OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced Thursday that there will be some changes to the curbside pickup project to clean up the mess made from last Friday night's storms.
"Starting tomorrow, Friday July 16, and Saturday July 17, we will be focusing on removing debris that has been pushed or dumped on neighborhood boulevards," Stothert said.
Originally, the city workers were going to follow the FCC trucks around during normal waste pick up time. Now the city workers will instead focus on Omaha's 42 boulevards before starting on residential neighborhoods Monday. The workers will work in districts like how the city handles snow removal.
"They work in these districts every day. Like I said, this is the same way that we do snow removal,” Stothert said. “So, they are very familiar with the neighborhoods and that's why we thought it would be a lot more efficient to do it that way."
There are no appointments or scheduled times for curbside removal, but there will be a way to see what large debris has already been picked up.
"Very similar to the snowplow tracker, we will provide a tracker and that will be on the city homepage by tomorrow,” Stothert said. “You can go on there and see where we have been as far as picking up the large debris."
The city said smaller tree debris should continue to be placed in 96-gallon trash carts or in brown yard waste bags on your typical day of collection. It's important to note that pre-paid stickers won't be required during this time.
Additionally, branches and limbs four feet in length or less, and branches six inches in diameter or less, can be bundled with rope or twine.
Large limbs should be cut to a maximum of 6 feet and 100 pounds, and stacked at the curb for removal.
In some areas trash and yard waste removal is behind by a day or two. However, the FCC says garbage will be picked up by Friday and yard waste by Saturday at the latest.
"We again ask people to be patient,” Stothert said. “Don't bring your carts in, don't bring your debris in, don't move it around, leave it there."
To make the process go by faster the city asks that you do not block your sidewalks or park vehicles on the curb in front of debris that needs to be picked up.
The city also announced Thursday that a national non-profit is in Omaha and will be able to help residents that are physically or mentally incapable in the trimming of large branches to meet the curbside requirements.
If you are in need of that assistance the city asks you to call 211. More information on this non-profit will be released Friday.
READ MORE: Omaha, Douglas Co. request federal money for storm cleanup; four debris drop-off sites remain open
