Dear neighbors,
On Friday, we saw videos of streets in Lakewood and Jackson under water. The same week, half my block raked its leaves right up to the curb, and on two corners the piles were sitting directly on top of the storm drains.
I’m not an engineer, and I won’t pretend a few leaf piles caused a flood. But anyone who has watched water pool at the corner after a downpour knows where it is supposed to go. It is supposed to go down the drain. A drain covered in wet leaves isn’t a drain anymore. It’s a lid.
Our DPW has actually told us what to do. Its leaf collection notice says leaves should be raked to the curb line in loose piles, with nothing else mixed in, and “located a minimum of 10 feet away from storm water drains.” Ten feet. It costs nothing.
Before you rake, walk to the corner and look down. If the drain is near your house, start the pile somewhere else.
And if a neighbor’s pile is already on the drain, it takes thirty seconds with a rake to pull it back. I did it on my corner on Thursday, and nobody yelled at me. One neighbor even came out and helped.
We spend a lot of energy in this town arguing about roads, traffic and who should fix what. This one is on us. The tow...