WILMETTE – Public Works crews will begin collecting brush in Wilmette due to excessive winds incurred on Feb. 19 (greater than 60 mph). Since the reported damage is intermittent throughout the Village, collection will be made by service request only.
Residents are encouraged to report their address locations directly to the Engineering and Public Works Department at 847-853-7500 or pubworks@wilmette.com by Thursday, February 25th to facilitate timely collection. By complying with the following guidelines, residents will help to ensure speedy collection and safe working conditions for Village staff.
Acceptable Materials
Includes tree branches, having a minimum diameter of 3-inches and maximum diameter of 10-inches and up to 10-feet in length. All tree debris will be collected by hand and fed manually into brush chippers; larger logs that cannot be reasonably handled and fed into a brush chipper will not be collected.
Branches should be stacked neatly on the public right-of-way (near curb) with cut end facing the same direction. Public Works crews will not remove branches from private property or enter private property to remove branches.
Please do not place branches or brush in the street or at the curb for collection as it presents a traffic hazard. Brush piles shall not be placed to obstruct sidewalks, fire hydrants, wheel chair ramps or crosswalks. Please do not stack branches in high piles near intersections as it creates dangerous view obstructions.
Also, please do not include foreign objects within branches or brush piles such as wire or rope (i.e. metal, nylon, plastic etc.) as it will damage Village equipment. Branches entangled with foreign objects will not be collected.
Non-Acceptable Materials
Any storm debris that qualifies as ‘Yard Waste’ material will not be collected; residents are instructed to utilize the Yard Waste collection program to dispose of this type of debris (begins Wednesday, April 6th). Please view the Village’s website (http://www.wilmette.com) for program guidelines and list of accepted materials. Please note: the private brush collection program was not designed to supplant the Village’s Yard Waste collection program.
Thorny material, vines, roots, stumps and landscape material (i.e. small twigs/sticks, evergreen/shrub trimmings, grass clippings, weeds, leaves, ornamental grasses/perennials, root balls, soil, rocks, railroad ties, wooden boxes, lumber etc.) are also not accepted.
This brush collection is intended for private residential storm damage debris only and is not intended for disposal of whole trees or shrubs that have been removed or any debris generated from routine landscape maintenance activities.
Any private tree debris generated from tree service companies, landscape contractors or other services procured by the homeowner are also not eligible for this program.
From the Village of Wilmette