Residents have until Monday to bring all ice storm debris to the curb for removal as is, with some residents struggling to meet the deadline.

Once the deadline passes, residents must treat all storm debris as yard waste, which requires cutting all branches and limbs down to four feet in length, then bundling and bagging them and placing them by the curb for pickup on Mondays for a fee, with exception to April 21 and May 12.

Since the ice storm struck in January, when many frozen branches and limbs snapped and covered the ground, the East Lansing Public Works department began clearing sidewalks and streets, although they were set back by a snowstorm.

So far, the city has turn thousands of yards of debris into wood chips which will be used as a fuel source at MSU and for lining parkways in East Lansing, Environmental Services Administrator Cathy DeShambo said.

“We have been on this right from the very beginning,” DeShambo said. “We’ve been taking the debris at any time we can, weather permitting. That’s why we made the deadline for getting the debris out to the curbside. Our task is to get that picked up ASAP and get our parkways restored.”

East Lansing resident Eliot Singer said the amount of debris and the size of fallen limbs has hampered some residents in his neighborhood from bringing the debris curbside by deadline.

“I was able to drag it, but I couldn’t bench press it,” Singer said, pointing to an 8-foot-long limb. “I thought I’m in fairly good shape, but by the time I pulled two of those yesterday, my heart was pounding.”

Some residents are without proper equipment to cut the limbs down to size, and some more are elderly or disabled and are unable to clear their yards, he said. By organizing the community, Singer said, neighbors could better identify who requires assistance or equipment.

Singer also proposed that residents and students volunteer to clean up neighborhoods to foster a community relationship between the two.