Leaf site to remain open with changes to operations
Roseville's 'black gold' valued by residents
The Roseville City Council voted unanimously to keep the Roseville Leaf Recycling Center open, denying city staff's request to close it, on July 6, 2026.
The leaf site, located at 2580 Dale Street, has been in operation since 1971. Presently, Roseville residents can drop off leaves in the fall and collect compost the following year for their yards and gardens. There's also a Ramsey County organics/food scraps collection bin on site.
In September 2025, the Public Works Department approached the city council with a proposal to close the Roseville Leaf Recycling Center. The thirty-year old compost turner is due for replacement, an expense which prompted city staff to consider whether keeping the site open was worth it. Increased illegal dumping of trash and yard waste other than leaves, as well as illegal commercial dumping by contractors using lift trucks had put a strain on staff time and resources. Staff were also getting complaints from residents in the nearby senior apartments about the noise and odor of the site. Since Ramsey County offers yard waste drop-off sites in the area, staff argued that the Roseville site was redundant. If closed, staff suggested repurposing the site for other Public Works needs.
Naomi Krueger
In 2025, community feedback in support of keeping the leaf site open led the city council to delay the decision to 2026 so that more data could be collected.
At the July 6, 2026 meeting, Jesse Freihammer, Director of Public Works, presented the history of the site, the data collected on site usage, and options for how to manage the site going forward, including city staff's recommendation to close it.
Leaf Site Data
Here's some of the usage and cost data presented by Freihammer at the meeting:
- Site collects 30,000 - 35,000 cubic yards of leaves annually. The site capacity is 30,000 CY.
- The leaves are turned into 17 rows of compost, 17 ft wide by 8 ft tall
- Compost is turned nine times a year and it takes four days to turn the entire site
- The leaves make 4,000 - 5,000 CY of compost
- Residents use up most of the compost each year, mostly by picking it up at the site. Delivery is available for a small fee. In 2026, the fee was $75. To date, 46 deliveries were made this year.
- Any remaining compost—usually around 1,000 CY—is sold to make room for the next round of leaves.
- Current annual costs are $135,300. This is funded by the storm sewer fund.
- A new mid-range compost turner is estimated to cost between $300,000 - $500,000 which is already in the 2027 Capital Improvement Projects budget.
- Adding seasonal staff to monitor the site would cost around $32,400
2025 saw the highest use ever of the site, which prompted staff to close it three days earlier than usual due to being at capacity for leaves. Staff also tracked which days were busiest and found that the highest weekday use was on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the same days Ramsey County yard waste sites are closed. They also saw increased use of the site by contractors at the end of the day, when there were no city staff present.
The site has not been regularly monitored by staff, but they are there as needed for turning the compost, making compost deliveries, and site maintenance. While use of the site is meant to be restricted to Roseville residents (and no commercial dumping), there's currently no enforcement.
Leaf Site Future Options
Freihammer presented five options for the future of the site, including keeping it open as-is, closing it, and three options for modifying the use to mitigate some of the challenges. Below is a slide from the presentation summarizing the options:
On June 23, 2026, the Public Works, Environment and Transportation (PWET) advisory commission provided feedback and recommended closing the leaf site on a 4 to 3 vote.
Public Comment
At the July 6 meeting, four residents participated in public comment expressing support for keeping the leaf site open. Since September 2025, 44 written comments were submitted: 39 in favor of keeping it open, 5 in favor of closing it.
"It feels like, in the presentation, we're not really appreciating that you're making black gold in large quantities," said resident Andy Johnson, who lives near Acorn Park.
He compared costs of buying compost from a retailer vs. picking it up for free at the Roseville site and shared his personal experience of using the compost for his yard and gardens and how much money he's saved. "It feels like an incredible benefit," Johnson said.
We looked into the cost of bulk compost at area garden centers. At Gertens, you can get contractor-grade bulk compost for $44.99 per cubic yard (this drops to $39.99 if you buy six or more CY). At Lowes, you can buy a 1 CY bag of compost for $27.98 and at Ace Hardware you can get a 1.5 CY bag of compost for $8.99.
Norma Jorgensen, an eight year resident of Roseville who lives in a townhouse close to the leaf site, spoke up in support of Option E, with Ramsey County taking over the site. She also said she would support Options B and C to modify operations to keep it open too.
"I really think we're making Roseville more beautiful by being able to drop off leaves there and collect compost. When I go, I'm amazed at how many people are there and we end up talking about gardening, and talking about how wonderful Roseville is," Jorgensen said.
In a written comment submitted to the city council on July 4, 2026, Roseville resident Steve Fester expressed support for closing it and increasing education and support for home composting and leaf mulching.
"As a native-plant gardener who composts both garden clippings and food waste, I support closure of the Roseville leaf recycling facility, for all the reasons outlined by staff and supported by a majority of the PWET commissioners at their recent meeting," Fester wrote.
Decision
The Roseville City Council ultimately opted for Option B: keep the site open, but modify operations to reduce hours, add seasonal staff to monitor the site, and add security to prevent illegal use. For example, adding security cameras and moving the gate up to the property line to deter illegal dumping. Compost for pick-up would still be available outside the gate and food scrap collection will also remain on site. The city council also directed staff to initiate the process to solicit bids for a new compost turner. Final decisions about changes to the hours and purchasing the new compost turner will be made in the future.
"It seems like good value for dollars in terms of the benefit to the community," Mayor Dan Roe said, before the vote was taken.
"I appreciate all the work that has been done. Certainly the staff, the consideration by the Public Works, Environment and Transportation Commission. I know we're going against their recommendation here and that is not something we necessarily take lightly, because we value all the input from our citizen advisory commissions. Still, in the end, through this process we've come to once again that pretty darn good compromise solution that seems to work," Roe said.
Watch the presentation and city council discussion here. This agenda item begins at the 1:20:50 mark on the recording. The presentation slides and other meeting materials are available here.
