This week’s memo from City Manager Tom Aspell is brimming with autumnal activities in our fair city. Here’s a sampling:
Yard work
Aspell isn’t our dad, but he still has the power to send us scurrying for our rakes. Annual fall leaf collection (that’s when the elves make your yard waste magically vanish from the curb) starts Nov. 1. Pickups will continue into the week of Dec. 10. Aspell gives the following instructions: “Place your leaves un-bagged at the curbside and the crews will pick them up.”
The department, he says, will have three crews. One will start at the Bow town line and work north; the second crew will start at Blossom Hill Cemetery and work toward Penacook; the third crew will start on Mountain Road and work south. Only leaves will be picked up.
“Any unacceptable material, which has been illegally deposited in the public right-of-way, MUST be removed by the abutting landowner,” Aspell wrote.
Bike-friendly city
Concord was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a bike-friendly community.
The awards, Aspell writes, are intended to educate and reward communities for actively supporting bicycling.
While there hasn’t been a proliferation of new bike lanes and bike paths in Concord, Aspell writes, the league recognized Concord’s quiet but steady progress in a broad range of areas.
Construction goes on
Aspell has some bad news for those of you who frequently travel North State Street: The construction isn’t done yet.
“The progress,” he writes, “has been slow due to the complexity of deep excavation adjacent to existing utilities, large pipe installation and the presence of granite boulders and ledge.”
Crews will need another two weeks to finish their work. Traffic will continue to be restricted to one lane during hours of operation, typically 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Take a hike
Updated guidebooks are now available for trails throughout the city. The guides, assembled by the conservation commission and the trails committee, include detailed maps and narrative descriptions of 24 hiking spots. You can get a copy for $5 in the planning department.
In 1492 . . .Columbus scored some people a long weekend.
In observance of Columbus Day, city offices are closing on Oct. 11. (We here at the Insider will, however, be toiling away on another issue, but we will crane our necks to admire the foliage through our cubicle windows.
