T-R photo by Thomas Nelson Gerry and Cheri Coleman move tree debris from their property following the Aug. 10 destructive derecho. The City of Marshalltown is moving vegetative debris placed on the city right-of-ways by homeowners.

City of Marshalltown crews have collected 66,000 cubic yards of vegetative waste since the Aug. 10 derecho.

Marshalltown Public Works Director Justin Nickel said the city collected 25,000 cubic yards of vegetative waste following the 2018 tornado.

“So we have almost three times as much and who knows what the final amount will be,” he said.

Collecting all of the vegetative waste will take weeks — even months, Nickel said. Crews are working in multiple neighborhoods in town, 10 hours per day, Monday through Friday. On Saturday, they work an eight-hour day and get the day off on Sunday. However, even though city crews might not be on the Marshalltown streets on Sunday, there might be some private contractors who continue to collect debris.

“We are working in conjunction with workers from the Iowa DOT and a small pool of private contractors,” Nickel said.

He asked residents of Marshalltown to place all vegetative debris on the city right-of-ways — between the sidewalk and the curb or, if there is no sidewalk, 8 to 10 feet back from the curb. If the debris is not placed in the right-of-way, the crews will not collect it.

“We hesitate to venture on to private property,” Nickel said.

He said there is no limitation on the size of the vegetation, as crews are working with heavy equipment. However, Nickel said if people have the ability to reduce the size, it would be appreciated.

He said people should not rake leaves and small branches to the curb as the material might block storm sewers and cause flooding in neighborhoods.

Nickel also wanted to reassure residents that if crews had already collected debris from their neighborhoods, they would return.

“We will make multiple passes,” he said. “We made five to 10 passes after the tornado. If you did not have enough space in the right-of-way or you didn’t pick stuff up before we got there, do not worry. We will be back.”

Also, Nickel urged people to take the debris to the compost facility if at all possible.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.