The Great Falls Park and Recreation leaf pickup schedule has changed.

“Due to the delay in schedule, and the fluidity of the weather the current posted schedule will be maintained and followed by the forestry crew to the best of their abilities within a 24 hour time period, give or take; but is subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure, personnel availability or unforeseeable emergencies,” according to Park and Rec.

All schedule changes will be posted on the city website or the Park and Recreation Facebook page.

For those residing within the Boulevard District, the Natural Resources Division will vacuum leaves from the boulevards.

There will be no manual raking done this year.

Residents in the boulevard district should:

• place leaf piles within the boulevard, closest to the street side. Do not place leaves towards the sidewalk or in the gutter to avoid obstructing traffic or clogging gutters.
• do not place leaves around parked vehicles, as the new machines need a minimum of two feet clearance of any obstacle.
• do not place leaves around tree bases, signs, light poles, or any other obstacles.

Piles with branches, grass clippings, garden waste and pet waste cause damage to the equipment and will not be picked up. Arrange for pickup of those items with your sanitation provider.

Leaves should be raked out to the boulevard by 7 a.m. on your scheduled pickup day. If leaves are not ready when crews go through scheduled areas, the crews will not backtrack for collection in that same day.

Park and Rec’s forestry division typically operates the annual leaf pickup program with three crews, but is understaffed this year and operating with two crews.

Since the division is short staffed, the posted schedule doesn’t apply to residences on the left hand side of a one-way street. Those leaves will be picked up intermittently throughout the pickup schedule, due to the complexity of the equipment, according to Park and Rec.

Residents are asked to remove vehicles from the streets on their scheduled pickup day to allow for vacuuming.

Park and Rec forestry crews are operating 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, call the Park and Recreation office at 406-771-1265, and check the city website and the Park and Recreation Facebook page regularly for updates.

The updated scheduled is:

• Area 1, upper northside, Central Avenue to 5th Avenue North from 23rd Street North to 38th Street North
  • Nov. 3, avenues
  • Nov. 6, avenues and streets
  • Nov. 7, streets
• Area 2, northside, Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from 15th Street North to 23rd Street North
  • Nov. 8, avenues
  • Nov. 9 avenues and streets
  • Nov. 13, streets
• Area 3, lower northside, Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from Park Drive to 15th Street North
  • Nov. 14, avenues
  • Nov. 15, avenues and streets
  • Nov. 16, streets
• Area 5, westside, Central Avenue West to 4th Avenue Southwest from 3rd Street Southwest to 11th Street Southwest
  • Nov. 17, avenues
  • Nov. 27, streets
• Area 4, lower southside, Central Avenue to 9th Avenue South from 2nd Street South to 13th Street South
  • Nov. 28, avenues
  • Nov. 29, avenues and streets
  • Nov. 30, streets
• Area 6, Great Falls High School area, Central Avenue to 3rd Avenue South from 14th Street South to 23rd Street South
  • Dec. 1, avenues
  • Dec. 4, streets