Leaf collection in Decorah is coming to an end for this season

The vacuum hose on top of the city's new street sweeper

(Ted e-mails: "Does the city still have the large leaf vaccum truck to pick up leaves on the curb.  Using the bucket loader seems a bit much for gathering leaves.")

Mr Answer Person says: "There's a lot going on this week involving leaf collection in Decorah.

First of all, the City of Decorah has announced it has stopped collecting leaves for the season.  Any leaves now must be taken to the city's Yard Waste Facility on Trout Run Road.

Secondly, the city's Public Safety Committee met Tuesday night for a background discussion of citywide leaf collections.

But while city government tackles the question of the best way to dispose of leaves in the fall, it's time to dispose of the widely-held (and mistakenly-held) notion that the city uses a vacuum to pick up leaves.

Not so, say Street Commissioner Kevin Nelson and City Administrator Chad Bird.  While you have seen a street sweeper with a vacuum hose on top, that's used for clearing debris from storm sewers or other places where clogs develop.

The vacuum has some problems when it's used for leaves.  First of all, the circumference of the hose is too small.  More importantly, the hose is subject to getting clogged--especially when those piles of leaves include sticks as well.

So while you might have seen the street sweeper hose being used, it wasn't to collect leaves--honest!

The new street sweeper