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Spring Pass begins May 17th. Sign up now for Spring Pass and subscription includes Spring pass beginning soon, fall program with up to five passes and spring pass 2022.
St. Joseph County Indiana
Curbside Leaf Collection Program
Spring Pass starts May 17th. Sign up now for Spring Pass and subscription includes Spring pass beginning soon, fall program with up to five passes and spring pass 2022.
Spring Pass – begins May 17th weather permitting, to collect leaves remaining from winter leaf fall and/or leaves remaining from passes that did not make it to the curb in the fall.
In the event of snow in the Accuweather Forecast, neighborhoods/subdivisions will be prioritized by overall annual leaf volume & 2020 program subscribers.
All subscriber locations are not listed. We will do your area when we are in the same zone as the neighborhood / subdivision listed on the Snow Plan List. See Status Map for your Collection Zone and listed subdivisions as reference points.
Any time that snow plan is in effect, all leaves must be raked into the street within 5' of the curb line. In the Spring, all leaves must be in the street within 5' of the curb line.
Anytime that conditions are cold, frozen or leaves are not dry, leaves must be raked into the street along curb line due to fact that leaves will not vac cleanly from lawn in these conditions.
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 EXCEPT in main arterials and/or where a safety/traffic hazard would exist. Most subdivisions have adequate curbline road width.
If at any time snow enters the Accuweather forecast to accumulate at any depth, Vac crews will redirect all efforts to collecting subdivisions that have been prioritized by the County below.
Subdivisions will be marked In Progress 2-4 days prior to vac crews so that residents can immediately get their leaves to the curb if they are not already there. Leaves that are not at the curbline will not be collected if frozen to the lawn.
If your subdivision is listed on the Snow Priority List by the County, your HOA Board may receive advance collection alerts by
Residents can be notified when we will be in their Area. The County strongly recommends that all residents register for both Alert Platforms as well as Homeowner Association Newsletters/Blogs, etc. to help you receive the most out of the program. Program Service Alert registration is separate for each Platform and separate from Service Registrations. In the future, all registration platforms may be integrated if the County chooses that option. Both Platforms deliver notices to your email address. Future Platforms may offer text alerts if the County budgets that option.
REGISTER HERE - to Receive General Program Alerts Via Email.
GENERAL PROGRAM ALERTS (GPA) - The first Platform provides registrants the ability to sign up by text for General Program Alerts (GPA's) which will be delivered to their emails. These Alerts will include Program details on a regular basis that include reminders regarding all facets of the Program.
REGISTER HERE - to Receive Advance Collection Alerts Via Email.
ADVANCE COLLECTION ALERTS (ACA) - The second Platform will provide 1-5 days prior notice of when vac crews will be in your Township Zone. These are also known as Geo-zone alerts. It is essential when residents register for Advance Collection Alerts, (ACA's) that registrants go to the Status Map and identify their geographic zone location number so they receive the correct ACA's. If you are in a Listed Subdivision, please complete the subdivision field so you will receive Snow Plan ACAs for your Listed Subdivision. Your ACA will be entirely based on your Township Sub-zones & Listed Subdivisions if applicable. When the Snow Plan is in effect, ACAs will notify Listed Subdivisions according to the Priority List established by the County. Please refer to Snow Plan tab for more details.
Alerts are emailed every 3-7 days during active program when new details are available. Please allow a minimum of 7-10 days to receive your first alerts. If you do not receive your first alert within 10 days please contact Customer Service using the Contact Us form.
See the Pass Status Color Key below the Map / Map includes basic Google Map functionality.
You can also see general Schedule Status updates on the Schedule Help tab.
Terrain/Satellite View - click on the desired View in the upper left hand corner.
Full screen view - toggle full screen view by clicking the icon in the upper right hand corner of the map.
Full screen zoom In/Out - performed with scrolling wheel. In standard non full screen mode use control + scroll to map zoom in/out or +/- icons in lower right hand corner.
Move map - Drag by clicking on the left mouse button and holding it down while dragging.
Zoom in on your Township Zone to view current status. All Medium to Very High Volume Subdivisions have a Pin denoting the HOA location.
Click on your HOA pin and you see the following details:
To insure every Resident receives their eligible Passes, St Joe County Recycling Records Pre & Post Pass GPS Vapor Trails and Service Compliance Verification Video for all eligible residents. Upon Video Review when Residents claim they have been "missed" 99.9% of the time, the most common reason a Resident "Misses" a Pass is due to the fact that their Leaves are not at the Curb within 5' of the road on the FIRST Day we begin their Township per Program requirements.
To insure every Resident receives their eligible Passes, St Joe County Recycling Records Pre & Post Pass GPS Vapor Trails and Service Compliance Verification Video for all eligible residents. Upon Video Review when Residents claim they have been "missed" 99.9% of the time, the most common reason a Resident "Misses" a Pass is due to the fact that their Leaves are not at the Curb within 5' of the road on the FIRST Day we begin their Township per Program requirements. Please register for all Alerts to prevent this from happening to you.
If you sign up for Program ALERTS you will be personally notified of Township start dates.
TOP THREE REASONS LEAVES ARE NOT COLLECTED AND PASSED BY NOT "MISSED"
********CRITICAL******** - FIRST MONDAY - NEVER WAIT, IT WILL BE TOO LATE.......... All leaves must be raked to your front of house curbline ONLY on the first Monday before 6am of the scheduled pass. Leaves not at curbline on the first Monday b4 6am of the collection pass will be "passed by" 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.
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 Branches, compost, prior season leaf piles, dirt, mud, tree limbs, grass clippings, gravel, ice, snow, stones, lumber, pine needles, pet feces and trash mixed with leaves will cause the entire leaf pile to be "passed by" and the Vac crews will not return to that pile. Composted Leaf Piles left on the curb from prior season will not be collected.
Resident curblines must be clear/free of any/all debris other than current season's leaves. 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.
FIVE FEET- All leaves must be within 5' of the front lawn road/curbside without going into the street. During snow contingency leaves must be in the road if you are in a subdivision and leaves in road do not present a safety/traffic hazard.
Any Portion of the pile cannot extend more than 5 feet from the curb whether on the lawn or asphalt/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.
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 a pvc measuring T that is 5' to insure piles are safe to collect.
RAKED PILES - All leaves must be raked into piles immediately along the front curbline to be collected. Vac crews are not responsible for raking your leaves into a pile for curbline collection. The curbline collection program 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 frotn address curbline 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 pictoral examples below of leaves that have not been raked into a pile at curbline 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.
Residents may only burn leaves in the Spring/Fall during County approved amnesty period/s. Residents who burn leaves outside of the ban will be cited by County Police.
If you choose to burn your leaves, burn them completely because vac crews cannot collect partially burned piles due to safety concerns for Team Members, Equipment and the possibility of Tip and Disposal site fires. Hidden embers may start equipment & tip site fires.
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 25' 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 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 mixed with leaves that come from mowing collection systems at curbside. 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
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:
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.
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 causing as much as 3-4 man hours lost time, 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.
Answer: St Joe County Recycling will not pick up your leaves in your lawn and bring them to the curbside for immediate collection. This service is available by referral at an additional charge to residents with third party contractors and only after an online agreement is accepted by the customer. If you would like an estimate for Supplemental Fall cleanup, please contact Customer Service through online contact form to be referred to a third party. When residents purchase this service, the activity will be scheduled so that lawn to curb service happens at same time as curb collection pass.
1. QUESTION: When will you be at my house?
ANSWER: See the STATUS MAP. Township order applies except when the Snow Plan is in effect. We will follow the sequence of the schedule but cannot provide specific days per township due to conditions/weather. Multiple are in progress at same time using multiple vac crews. When the SNOW PLAN is in effect, priority is based on the SNOW PLAN.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. QUESTION: What is the cost for the St. Joseph County Leaf Program?
ANSWER: See Pricing Guidelines on Subscribe page.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
Go to the Subscriber tab for details and registration.
Penalties for Burning during
******** FIRE HAZARDS ********
NO BURNING - 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.
Residents can NO LONGER burn leaves at any time . Residents who burn leaves will be cited by County Police.
SAFETY FIRST!
Subscribers in the unicorporated areas of St Joseph County
will receive up to four (4) Fall Passes weather permitting prior to Dec 18th.
Please keep in mind residents must have leaves at the curb when vac crews pass by to receive a pass.
For the First & Second Pass residents need to have their leaves to the curb before October 19th for the First Pass and before November 2nd for the Second Pass. Weather permitting, the first pass will be completed by the week of November 2nd and the second pass will begin immediately thereafter. Second pass normally requires 15-20 weather permitting work days.
The Goal is to collect as many leaves possible
Each & Every time we pass your home, the 1st Time
St Joe County Recycling works hard to achieve that goal in many ways. Just one method is by employing Scouts which inspect your neighborhood pre-collection pass to identify leaf piles which cannot be collected by crews in their current form due to non-conformance with Program Guidelines originally established by the St. Joseph Highway Department and used by all municipal programs today.
This is the front & back of a St. Joseph County Leaf Program Doorhanger.
New Intuitive Pictorial Door Hangers Make it EZ to Identify
Why your leaf pile wasn't collected the 1st time.
To enhance resident communication, new Door Hangers have pictures of all of the most common reasons why vac crews cannot collect leaves. These pictures match the www.sjclp.com Rules tab Help pages.
The reasons are all related to the following:
and they are all Rules used by the St. Joseph County Highway Dept for 14 years. Scouts simply put a check mark in the box next to the picture to visually highlight the reason why your leaves have not been collected.
Each Door Hanger has a unique identifying number at the top that is emailed with pictures of each non-conformance to the County for reference with your address. Do not call the County. Customer service cannot help. The non-conformance must be corrected prior to your next scheduled collection. That may mean disposing of the non-conforming pile on your own and starting with a fresh pile.
Follow these steps:
If you have missed your last pass as a result of your non-conformance, you are solely responsible for the disposal of your leaves.
Please visit the Rules tab to make sure all your leaves are within program guidelines for timely collection the first time crews come by.
Further Details - To assist residents in rule compliance to attain maximum collections during passes, Pictures & Doorhangers documenting non-conformance/rule violations are hung on resident doors explaining what is non-conforming and how to change so their leaves can be collected in the future if there are any remaining passes they are eligible to receive. Doorhangers are forwarded to the County so that when residents think they were missed, the County CSR has a record of why they were passed by. Some residents may only receive one pass this year due to County changes. 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 & the County 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 are posted online with day/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. Please read the Rules tab for conformance guidelines to insure your leaf pile gets collected. These County rules are the same rules used by the County Highway Department and all municipal leaf collection programs.
Please read the Rules tab for conformance guidelines to insure your leaf pile gets collected. These County rules are the same rules used by the County Highway Department and all municipal leaf collection programs. Once your leaf pile is within guidelines you may register for the next collection pass, if one is available.
HOA Advance Alert Notification Yard Signs are included in the HOA Program
1. The Largest Private Leaf Collection Fleet in the US.2. The Only Company with 24/7 Customer Service .
3. The Only Company that provides GeoZone - Collection Advance Alerts .
4. The Only Company that provides Four Way Service Verification .
5. The Only Company that has Tip/Disposal Sites throughout St. Joseph County .
6. The Only Company providing HOA Board Alerts & Signs to notify residents
when a Pass begins
Average Residential Leaf Collection Cost
All Press Releases are distributed through the County.
All Media/Press Release Questions for St. Joseph County Leaf Collection Program can be submitted through the Contact Form.
Normal response deadline is 24-72 hrs. All questions required to be submitted in advance.
Please NEVER approach Personnel working in the field due to Productivity & Safety Concerns.
Personal interviews will NEVER be provided.
Due to Minimal Residential use Drop off Sites have been Eliminated.
Subsidized Subscriber Leaf Program.
St. Joseph County has subsidized a Program that provides all residents an equal opportunity for an affordable program regardless of location. All subscriptions are substantially discounted through the subsidy that provides infrastructure for affordable collection and disposal. This affordable alternative to burning is to promote clean air during the CV19 pandemic and for the future health and safety of residents.
St. Joseph County has Banned all leaf burning, at all times, forever.
Subscribers signing up mid pass and/or after completed pass/es
receive remaining passes only weather permitting and no refunds of any kind are provided for any reason/s.
Sign up now - Subscription process requires up to 10 days to route new subscribers.
Subscribers signing up mid pass will not receive that pass if status map shows your zone completed within 10 days of payment. Subscription date based on day you are routed NOT the day you paid.
Subscription values vary by:
HOA Advance Alert Notification Yard Signs are included in the HOA Program
1. The Largest Private Leaf Collection Fleet in the US.2. The Only Company with 24/7 Customer Service .
3. The Only Company that provides GeoZone - Collection Advance Alerts .
4. The Only Company that provides Four Way Service Verification .
5. The Only Company that has Tip/Disposal Sites throughout St. Joseph County .
6. The Only Company providing HOA Board Alerts & Signs to notify residents
when a Pass begins
Average Residential Leaf Collection Cost
Spring Pass Registration
Closed April 10th
Second Pass completed 11/29 was the First Pass for Registered addresses
1. Date/Time stamp was prior to registration deadline of October 23rd.2. Your address did not receive a doorhanger for non-conformances preventing collection.
3. Your leaf pile was at the curb when scouts came through your neighborhood and not raked out after.