WESTFIELD—Leaf pick-up will be continuing through this weekend through city efforts after the snow and unexpected leaf amounts over the weekend complicated matters, but a Westfield-based company will also be picking up leaves in order to try and benefit Westfield Technical Academy (WTA).
Proudly Landscaping is collecting bags of leaves for residents with a suggested donation of $1 a bag, which will go to the WTA’s Horticulture Department. The company also said that it would match the donation total up to $1,000. The city will also have members out collecting leaves through the week, with a contractor out again this coming Saturday, Dec. 16.
Milan Peich of Proudly Landscaping carries a leaf bag while Kyle Robidoux vacuums up leaves.
“I was plowing the other night and noticed a lot of leaf bags still out,” Dave Prouty, owner of Proudly Landscaping, said.
Prouty, who is on the Horticulture Advisory Board with WTA, saw the opportunity to help and wanted to give back.
“I wanted to give back to the city that gives back so much,” he said.
So, Prouty took to Facebook and asked for people who wanted their leaves picked up to contact the company through its page and to donate $1 per bag, which would go toward the Horticulture Department.
Prouty said that through about 10 a.m. Monday morning, they had already picked up about 60 bags filled with leaves, and they still had six more stops to go. In addition, about $100 was raised at that time.
Dave Prouty, owner of Proudly Landscaping, and Milan Peich load leaf bags into truck
According to Francis Cain, Assistant Director for the Westfield Department of Public Works (DPW), the city had a contractor out collecting leaf bags on Saturday, but due to the amount of leaves out for collection and the snow that came, they were unable to gather all of the bags. According to Cain, there were as many as 50 to 60 bags at some stops.
“People put a lot of leaves out there, then it went into a snowstorm halfway through the day,” Cain said, which compounded the issue. “They did what they could get done.”
Still, the DPW is going to continue to collect leaves through the week, Cain said, but priority was maintaining safe and clean roadways after more snow came Tuesday, and resources being allocated there.
“Plan is to be picking up leaves as best we can, then come Saturday the contractor we had will come back,” he said.
In addition, Mayor Brian Sullivan released a statement on the leaf pick-up matter, asking for patience from residents and noting that the DPW will be attempting pick up as many bags as possible.
“I would like to ask for everyone’s patience as we proceed through the process of picking up bagged leaves throughout the City. Our vendor with the back loader vehicle was out on Saturday as scheduled,” Sullivan said in the statement.
“We had many more residents place bags out than we did last year, and along with Mother Nature dumping a snowstorm on us, we did not complete the pickup.”
The statement also included the possibility of the city looking at new methods of leaf disposal going forward, which could include residents dropping off their leaves.
“This is a tough service to provide and we are looking at the possibility to change how we do this in the future, and instead have drop off locations throughout the City so people can dispose of their leaves at their leisure,” Sullivan’s statement read.
While this is happening, Prouty said that Proudly Landscaping will also be offering their services through at least Wednesday, with possibility of continuing next week, if necessary.
To sign up with Proudly Landscaping, Prouty asked that interested parties contact the company via Facebook message, or by texting (413)222-4165, so that they can keep the phone lines free for regular operations. Proudly Landscaping has also set up a GoFundMe page for donations.
