City of Winterset

CITY OF WINTERSET

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 3 / # 19

YARD WASTE COLLECTION

There is a permanent burn ban in effect in Winterset, which means that you cannot burn leaves during the Fall months. You can dispose of leaves and yard waste through the City’s garbage collection service, which includes yard waste collection. Leaves and yard waste should be put in either a biodegradable paper yard waste bag, or in an old garbage can, and placed at the curb. Do not use plastic bags to dispose of yard waste. Also, do not use your garbage toter or recycle toter for yard waste.

Limbs and branches must be tied into bundles no longer than 5 feet in length and weighing no more than 50 pounds. The yard waste collection program is designed for the occasional disposal of branches and sticks that may fall onto a yard, but it is not designed for complete tree removal or for extensive tree pruning.

Yard waste is collected twice a month beginning in April and going through the month of November. For those areas of town west of John Wayne Drive and north of Summit Street, yard waste pickup is on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. The rest of the town has yard waste collection on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.

Please note that you should not dispose of yard waste by raking leaves into the street. The City’s street sweeper does not have the capacity to handle such a volume of leaves, and leaves & grass clippings blown out on the street often end up clogging the storm sewers. It is a violation of the City Code to deposit anything, such as leaves, grass clippings, dirt and debris, even snow in the winter, onto the City streets.

Christmas tree collection will be on January 8, 2014 and on January 15, 2014. Please place your old Christmas tree out by the curb before either of those dates.

HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT

Halloween Trick or Treat night will be on Thursday, October 31st this year in Winterset. The hours for Treat or Treating are 5:30 to 7:30 PM. The stores and businesses in the downtown area will also be Trick or Treating from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. As always, motorists are urged to exercise extra caution during Trick or Treat time.

SIDEWALK SNOW REMOVAL

All residents and business owners are reminded that it is their responsibility to remove snow and ice from the public sidewalk. The City ordinance requires that snow and ice be removed from the public sidewalk within 24 hours. If the sidewalk has not been cleared, the City’s contractor will remove the snow and the cost will be charged to the adjacent property owner.

(over) When removing snow from the sidewalk or from your driveway, please do not throw the snow onto the street. The City spends a lot of time, effort and money to plow snow off the streets, and it would be a waste of our efforts to have someone throw snow back onto the street. As mentioned previously, it is a violation of a city ordinance to deposit snow, leaves and grass clippings on City streets

SNOW ORDINANCE

The City snow ordinance prohibits parking on the streets during times of snowfall. The purpose of the snow ordinance is to keep the street clear of parked cars that interfere with snow plowing operations. So in order to help the City plow snow off the streets as quickly and efficiently as possible, you should not park on the street during snowstorms.

A snow ordinance violation carries a $25 fine. Also, a car parked in violation of the snow ordinance may be towed, and the owner will have to pay the tow charges and the fine before they can retrieve their car.

Please listen to weather forecasts and keep an eye out for snowfall. If the forecast calls for snow, or if it starts snowing, you should move your car off the street. You can once again park on the street after the snow plowing operation has been completed and the street is cleared of snow.

In the downtown commercial area, the snow ordinance goes into effect overnight and parking is not permitted from 1:00 to 5:00 AM. The Street Dept. hauls snow away from the downtown area late at night when the businesses are closed, so overnight parking is banned on the downtown streets.

DOG LICENSE RENEWAL

Winterset residents are required to obtain a license for their dogs. All dog licenses expire on December 31st and must be renewed each year. License renewal notices will be mailed to current dog license holders in November. The application form for a dog license is available at City Hall, or on the City’s website (winterset.govoffice.com).

The annual fee for a dog license is $15. The license fee is reduced to $10 if the dog has been spayed or neutered. A late fee of $20 is added to the license fee if the renewal application is not submitted by Jan. 31st.

The license fee is waived for service dogs, search and rescue dogs, and dogs kept in a state licensed kennel or animal rescue shelter. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such waiver for dogs that are kept inside, all dogs must be licensed.

Dogs must be licensed when they reach six months of age.