Is The City of Twin Falls Asking for Free Street Cleaning Labor?

This right of passage as a homeowner is for some a fond and perhaps loved activity. For others, it is the bain of their Autumn existence. The time has come to rake the leaves.

While some pile them up and sing a Mary Poppins song, the leaves eventually have to get cleaned away. Hoping nature will come along with a mighty wind to carry all the leaves to another yard, open field, or another state is not the most responsible approach. Love it or hate it, the leaves must be disposed of.

The Job Is Not Done Just Because the Leaves Are Bagged

After the reluctant home landscaper has come to terms with their fate and bagged the leaves, there is an additional chore placed upon some particularly unlucky people. Homeowners blessed enough to have storm drains near their property are being solicited by the City of Twin Falls to clean debris from the drains as well.

Sure, nobody wants a flood in their yards, basements, or crawl spaces, but is that the homeowner's responsibility? They may have leaves in their yards, but Idaho Power encourages homeowners to put trees in their yards in the first place. After dutifully eradicating the offending foliage, can’t the city pick up the leftovers?

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Isn’t this akin to using self-checkout at the store? Is the city looking for free labor? Or is this more along the lines of tamping down chip seal? Is this our tree-loving civic duty? Maybe there are options the city hasn't considered.

Maybe it could be a community service available to misdemeanor offenders. Each participant gets a Wonder Rake 5000. The community service gets done, the city gets unclogged drains, residents get non-flooded homes, and the street sweepers can pick up the leftovers.