.....'LEAF' me alone !!!

….I’m kidding…I’m kidding

OKAY, let’s put this leafy mess into perspective.

Yes the leaves are a mess right now, but soon we’ll all be out shoveling our sidewalks, and I’d much rather be out on a crisp fall day raking leaves, than out in the blustery cold shoveling the heavy, white stuff.

So, even though we have a leafy mess right now, please know that I am being assured by my staff that all the leaves city-wide will be cleaned up by Thanksgiving.

Keep in mind, that in three years we’ve cut some $1.5 million from our budget, and that means we went from having 12 employees working on leaf removal to just three.

Traditionally, the City of Milan offered loose leaf pick-up on a weekly basis from October through November. But because of those reductions I just mentioned, this now uses all of our available DPW staff, significantly delaying other traditional DPW work such as hydrant flushing, sewer cleaning, painting and building and equipment maintenance.

In order to relieve the burden of this task, the Milan City Council approved limited loose leaf pick-up to these two weeks:

• Week of November 2nd

• Week of November 30th

(This was approved at the September 28, Milan City Council meeting.)

Sadly, this means that leaf removal is not the fast luxury service Milan city residents have come to expect.

The good news is---this year we will still provide the service. Whatever leaves we miss, or that fall from the trees after we’re done removing them, you can bag them yourself and Waste Management will pick them up on trash day.

PLEASE do NOT sweep your leaves into the street. Leaves clog our storm sewer system when they are swept into the gutter on the street. You might not think this is a big deal, but it really does cost us thousands of dollars in infrastructure maintenance when the majority of our storm sewers are clogged with leaves.

That’s your money!

Is this the perfect solution? No it is not. Is this a service that residents should expect as part of what their taxes should pay for?

In a perfect world—yes.

But times have significantly changed. The cost of doing business has gone up, but the amount of money we have to ‘do business’ has diminished significantly.

Please know you may email me at: kymm@ci.milan.mi.us or call Milan City Hall at (734) 439-1501 if you have any further questions or problems regarding the leaf pick-up issue, or anything else you’d like to address.