Irene Recovery: Brush Pick-up Coming

Yes, residents, the brush from the storm will be cleared.

That was the message that came directly from Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore in the wake of Hurricane Irene. The reason for the mayor’s need to clarify: an onslaught of inquiries due to the township’s recent introduction of an ordinance designed to mandate doing away with fall brush pick-up.

“We decided to cancel brush clean-up for the fall,” Fiore said before the storm. “But now, because of the hurricane, people have been concerned and asking, ‘But what about the hurricane?’ Our answer is, of course, we will be out there clearing brush and debris in Hurricane Irene’s aftermath.”

In fact, the township issued the following statement regarding a scheduled township-wide emergency brush clean-up:

Due to the volume of brush generated as a result of Hurricane Irene, an EMERGENCY BRUSH COLLECTION will occur town-wide.

All brush must be placed curbside no later than Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. Crews will not return for brush once the emergency collection is complete in your neighborhood.

Do not mix leaves with brush. Regularly scheduled leaf collection will occur in November.

Fiore specified that leaf collection will proceed in the fall as usual, but brush pick-up only in the fall is expected to cease. The mayor said the reasons for the pending, anticipated approval of an ordinance to stop it in the fall only are lack of need and fiscal frugality.

“As it was, fall pick-up of brush was minimal compared to spring,” Fiore said. “We have a lot of brush out in the spring (and that season of brush pick-up will continue), whereas in the fall, the accumulation has been very low. Less than 10 percent of residents in Middletown put brush out in the fall. I would estimate that about one out of every 11 to 20 homes have brush curbside in the fall. Then there’s the manpower that needs to be paid to do the pick-up and the cost of gas at $4 per gallon. In terms of manpower, fuel and equipment costs It’s a cascading effect.”

The mayor estimated a savings “north of $100,000” with the cancellation of the fall brush pick-up.

The brush pick-up customarily starts in early September and runs through late October or early November, when pick-up of leaves begins. For those residents who need to get rid of brush, the mayor said that the option of bringing it to the township’s recycling center on Kanes Lane still exists.

“People don’t want to pay higher taxes and the township just can’t afford something for which there really is not a demonstrated great need, so this makes the most sense,” Fiore concluded.

In the meantime, residents are urged to get their brush to the curb for the emergency storm-generated collection.