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Leaf pickup starts Nov. 8 photo by Steve Johnson Leaves line Groveland Avenue in east Medford. Pickup of bags of leaves will begin Nov. 8. Bagging will again be required By BILL VARBLE Residents, start your rakes. Medford's controversial leaf pickup program returns Nov. 8 on the north side of town and Nov. 15 on the south side. Residents must bag their leaves again this year to have them picked up. Fliers scheduled to go out Monday will notify residents of the exact dates leaves are to be picked up in their neighborhoods. Medford will be divided into north and south pickup zones by a line running from West Main Street along East Main Street, Black Oak Drive, Hillcrest Road and Cherry Lane. "We will pick up leaves three times in each zone," said Wendel Smith, operations manager of Rogue Disposal and Recycling Inc. The private company took over the program this year from the city. Ten free leaf bags per visit will be available for each household at Rogue Disposal's office at 135 W. Main St., Smith said. Pickup will end Dec. 24 on the north side of town and Dec. 31 on the south. The city required leaves to be bagged last year for the first time after many years of allowing people to simply rake them into the streets. Some residents complained about the bagging chore, which they said was particularly onerous for older people. Others, however, said they like not having leaves all over streets and in storm drains. Smith gave these guidelines: Leaves must be bagged in 30-gallon plastic bags at least 1.2 millimeters thick. Bags must be at the curb but not in the streets. No branches, grass, garden clippings or other materials are to be in with the leaves. Each bag should weigh no more than 40 pounds. The leaves will be composted in an area set aside for the purpose at the Dry Creek landfill. The area is not open to the public. Leaves also may be composted at home by placing them in a pile and layering with small amounts of garden soil or table scraps. The Medford City Council unanimously decided to turn the annual rite of fall over to Rogue Disposal after Public Works Director Cory Crebbin said he supported the idea of the private company taking over the chore. The city will cough up $119,000 to make the leaves disappear in a one-year trial program. That's more than it spent on the work last fall when employees collected 90,000 bags of leaves at a cost of $95,000. But city workers made two sweeps through the city, not three. In addition, the city dumped mountains of leaves at the now-closed Jacksonville landfill for free. This year it would cost an undetermined amount to haul the leaves to the new landfill outside White City. Contracting the job out also saves the city the trouble of hiring temporary workers. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA