Rake 'em on to the curb - ha-ha

Woodstock has a leaf law. In simple, easy-to-understand terms it says, "Don't rake your leaves into the street."

You don't have to drive far in Woodstock to question whether Woodstock does have such a law. The leaf piles are high all over town, awaiting the leaf collection work that will continue into the third week of November.

The City asks that leaves not be raked into the street and that no sticks, limbs, yard waste or other debris be mixed in with the leaves. Leaves should not be raked into the street, where they might clog a city drain during a rain or hide an obstacle that could damage a vehicle that might drive through the leaf pile.

Yet, all over town piles of raked leaves are left in the streets, after they have been raked completely off the parkway.

Some reasons? Residents might not know of the City's "rules"; a resident does not want them smoothering his grass; he might misunderstand the collection policy and believe they need to be in the street to be picked up.

How could the City communicate the "rules" more effectively? It has a nice brochure on its website, "Good Neighbor Brochure No. 7 - Leaf Collection." Of course, you have to know it's there to find it. How could the City efficiently and economically get this brochure to every resident?

Should the City build a database of email addresses of property owners and residents?

How does the City enforce the leaves-in-the-street violation? Or does it?