In the 2023 budget, the City of Evansville has earmarked $650,000 to sweep the streets of Evansville. The earmark was $600,000 in 2022 The street sweeping earmark ultimately goes to Republic Services who performs the street sweeping services in the Evansville area. The abstract of this article is to demonstrate the poor value of the street sweeping services currently being performed in Evansville, Indiana.
The need for rubbish to be removed from roads in built-up areas has existed for centuries. In early times, the local law in town or a city ordered the owner or occupier of each address to clean the length of that road that passed the address. In time, horse-drawn vehicle traffic became heavier and the need to pickup poop droppings was in order. Cities and politicians all over the country began campaigns to clean up the streets.
In 1849, C.S. Bishop patented the first mechanical street sweeper which composed of two spinning discs with bristles mounted to a bike that you peddled. The first self-propelled street sweeper came in 1869 when a steam engine was used. Since then the street sweeping machine as well as that of the streets have changed. Today, the street sweeper that you see running the neighborhood streets is the Johnston VT series of vacuum assisted power sweepers. It is one of the most deluxe power sweeper models available today. We spotted the sweeper making its rounds one day and decided to deploy a drone.
A Surprise Drone Audit 5/12/2023
In a surprise audit on Friday 5/12/2023, a drone was deployed to watch and ultimately spy on a Republic Services street sweeper found roaming the Presidents neighborhood in Evansville, Indiana. This area included Harlan, Henning, Marshall, and Lodge Avenues between Taylor and Covert Avenues on the southeast side of town. Almost 1 hour of video footage was acquired during the audit and we are sharing some of that video footage here.
In review of the video footage, there were several common observations that seemed to surface. The most surprising was that in several cases the street sweeper failed to ride the curb face when sweeping the street. As in the example of the short video clip below.
The picture below was taken at the corner of Marshall and Madison Avenue. A corner where the composted material from the nearby tree canopy has caused an island of dirt to form on the street just before the street drain. This is the kind of stuff that gets summarily skipped over and missed by the street sweeper because it is too thick or voluminous to clean up.
Distribution of Dirt Yields on a Street
A study of street cleaning effectiveness and pollution on residential streets in a similar sized city has shown that about 75 percent of street dirt resides within 3 feet of the curb face. The study also created a relationship between clean streets and cleaner water outlets. According to the study “vegetative debris from trees is a direct input to the total dirt collected on streets. The streets and neighborhoods with more tree canopy (will have) higher street dirt yields”.
(ABOVE: A storm drain and street dirt that has grass growing from the inlet on Marshall Avenue which was supposedly “swept” on 5/12)
This Curmudgeon asks, what kind of program is this that allows these kinds of things to pass? What guarantees do I have that this sweeper truck will ever come back to the neighborhood(s) that it misses? Why does it ALWAYS require a politician to call and complain and the only thing done in the end is a resweep? While at the same time, other (less squeaky) neighborhoods are forgotten about? This Curmudgeon asks, where is the map that shows every street in Evansville city limits has been swept…twice? I for one would like to see that map. And if you have a map, you should have a schedule. This Curmudgeon wishes that schedule were known so that others could assist? Moving on…
The Problems with the Street Notification System
Republic Services will post some yard signs in advance to notify the neighbors that street sweeping services are being performed in the area. The signs that are posted say, “NO PARKING – POLICE ORDER and STREET SWEEPING” followed by a day and 6am-4pm as the picture below shows. The signs themselves are relatively small measuring 18X10″ and are held up by a wire frame. The signs are often posted during the afternoon or evening, the day before a sweep.
(ABOVE: Picture taken near Weinbach and Taylor in 2022)
The signs are not always posted in highly visible or trafficked areas and can sometimes be obstructed by trees or fire hydrants as shown in the picture above. Signs that are posted are not posted in the same locations year to year, leaving neighbors scratching their heads on knowing when and where to look for them.
Another issue with the signs is the possibility that they will be abandoned or misplaced in a neighborhood. When this happens, neighbors can again become confused, wondering which day of which week they were actually coming to sweep their street.
(ABOVE: A collection of street signs that was abandoned in one Evansville Neighborhood.)
Street Sweeping performed 10X as much in downtown and business districts. The street sweeping services that runs in Evansville, runs in the downtown area every couple of weeks. In business districts and arterial roads, once a month. In the city neighborhoods, twice a year (needs resource).
Street Drains Getting Clogged
This Curmudgeon asks, is it any wonder why our neighborhood drains frequently become clogged? That this dereliction of basic street sweeping duties in neighborhoods leads to busy tasking Evansville residents with the constant clearing of debris out of the nearby storm drains? That this problem does not seem to exist as much in downtown or business district areas because they are swept more often and there is less tree canopies?
Neighborhood Warriors Needed
Is it true? That it has gotten so bad that the 2nd Ward – City Councilperson Missy Mosby has been seen making social media posts about driving around in the 2nd ward neighborhoods to clear the storm drains during large rain events? This Evansville Curmudgeon wants to thank councilperson Mosby for being the Mistress of Drain Clearings in the Southeast neighborhoods. But would ask this same councilperson, what happens when you decide to retire? Who will lead the charge on all of the things you do in the 2nd ward beyond voting in the city council chambers on Monday nights?
This Curmudgeon asks, what happens when the neighborhood warriors that come out to clean the drains by hand…and it doesn’t work? Then the city Vactor is called in to the rescue? The Vactor is a $500,000 piece of equipment used to clear storm and sewer drains in most cities and counties today. It comes with a mandatory two men to operate and a 50 gallon tank of diesel to run it for a day? Costing the city taxpayers exponentially more money to ultimately fix what a street sweeper leaves behind?
We are learning that the storm sewers that have been installed over the last decade have plenty of water divergent capacity to handle the heavy rains of today? And the actual causes of flooded neighborhood streets in Evansville now appears to be all of the unswept trash, dirt, and tree canopy debris?
City Trash Cleanups missing inner neighborhoods
Is it also true that when the Mayor of Evansville’s “Clean Committee” and Keep Evansville Beautiful does their trash cleanup days, that the pickups are rarely in the heart of residential neighborhoods where these trash/debris and drainage problems persist? These volunteer supported cleanups have historically been conducted on public lands like parks, schools, green-ways, along the river, downtown districts, and other public thoroughfares? Although Mayor Winnecke and KEB should receive plenty of accolades for doing these needed services and be plenty proud of what they have done, this Curmudgeon asks why are these services not being done in the heart of (mostly poor – middle class) neighborhoods where the trash pickup problems grow and persist?
Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office no longer doing trash detail
Is it also true that the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office no longer has a highway cleanup program where select inmates, under supervision, are bused into parts of the city/county to cleanup our highways and byways? The inmate road/highway cleanup program had previously been in existence, ever since Vanderburgh County has had inmates? This Curmudgeon asks, is that the end? Is that the end of this time honored taxpayer funded county cleanup program that was once the pride and glory of every Sheriff Post across the nation trying to “clean up” the town?
In Conclusion
This Curmudgeon asks, what oversight exists on the current street sweeper program? How often does the sweeper truck go to the dump? How much debris does it collect in a day/week? How many miles of streets are swept in a day? What does it costs Evansville taxpayers per/curb foot to clean? Who inspects or reviews those “cleaned” streets? Are there certifications or tests or classes required on how to operate a vacuum assisted power sweeper? How often are the vacuum filters cleaned and replaced? Do they follow the manufacturer standards on when and how often to replace the vacuum filters? Who tests that the vacuum is strong enough to actually work? Do we test for the amount of particulate matter that it kicks up into the air vs. how much is being sucked up? Or do we just assume its working well when we all have seen a trail of debris forming out its rear end?
Street sweeping in city neighborhoods should be given a much higher priority, better planning, and be done with much more integrity that what they are doing today. When the dirt, debris, and trash in the streets has accumulated so high, that new vegetation is growing from it; that the mechanical broom on the city street sweeper is not enough to cut through it; and that the city street sweeper has been seen skipping over heavily soiled areas to avoid disturbing it; then maybe a change is in order here?
Suggested Changes
This Curmudgeon suggests that:
#1 Maybe the street sweeper should stop or slow down; and use the hydraulic boom on the truck to vacuum up the heavily soiled areas?
#2 And/or maybe we should sweep Evansville neighborhoods more frequently than twice a year?
#3 And/or maybe the City of Evansville should employ their own street sweeping services? A service that would employ three men (or women) and a pickup truck with a dump trailer in tow? Workers with simple tools like brooms, rakes, and shovels to drive around town and pickup the heavy debris and to more precisely sweep around cars and vehicles in Evansville neighborhood streets? This Curmudgeon asks, how many men and how many pickup trucks could we pay or buy or contract out at $650,000 per year?
#4 Finally, without any sort of reliable schedule or notification system, how can the residents and neighborhoods of Evansville embrace and support the street sweeping services the way that they are run now? How can any person be given less than 24 hours notice and logistically act on “Police Orders” to move or clear the street of vehicles? Albeit, it is probably best that this police order is not enforced, it should still not be language included in the street signs.
For Your Information: None of the videos or this report was shared or turned into Republic Services, EWSU, the Mayor’s office or any councilperson. Because the result of that would simply be a neighborhood “resweep”. The examples of poor sweeping services presented here are beyond a resweeping and require major changes in the program and our viewpoints of it to fix.
The Evansville Curmudgeon