Loose leaves pickup

The Riverhead Town highway department will begin town-wide loose leaf pickup on Nov. 27. Here are the pickup dates, areas and instructions.

The Town Board last night voted to transfer $194,100 from the general fund to the highway fund to cover some of the cost of the highway department’s expenses associated with the pickup.

The millions of highway fund revenues spent on leaf pickup over the past decades could have purchased new plow trucks, paved roads, built desperately needed sidewalks, improved crosswalks, and provided more highway crew members to do the crucial jobs they do that keep our town functioning. Yet the Town Board insists on raiding the highway department's budget.

As the winter months approach, bringing the potential for snowfall while leaves still lay upon town roads, town officials are scrambling to find a way to resolve what they hope is the final dispute between the Town Board and the highway superintendent over who pays for loose leaf pickup in Riverhead. 

The saga of loose-leave pickup in the Town of Riverhead has not yet been laid to rest, with town officials still arguing over which town revenue fund should pay for the service.

Hoping to resolve a long-running dispute once and for all, the highway superintendent and the town board agreed to ask the state attorney general for an opinion in the ongoing dispute over whether the cost of the town's loose leaf pickup program should be paid out of the highway fund or general fund.

The standoff over loose leaf pickup in Riverhead has escalated: The Town Board Wednesday approved a resolution ordering Highway Superintendent George Woodson to conduct loose leaf pickup by the end of the month.

Following months of wrangling with the town board, Highway Superintendent George Woodson has agreed to pick up loose leaves for a three-week period beginning Nov. 30.

Riverhead Town highway crews will begin the fall pickup of loose leaves the end of this month. Rules to follow and pickup schedule here.