The City of Joplin will take fallen leaves if you rake them to your curb.

The time of year has come for the city of Joplin to help its residents with the cleanup of fallen leaves.

On Monday, the city started its annual leaf pickup program to help clear the neighborhoods of fallen leaves.

From the City of Joplin’s Public Information Officer Lynn Onstot,

“Residents are reminded to rake their leaves to the curb, and not to bag them. No tree limbs, brush or rocks should be included in the piles. Leaves should not be raked into the street, as they may clog the storm drains, and it could cause the City’s street sweeping truck to bypass that area. Please do not place leaf piles over water meters (manhole covers). Doing so may cause Missouri-American Water to estimate your water usage, instead of recording the exact amount for billing purposes.”

She also stated, “To address all areas of Joplin, the City utilizes two crews which start in outlying areas and work their way toward the center of Joplin. As the crews work in opposite areas, they move toward the middle of town to complete the program. To help residents know the general order of neighborhood locations, the City has created a map with neighborhood sections numbered indicating the order of the crews’ work areas. The map can be found on the City’s website at www.joplinmo.org/LeafPickup19 . Map areas labeled S1 through S5 are the areas the Streets crews will be working. Neighborhoods marked P1 through P5 identifies the Parks crew’s areas. Crews will move through these areas in sequence.”

Silver Creek, Highlands, and Woodland Hills areas will be the first areas that the Streets crews will be working.

The Parks crews will start south of 32nd Street and west of Main street.

For more information, call the Parks Department at 627-8879.