Since, maybe, Maumelle was incorporated, it was the city’s practice that yard waste would not be picked up curbside if it was from contractors.

Meaning, if you hired someone to pick up and bag your leaves, they had to haul it off as the city would not remove it.

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That all changed last week.

Mayor Caleb Norris said in a lengthy Facebook post that “ I have overturned the practice of not picking up standard yard waste when the waste was generated by contractors. The Sanitation Department will now pick up curbside bagged leaves and lawn clippings from residents regardless of whether the residents hired a service to do the yard work.”

The cheers heard around Maumelle were audible.

Norris said that the city picking up that yard waste would only marginally increase costs as Sanitation already picks it up if it was done by the resident.

It was a common sense conclusion after Norris met with Sanitation and they were “unable to come up with a good reason for the practice” and “unable to identify a compelling reason why this practice is in place.”

Norris added that its practice “predates the employment of everyone in the Department” and the city had, “no compelling reason for the practice.”