Live In Bangor But Haven’t Had Your Leaves Collected Yet? Do This.

I have raked my lawn a grand total of seven times now this season. For whatever reason, it seems like the leaves have decided to hang on to the trees for dear life until these last few days.

Like many in Bangor, I had a decent enough pile of leaves raked down along the edge of the lawn, on November 1. That's the date the city of Bangor said it would start sending Public Works crews out to collect the leaves with those huge, super-sucking leaf vacuum thingy (not the technical term by any means, but you get the idea. )

The city promises that they're out there working hard to get those leaves collected. According to their website:

"There is not a set route through the city so we can’t tell residents when we will pick up at their place but, rest assured, we are working as fast as we can to remove your leaves. We will have multiple crews working 10 hours/day, 6 days/week to get everything cleaned up."

But every few days, since then, that pile has grown, little by little.

And much like the Great American Jackalope, sightings of these crews have been elusive. I know they're out there, because I'll drive down a street that once had a colorful leaf border along the road, and it will be gone the next day. And I have heard tales, from other residents, that they've spotted the truck here or there. But like a watched pot never boils, it seems like a watched pile of leaves never gets removed.

I'm not complaining, in fact, it's kind of worked out for the better that they haven't been down my street yet, as it was really just over this weekend that the majority of the leaves have finally given up their grip and dropped.

But after six straight hours of lawn raking, I'm eager to have these giant yellow mounds taken away--mostly because I know that all that hard work will likely be undone with one windy afternoon, or one rogue toddler who decides today is the day to dive-bomb into my leaf pile and start spreading it about again.

So what can you do, if you're like me and haven't seen a sign yet of the Bangor Public Works leaf crew on your street?

Well, you can start by reaching out.

I know they're out there, working hard. And it might be that they've either missed, forgotten, or not quite made it to my neck of the woods yet. A simple inquiry would be my first suggestion. (I've done this myself this year and it's very easy.)

You can send Bangor Public Works an email (click here for that address) and put in a service request. You can also call the Public Works Office at 207-992-4500 to let them know there are still leaves on your block.

My guess is, they'll be continuing to work to get these leaf piles up until the snow flies, and they have to switch gears to snow removal. A gentle reminder or simple question might put you back on their radar.