CLYDE — As the leaves continue to fall this autumn — forcing Clyde residents to rake them up, stuff them in bags and then drag the bags to the curb for pickup — there is some good news.
Starting next year, those bags won’t be necessary anymore.
Last Tuesday evening, Clyde City Council approved the purchase of a leaf machine, which will allow city workers to collect leaves from the curb without residents having to bag them, during it’s annual budget hearings.
“The leaf machine should save us a ton of time, and I think the town will like it,” Clyde city manager Paul Fiser said. “You rake the whole yard, put it in bags and then after they throw it on the truck they’re cutting the bags open and dumping it out.”
Last year, the city tested the machine on a couple streets during a demonstration of how the machine worked, according to General Services superintendent Bill Hamilton. Rather than bagging the leaves and branches after raking them up, residents were able to rake the leaves to the curb, and a truck with the leaf machine attached to it would suck the leaves into the back of the truck.
Unfortunately for those who have a lot of leaves to rake this year, the new leaf machine most likely won’t be purchased until sometime next year, according to Fiser, meaning leaves this year will still need to be bagged as in past years.
Hamilton estimated the cost of the leaf machine will be around $36,000.
Council also approved the construction of two new buildings: one for the city’s parks and cemetery department and another for Clyde Light and Power.
“Community Park now has everything in pristine shape, and now it’s just time to get the parks department new office space and to give them new space to work on equipment,” Fiser said. “It’ll also give them space to be able to get their equipment inside. A lot of their stuff sits outside, and the building is just horrible. When the wind blows, you can see the wall move.”
The new building will be located near the dog park, while the department’s current building will be torn down to make space for more parking, according to Fiser.
“We can move the location of the building down below, across from the dog park, and it’ll mean more parking up top by the enclosed shelter house and ball diamonds, which is a plus,” he said.
The building will be a cold-storage building with an office attached to it, according to Fiser.
Clyde Light and Power will also build a new cold-storage building.
Clyde Light and Power has always been upgrading,” Fiser said. “It’s just taken awhile to get a feel for the size of the facility that they need.”
According to Clyde Light and Power superintendent Cory Lachner, the building would allow the power company to move a number of transformers and other equipment inside and out of the elements.
Construction on both buildings should be complete by the end of 2016, according to Fiser.
“I’m hoping we can get it done next year,” he said. “I would think we could have it finished by next summer. We’ll probably use the same firm that did the Environmental Services cold-storage building.”
Fiser also hopes that building two similar buildings could mean savings for the city.
“The parks department is basically building a cold-storage building with an office,” he said. “Clyde Light and Power will be building a cold-storage building, so we’ll use the same design firm and then bid it as one package and hopefully get more bang for our buck that way.”
