Dearborn’s Curbside Leaf Pickup Begins Oct. 25
Curbside leaf pickup begins Oct. 25.
It is that time of year again for deciding how to handle loose leaves.
With the city struggling with its budget, residents should probably get into the habit this year of bagging leaves rather than raking them to the curb. If there is one service that could be cut to save dollars this might be one of them.
But until that happens, the city will offer loose leave pickup beginning Oct. 25. Crews will be neighborhoods on trash days during non-recycling weeks.
Bagged leaves can be set curbside on scheduled trash pickup days, which the city says is its preferred method of collection. Leaf pickup by this method is continuous every week from now until Saturday, Dec. 4 although weather conditions can alter this schedule.
Residents are asked to rake their leaves into the street as close to their trash day as possible during their neighborhood’s non-recycling week.
The city does say there will be limitations on loose leaf pickup. Trash sections are larger than in the past, which means city crews may not complete picking up loose leaves in your neighborhood on your trash day in one week.
City crews will not return to your neighborhood until your next non-recycling week. City crews will start in your section where they left off during the last trash day in the non-recycling week in your neighborhood.
For more information, you can call the Leaf Collection Hotline at 943-2444.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Mr. Deep, I vote for ending the practice of collecting loose leaves from the street. Already in my neighborhood there are piles of leaves blocking the street, with the inherent dangers of wet leaves causing traction problems for cars, and no near promise of the leaves being picked up. What a mess!
October 24th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I beg to differ- this is one of the few perks left in dearborn. I have gigantic oak trees all around me and it’s wonderful. I do respect the schedule and don’t put them at the curb until the right time.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:56 am
My leaves never finish falling until a week or so after Thanksgiving, typically. I end up with an abundance of leaves. They need to extend pickup through mid-December. I miss being a kid in Detroit, being able to burn the leaves in a metal trash can; that is a great smell.
October 25th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Noo…please don’t end this service. With so many trees in our neighborhoods it really takes the burden off of our elderly. My neighbors have difficulty filling the bags and trash containers. The raking is hard enough for them. It is one of the “perks” to living in Dearborn. We always respect the pick up schedule.
October 25th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Hey john Culp i am with you on the burning leaves smell,but don’t worry because you might feel like you are back in Detroit anyway,i heard the mayor is contracting out a lot of the city services done by our long time employee’s,many of whom live in this city and take pride it keeping it clean.
Selling the Florida towers.
Hoping he could sell Camp Dearborn.
Wishing he could have closed the pools.
Planning on closing Libraries.
Now bringing in outside contractors to maintain a city they don’t live in or have stake in.
WELCOME TO THE CITY OF DETROITBORN PEOPLE.
October 25th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Curbside leaf collection is a silly and unnecessary service! It should be the 1st service on the chopping block.
October 26th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Ok so basically if they don’t get to your leaves on the street they will be back in 2 weeks to get them???? Do you think they are going to stay in place and wait for the return of heavy lifting equipment that only collects 1/2 of what they scoop? No, they are going to blow all over the place and on to the foreclosed lawns..we have 3 on our block alone…where they will sit and kill the grass and then look even worse come spring. Can we get rid of this service please? What I want to know is what happened to those big trucks with the hoses on the front that used to suck up the leaves? I only recall seeing those for a few years and now we are using dump trucks. The hose trucks could not have been cheap. Hopefully they aren’t sitting somewhere wasting away!
October 26th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Bep – Orville Hubbard is turning over in his grave. Those hose trucks were used as a down payment on Herman’s Hermits, Homecoming, Aug. 2006. Attempting to close the small pools for “splash parks” (pay-o-la?) – – leaves collected once in a blue moon? Either complete the service, or don’t, you can’t have loose leaves on the curbs for months at a time. Last year, twice – usually the day after I bagged them (Murphy’s Law!). Do it, or don’t do it – – enough of the BS already. The street sweepers are a joke too! They sweep dust into the air, that’s all they do! Get w/it DPW. Some ideas – #1, Close that Giant Blue Civic Center and get back to serving the residents as a whole, not the few. That Civic Center is a rip-off, unless you use it to drop your kids off, for all day child care, 5 times a week (or more) – – like hundreds of people already do. The first & last time I was there, they stole my wallet out of my “locked” locker, breaking through the side. Vote these incumbents out, before it’s too late!! How many family’s moved to Dearborn for services like neighborhood pools and leave pick-up, right from your front curb? Let’s get a volunteer Mayor and City Council, and have the leaves picked up from the curb weekly again, with the hose trucks – – and still have money leftover to re-paint the small neighborhood pools!! Drop that Giant Homecoming fiasco down at Ford Field too. Another big waste of money. Homecoming for whom? Out-of-towners?
October 26th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
I think this is a great service, especially with the abundance of trees in neighborhoods, but given the city’s financial situation, I can understand why they would consider limiting and eventually cutting this. I’m not best friends with my neighbors or anything–the neighbor next door likes to take his giant leaf blower and blow leaves onto his neighbor’s property, then repeat this practice again when leaves blow back to him–yet, I wouldn’t mind volunteering to help my elderly or handicapped neighbors nearby who cannot bag up their leaves. Perhaps other cities that allow composting would also appreciate the leaves too. Although Dearborn is not a small town, I’d like to think residents could figure out ways to help each other do with less of this service.
October 27th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Bag your leaves, save the money. What could be more inefficient than picking up 40 (or less) pounds of leaves with every scoop of a front-end loader, up and down every street in the city, several times during the leave season? Get rid of this stupid “tradition”, we can’t afford it anymore.
Who says you can’t burn leaves anymore? Is there an ordinance against burning them in a secured container? I think not. How long could it take to burn the leaves raked up from a 30-foot lot anyway?
October 28th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Leaves have not been allowed to be burned in the tri counties for as long as I can remember.
October 29th, 2010 at 5:02 am
Since when do we have “tri county” laws or ordinances? Please show me a state or city law that says you can’t burn leaves in Dearborn in a secured container. You can’t rake them into a pile and burn them unsecured, but if you can have a “portable fireplace” in your driveway, why can’t you burn leaves in a secured 55-gallon drum with some type of screen on top? Post the state law or local law or “tri counties” law that says you can’t.
October 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
I may have to stand corrected as I don’t have any more time to research this. I did find the following about our county: “Wayne County residents are banned from burning leaves because the communities follow the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality recommendations against open burning. Since 1995, the DEQ has
prohibited burning leaves and grass clippings in municipalities with populations of 7,500 or more, unless
burning already was authorized by a local ordinance”. Does that translate into an ordinance?, I don’t know. If someone has the time for more research, the answer may prove interesting.
November 1st, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I hear that they are already way behind in collecting.
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Dear Dearborn Residents,
Please don’t be lazy and bag your leaves. The city does not have the money for this. It is time everyone starts taking care of themselves. We need to stop depending on the government to help us. If there is and elderly citizen on your block, and you are an able body citizen, take care of their leaves for them. That is what being an American is about. Citizens helping citizens, not government helping citizens.
Thank You
-Fellow Tax Payer-
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:57 pm
One other thing. Sell those stupid street sweepers. They don’t do anything. Everyone take 15 minutes and sweep in front of your house. If you have a neighbor that is old and unable to perform this simple task, be a good neighbor and do it for them! It is that simple!
November 3rd, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Last thing i promise.
A little known person named Ronald Regan said this. Think of this quote if you want leaf pickup to continue.
“Nations crumble from within when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry might better provide for itself. ”
-Ronald Regan-
November 4th, 2010 at 8:58 am
The city provides a program for snow removal for Sr. Citizens why can’t they use this same program for leaves? If the city can no longer afford to pick the leaves up in the street why don’t they just discontinue the program?
November 5th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I think the schools could provide a service to the elderly by arranging student volunteers to rake leaves and shovel snow for those who need help with those tasks. The students get community service experience, and the cost would be almost zero.
I think this program to pick up leaves is a waste of money and creates hazardous piles of leaves in the street. Even though it is now very easy to know when the City is coming for leaves the people don’t get it. The day AFTER the leaves were picked up, neighbors were dumping huge piles of leaves in the street. These won’t be picked up for 13 days, at best. In the meantime, we have to be extra-careful about moving over for an oncoming car, because there might be thick piles of leaves in the way. When it rains ( or snows! ) the leaves become dangerously slippery. I say, end the practice.
November 6th, 2010 at 10:47 am
As much as I love he convenience of the leave pick up saving me tons of work, I agree with John Higgins that it may be time to end it. With this economy being so bad, perhaps this money could be re-directed at more important causes like Save Our Small Pools or other areas.
I also like John’s idea of public service and credits for students serving the elderly by students raking leaves and shoveling snow. This would/could teach young people that life is not all about I, me and my and that there is plenty of satisfaction and nobleness in serving others, especially others who have more than paid their dues to generations, such as the elderly.
If I may, let me also suggest that John’s program be expanded to also help the ill, frail and handicapped, as we do not want to forget others who also need and deserve help. Perhaps this would also teach young people how fortunate they are to be healthy and how good it feels to serve those in need without expecting any payback, except knowing that they’ve also served a noble cause.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Lets end the program. I have bagged 25 bags in the last two weeks. Yesterday was the first day for our pickup and of course no city people showed up. Now all the leaves are at the curb are a mess and will blow around for two more weeks. If we all knew we had to take care of our own yards then this wouldn’t happen. As far as the street goes it is not our property to pay taxes on, maintain etc. I still do the curb but it is beyond my ability to play dodge em with the traffic on my strret.