VACUUM LEAF PROGRAM

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Henrico County has long provided a vacuum leaf service to its residents. This program was historically provided from November through the end of March. Servicing residents during the winter months is difficult as the same trucks and personnel also plow snow and treat icy roads in winter conditions. Frozen, snow covered leaves are very difficult to remove with our equipment. In 2013, this program was re-vamped to eliminate the collection window between January and March. While this achieved the desired cost savings it created service issues as the same number of orders were condensed into a shorter window of time. In 2014 this program was modified to increase its effectiveness, improve service and provide greater responsiveness to our customers. As a result of these changes, the program reduced its service time from 20 days from receipt of an order in 2014 to 4 days in 2015.