Community Information

Annual Leaf Pickup

Clean Water Services is a government agency responsible for maintaining sewers and flood drains in the greater Portland area. They are charged with a number of responsibilities, including keeping gutters and filtration ponds clean, and they have a regular sweeping schedule that includes Parc Bethany.

It came to our attention recently that they were periodically doing much more than gutter sweeping in Oak Hills and a few other older communities. They pick up leaves piled in the gutter by residents at no additional cost. We wondered if they could perform the same service in Parc Bethany.

It turns out that the reason they offered leaf pickup in several older neighborhoods is because it is less expensive for them to pick up leaves in the area than to respond to calls for flooded streets and clogged drains. Unlike Parc Bethany, these neighborhoods were built before there were codes for storm drains, and the drains often became clogged. Clean Water was responsible for the cleanup.

This became such a problem in these areas, due to developer-installed undersized drains and small sewer grates, that Clean Water spent much of its time resolving flood problems rather than doing its normally scheduled work. Oak Hills is a special problem because of all the tall oak trees along the streets and the periodic overabundance of leaves in the street.

Clean Water contacted these areas to schedule leaf pickups on a regular basis a few years ago. This was not to help the homeowners directly, but to minimize Clean Water’s expenses and help them manage the areas. There are some other smaller areas that could use this service as well, but at this time they do not have the manpower or equipment to handle the work, and the problems are not severe enough to be cost effective. Therefore, there is no possibility that Clean Water Services will do this in our neighborhood.

Although they sweep the streets once per month in our area, the normal street sweepers are so low to the ground that they cannot pick up piles of leaves. If they raise the intakes, they just end up blowing the leaves around, so if there are piles of leaves, they go around them.

The City of Portland used to have Clean Water pick up leaves; however, that service has been terminated. If there are leaves piled in the street, they can be called to collect them, but the homeowner will be charged for the service.

For problems or concerns regarding clean streets, storm drainage, or clogged street drains, call Clean Water Services at (503) 681-3600. For direct numbers to different departments, visit Clean Water Services .

Trash Pickup

Trash pickup occurs every Friday in the neighborhood. Recyclables, yard debris, and glass are picked up every other Friday. Please remove your bins from the curb as soon as possible after pickup. Waste Management requests that bins be put out Thursday evening and returned to their storage area by Friday evening. If you will be unable to do so, please ask a neighbor to help.