Hamilton Clean-up Days Coming November 16-18

It happens twice a year - Hamilton Cleanup Days. The residents of Hamilton love their tress, but those trees require care and the City of Hamilton sets aside two times of the year when the Public Works Department goes through the neighborhoods and picks up bagged leaves and bundled branches.

The rules have remained the same for quite a few years, now. No trash, no dirt, no rocks - just lawn waste, such as leaves in big ol' plastic bags, left along the curb. If you've been pruning your trees, bushes and hedges, you can bundle branches together - as long as they're within 4 feet in length and have a branch diameter of 4 inches.
The pickup is scheduled November 16-18.

• November 16 - Streets northwest of Main to US 93.
• November 17 - Streets southwest of Main to US 93.
• November 18 - Streets east of US 93.

This is only for residents of Hamilton and you need to pay attention to the rules. If the crew comes along and, for instance, sees huge branches 8 feet long, they're going to stick a red tag on the bundle and leave it. You need to correct whatever problem there might be and then call the Public Works Department to say you've fixed it, and they'll come on back.

This twice a year tradition started when the city council objected to all the leaf-burning piles each fall. The smoke, along with all the open burning of fields around the valley, became too much for some people to bear. So, the burning of leaves was prohibited in the city limits and the bagged leaves became the new rule. The leaves, by the way, are mulched and spread on other gardens and fields in the Bitterroot.

If you need more information, call City of Hamilton Public Works at 363-6717. Happy raking!