ZELIENOPLE — The borough is considering asking its residents to bag their leaves to be picked up and recycled.

Borough manager Don Pepe introduced the idea Monday night at the borough meeting so council members can consider the pros and cons of the proposal.

For years the street department has used a vacuum-like leaf collecting machine. Residents who want to have their leaves collected are asked to move them to the curb where the machine picks them up. The leaves are then taken to a farm where they are recycled and turned into mulch.

However, the vacuum is nearing the end of its useful life and rather than buy a new one for about $30,000, Pepe asked the council to consider having residents bag their leaves and leave them by the street, which would be less labor intensive for the street crews to pick up.

The leaves would be bagged in paper, biodegradable bags that would be recycled along with the leaves

The vacuum machine was paid for by a grant which is no longer available so the borough would have to budget the expense if it buys a replacement, Pepe said.

Pepe said he isn’t sure how much longer the machine would last, but council wouldn’t have to make a change for this fall.

Council Member Don Burgess said he heard concerns from residents, who thought the bagging would be a lot of work for older people.

Council Member Greg Semel said collecting leaves in bags would prevent them from blowing around or getting soaked with rain.

“Once you put the leaves in the bag, they stay there,” he said.

Council President Allen Bayer said the borough could talk to Harmony officials, who have a similar leaf pickup service, if they would have the capability to do leaf pickup for Zelienople under a shared services agreement.