Street Cleaning

Reality

Goals

What is the Purpose of Street Cleaning?

Street cleaning serves as a vital maintenance practice aimed at achieving multiple objectives that benefit our communities. By diligently removing debris, dirt, and litter from road surfaces, street cleaning ensures that our streets remain clear and safe for all users. The process goes beyond mere tidiness; it plays a crucial role in maintaining the functionality and longevity of our roadways and storm drains.

Moreover, street cleaning significantly enhances the overall cleanliness and appearance of our neighborhoods and commercial areas. Clean streets create a positive impression on residents and visitors alike, fostering a sense of pride and belonging within the community. When our surroundings are well-maintained, it reflects a shared commitment to a higher standard of living, making our neighborhoods more attractive and inviting.

What are we doing?

You may have already noticed us cleaning up the streets. We are sweeping sand, gravel and dirt from the gutters and intersections and shoveling into the front loader. We are stockpiling this for later projects as fill for water and sewer repairs as well as filling potholes in alleys. Other debris, such as trash, leaves and sticks are placed in trollies to be dumped into the city dumpsters around the park. Weeds growing along the gutters are also removed with a shovel and dumped in the trash as well. Excessively overgrown lawns that extend down the curb are also chopped with a shovel or weed whacker and placed in the trash. The feelers that grown down the curbs tend to grab onto leaves, grass clippings, sticks, trash and even gravel, creating dams that impede water flow to the storm drains, which cause localized flooding and more buildup of debris.

What can you do to help?

If every homeowner or tenant would clean up the gutters in front of their homes, there would be very little accumulation of debris. When mowing lawns, make a pass around the lawn perimeter aiming the discharge back towards the lawn and not into the roadway. Storm drains would remain free of debris and divert water at their maximum capacity. Doing these simple little things takes very little time and greatly enhances the appearance of our neighborhoods! It shows a sense of pride in our community, making Haviland a more attractive place to visit or call home. When people see you doing these things, they are more apt to do the same and it becomes contagious. All of this increases everyone’s desire to be here and increases home values.