The Niles Street Department began its leaf pickup program this week in the first ward.

Once the first ward is finished, the city will move to the second, third and fourth wards before beginning again in the first ward.

Crews will go around the city at least two complete times, weather permitting. Crews are scheduled to work 10 hours per day Monday through Saturday with the goal of completing the entire program prior to Dec. 15.

If early winter shuts down the collection program, the city could decide to schedule a spring leaf collection.

If people miss the leaf pickup, they can dispose leaves at the Southeast Berrien County Landfill, 1540 Mayflower Rd. Buchanan.

Street department officials ask residents to follow these rules for leaf pickup:

• Rake leaves to the back of the curb and not onto the pavement. Leaves raked into the street can cause flooding problems, create a safety hazard and hamper snow removal operations (if the city experiences early snowfall)

• Leaves mixed with brush, limbs, trash, ashes, or other debris will not be picked up

• Leaves must be raked out in advance of the leaf vacuums. Leaves raked out afterwards will not be picked up

• Move vehicles to off-street locations when the crews are in the neighborhood. Cars parked in the street slow the collection process down significantly and force the crews to leave piles of leaves behind that can not be reached with the equipment.

• Do not cover the water meter castings in the boulevard area. This prevents meter readers from taking actual readings and requires them to estimate water usage.