURNING tab. It is anticipated that there will be no burn amnesty period due to CV19. 

17. QUESTION: I have a basketball hoop along my curb. Do I need to move it?

ANSWER: Yes. Remove temporary/portable basketball hoops off of the street and away from the curb or edge of the pavement. These items protrude into the path of the leaf vacuum machines and will cause damage to the machine and the basketball hoop system. We will not collect within 80' of a basketball hoop to allow for truck/vac trailer lengths. We are not responsible for any items left in the roadway/service area/s.

The St. Joseph County Leaf Collection Program includes ONLY the Unincorporated areas of St. Joseph County and includes ONLY residential dwellings and not their associated vacant lots or nearby (across the street) fields/lots. County addresses have 5 digits in unincorporated areas. Incorporated areas are not included. The following is a list of the Incorporated areas of St. Joseph County that ARE NOT included in the Leaf Collection Program.

South Bend   Mishawaka   Roseland   North Liberty   Walkerton   Lakeville
New Carlisle   Osceola   Indian Village

If you would like your incorporated area to enjoy a dependable and efficient leaf collection solution have your municipal leaders contact us now for program options. 

St. Joseph County has subsidized the program so residents have an alternative to the Burn Ban

at a very affordable and very Low Cost. 

The complete solution includes up to 5 collection passes with disposal included. Last year weather permitted up to 7 passes including Bonus Passes!

Go to Subscribe Now for details.