SCRANTON -- Those autumn leaves are pretty until they have to be picked up. And in Scranton, the method for picking up all of these leaves has created some confusion.
City officials want to switch it up to make leaf collection quicker, but it could require more work on your part.
Silence in the city of Scranton was interrupted this week by the sounds of giant vacuums. Special DPW trucks are making their annual trip sucking up leaves left on the side of Monsey Avenue and other city streets.
Scranton covers 26 square miles and it's a time-consuming task.
"With the manpower that they have, they do a great job," said Tom Labukas. "People complain, but they can't be all over the city at the same time. Overall for the last five or six years, they've done a great job."
Labukas knows all too well the pain of raking leaves in this city, so he supports the city's recent changes to its leaf collection method.
Scranton got the vacuum trucks more than a decade ago through a grant. Bagging leaves became a thing of the past.
But DPW officials say as the trucks have aged, they move a little slower. They're asking residents to bag leaves if they can. They can be picked up faster with a traditional recycling truck.
The DPW says plastic garbage bags will work just fine for this year. The city is looking into providing paper bags for city residents come next fall.
Leaves swept into the street is still the preferred method around here.
"(That's) a lot faster for me, a lot more work for the city, but less work for me," said Labukas.
"Either way, don't matter," said Sean Sparks. "This is pretty quick and it's easier for me, just push it to the curb, but whatever!"
The DPW has no plans to retire its vacuum trucks anytime soon. They're just hoping for a little collaboration to make leaf collection go faster.
For the remainder of the week, there will be an additional recycling truck out on the road picking up bagged leaves.