What Irma debris will be picked up when? The answer depends on where you live.

The city of Sarasota announced Friday it is temporarily stopping regular yard waste pickup because some of its residents had been mixing new, green vegetative waste in with Hurricane Irma yard debris.

There’s about $1.9 million on the line for reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, explained city communications manager Jan Thornburg.

“We don’t want to take any chances,” she said.

Residents should be mindful of how they separate their waste, and whether or not it’s storm-related, Thornburg said. But it depends on where you live when pickup will happen, and what will be left on the curbs.

Manatee County

This week, Manatee County published its storm debris map, which can be viewed by visiting www.mymanatee.org/utilities. Blue means the zone has been completed; green means crews are out in the zone; yellow means crews will be there next; and clear means the zone has yet to be scheduled for pickup.

The size of each zone was marked by the density of debris in the area, assessed visually. If a road is marked in red, that means it’s private and crews still need to clear it. But there’s no telling exactly when each zone will be completed. Crews are still in their first sweep through for pickup.

Manatee County utilities customers should separate their storm-related debris into three categories: construction and debris, vegetative and appliances. Crews will not separate them and won’t collect mixed-up piles, as proper documentation needs to be done for FEMA reimbursements.

The cities on Anna Maria Island — Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach — as well as the Manatee County portion of the town of Longboat Key are included in the county’s collection.

Any yard waste that is not related to the storm will be picked up during normal yard waste collection and should be bagged appropriately, according to the utilities department. The county’s waste contractors are adding extra routes for these normal yard waste collections through Oct. 22: Waste Management, which covers east of U.S. 41 and south of State Road 64 (not in the city of Bradenton), is adding routes on Saturdays, and Waste Pro, which services everywhere else (again, not in the cities), will add routes on Saturdays and Sundays.

At the Lena Road Landfill, at 3333 Lena Road, tipping fees will be waived for only vegetative debris from Saturday through Oct. 22. Since the debris will be burned, fences or bagged debris cannot be accepted; the latter will have to be removed and emptied into the pile.

Questions can be directed to the utilities department’s customer service hotline at 941-792-8811.

City of Bradenton

The city’s solid waste trucks started helping contractors in picking up storm debris on Oct. 3, according to the city of Bradenton’s website. Residents in the city limits are also asked to make separate piles for Irma-related vegetative and construction debris.

The city had stopped its normal yard waste pickup for a two-week period last month between Sept. 19 and Oct. 3, but has since resumed. Non-storm related yard waste should be bagged or placed in barrels.

A second pass through is planned for a later date.

City of Palmetto

If you live in the city of Palmetto, you could expect to see all of the streets debris-free by early November. The city began cleaning up Irma debris on Oct. 5, and expects crews to be finished in three or four weeks.

Residents should make separate piles for their storm-related debris for vegetative and construction debris. Normal yard waste should be bagged and bundled accordingly, away from Irma debris.

Debris should not be placed near power poles, water meters, mailboxes or under power lines, according to the city.

Sarasota County

Sarasota County’s storm operations involve only picking up the 250,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris said to have been created due to Irma, according to the county’s website.

The county will tag a pile of debris if it’s found to be mixed in with other debris or normal yard waste, or if trucks are unable to access it. Residents should be mindful to keep Irma-related yard waste separate from normal yard waste, trash and recycling. If a homeowner wants to get rid of a fence damaged by the storm, Waste Management will pick it up if it is cut into sections that measure at most 4 feet by 4 feet and weigh less than 40 pounds.

Normal yard waste will continue to be collected on the normal schedule.

The Sarasota County landfill, located at 4000 Knights Trail Road in Nokomis, will waive tipping fees until further notice for Irma-related yard debris.

The county also has a debris map, which points out if collection has been started, if it has been completed and where it is scheduled to start next. The zones are marked with dates to help residents get a better idea of when crews could be coming into their areas, as late as Nov. 20.

Unlike Manatee County, whose commissioners allowed the utilities department to clean up private roads as they moved through zones, Sarasota County needs written permission from every homeowner or homeowner’s association.

Unincorporated county residents can call 855-866-5654 for questions on Irma debris collection.

City of Sarasota

Crews expect to be finished with the first pass in the city of Sarasota on Oct. 20, immediately leading to the second pickup phase.

But for at least the next week, normal yard waste will not be picked up. Irma-related vegetative debris should be placed near the curb — between 3 feet and 5 feet from trees, fire hydrants, light poles and water meters — separate from normal yard waste, or it will not be collected.

Like the county, the city of Sarasota is not collecting construction and demolition debris.

City public works staff are working with Ceres Environmental Services to comb through Sarasota neighborhoods from north to south, according to the city’s website.

Residents who have more questions can contact the city of Sarasota storm debris hotline at 855-428-4526.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 4:32 PM with the headline "What Irma debris will be picked up when? The answer depends on where you live.."