Editorial: City on the ball with cleanup

Talk about it

A Daily Globe staff member traveling home at approximately 1:30 a.m. Saturday encountered tree and branch debris in several Worthington streets. He also encountered something else — city of Worthington workers already hard at it, clearing the way.

Friday night’s storm was of the fast and furious variety, striking at about 11:15 p.m. and ending by roughly a half an hour later. In its wake was left hours upon hours worth of work for residents and property owners, not to mention city employees.

As has been well documented on these pages, the city — along with municipalities across Minnesota — has struggled to contain costs in the wake of substantial local government aid cuts. It was clearly realized, though, that prompt and efficient removal of storm debris was not a luxury. It was a necessity.

On Monday, the city began picking up tree-related damage from the storm left on curbs around Worthington. City officials stressed that items other than tree debris would be ignored. In other words, the spring city-wide cleanup has come and gone for this year. Time and money are going to cleaning up from Friday only.

We are appreciative of the city’s cleanup efforts. Let’s hope similar work isn’t needed for a good long time.

Tags: opinion, worthington, storm, cleanup