Milwaukee DPW will pick up Christmas trees curbside after concerns, backlash

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It appears Milwaukee's Department of Public Works (DPW) will now pick up Christmas trees curbside this season.

During a Common Council Public Works Committee meeting Monday, frustration was on full display, as council members criticized DPW for their prior decision to stop tree pickup.

Last week, DPW announced the policy is in compliance with the state DNR, who clarified Christmas trees are banned from landfills and always have been.

Milwaukee DPW has picked up trees curbside for nearly 30 years for landfill disposal.

"This is amateur hour. This really is amateur hour," said Ald. Mark Borkowski. "It's customer service. What do people pay taxes for? Customer service."

The DNR confirmed to CBS 58 it told DPW of the longstanding policy at the beginning of this year: Christmas trees six inches in diameter or smaller cannot be put into landfills and must be composted.

DPW did not relay this to residents or council members until last week, when they told residents to use designated drop-off sites.

"The common argument is, what do I do with my Christmas tree? I don't have a car, how am I supposed to get it to the drop-off center?" Committee Chairman Ald. Robert Bauman said of his constituents.

"People have purchased their trees. The least we could have done is given us the opportunity to let them know that this is coming down the line," said Ald. Lamont Westmoreland.

DPW's sanitation services manager, Rick Meyers, said the department was waiting for more details from the DNR.

"We thought that there may be a chance that the state was going to issue some further clarifications or direction regarding this," Meyers said Monday.

However, Meyers agrees his department should have better communicated the issue.

"Absolutely, that's on us, and we should have brought it to them sooner," Meyers said.

Councilors will vote to make tree pick-up a requirement this year at Tuesday's Common Council meeting.

"We will fix this problem by directing them to do it like they did in the past. How they pay for it, they'll have to figure out," Bauman said.

The Wisconsin DNR's policy does allow trees to be picked up curbside, but they must be composted, not dumped in a landfill.

DPW confirmed Monday afternoon, picked up trees will be recycled this year.