• A pile of brush collected and ready to be mulched.

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township’s Ice Storm Brush and Limp Pick-Up Program recently ended. After weeks of cleanup, the neighborhoods of Meridian are finally clear of the December ice storm debris.

The winter’s harsh weather conditions did a lot of damage to the trees in the area. Many fell, split and were forming piles in residents’ yards.

The frequent snow storms and below zero temperatures made cleaning up the remains of broken trees much more difficult.

To aid in the process, officials decided to offer a service free of charge to residents. Officials agreed to have branches picked up that had fallen.

The pick-up program took a total of about 6 weeks and is still not completely finished. Some residents were missed the first time contractors made trips to their neighborhoods.

At the moment, township officials are having the contractors make extra trips to those yards to mulch the brush that was left behind.

According to Brian VanOrder at Michigan Demolition and Excavation, the contractors loaded and hauled about 15 dump trucks with mulched wood daily. A percentage of this wood was taken to local parks for residents to use personally while the rest is awaiting its departure to Midland, Mich. where it will be burned and used for energy.

"It was definitely a success. It was a lot of hard work and the people who did it, they worked hard. I mean they were out there all day for a month and a half working on this," said Raymond Severy, Director of Public Works and Engineering.

Some of the mulched branches were placed in local parks for residents' personal use, most of which is now gone. The rest of the mulch will be taken to Midland, Mich. where it will be burned and used as a source of energy.