Street by street, McMinnville Public Works Department is working on picking up tree debris.

“Everybody is calling in asking when we can pick up the brush they’ve placed in front of their home,” said Public Works director Frank Southard. “We’ve got two dump trucks going. This last week, we took 13 loads out of Westwood. Everybody is off and everybody is doing yard work.”

The statement was made during Tuesday night’s regular session of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. 

Southard is asking residents to please exercise patience while the department works street by street to remove the heavy brush and respond to calls for service. 

To help in the process, Southard asks residents to:

• Stack brush separate from any unwanted yard items because nothing but limbs can be picked up by the brush truck; 

• Stack limbs in neat piles because that makes it easier to pick up;

• Limb length needs to be under 10 feet.

 “They need to cut the limbs under 10 foot long,” said Southard. “It’s supposed to be in 8 to 10 foot sections. There are some that are 20 feet long. We can’t pick those up.”

As a reminder, city policy excludes picking up brush left by contractors. The business hired is responsible for brush removal.