Milwaukee Common Council saves Christmas tree cleanup

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee Common Council Christmas saga is coming to an end, after the council voted to reverse course and once again pick up Christmas trees curbside after the holiday.

The change comes after the Department of Public Works (DPW) told the council they would stop the service, following instructions given to them by the Department of Natural Resources.

The council voted unanimously to keep picking up Christmas trees left curbside.

Council members said DPW was aware this service was at risk of being cancelled months ago.

Council members said there was a lack of communication between departments, which left the Common Council blindsided.

"This is something we didn't know about until the general public found out about it, so I'm still upset about that," said Ald. Lamont Westmoreland of Milwaukee's District 5.

DPW said earlier this year the DNR asked that Christmas trees no longer be placed in city landfills.

The change came after the DNR re-labeled Christmas trees from household decorations to "yard waste."

DPW's decision to cancel tree pickup would have forced people to get rid of their trees on their own, without help from the city.

"They couldn't believe it. They said, 'What?' They're not picking up Christmas trees, what am I supposed to do with the Christmas tree?'" Ald. Bob Bauman, of Milwaukee's 4th district, said.

Bauman said the resources are there for tree pickup to continue.

"And what I expect the department to do is reassign people from one job to Christmas tree collection, so the cost would not be any greater," said Bauman.

Bauman went on to say people in Milwaukee can count on their trees being picked up this holiday season.

"We did it before, only this time it's not going to go to the landfill. It may be the same equipment, the same personnel, the citizen is not going to notice a difference," said Bauman.

A spokesperson with DPW told CBS 58 instead of discarding trees in a landfill, they will recycle them.