Garden Club 2026 off to a fresh start!
Hello neighbors — Ron Otto here, joined by Grace Simpson and Jeff Perry. We’re the three new co-chairs of the East English Village Garden Club and we’re excited to make our little patch of the world greener, friendlier, and a touch more adventurous.
We want the club to be social first: think plant swaps over coffee or cocktails, a fall harvest dinner with neighbors and recipes, and day trips to lovely places like Dow Gardens so we can gawp, learn, and come home inspired. We’re also starting an EEV Garden Buddies program to pair beginner gardeners with seasoned hands — mentorship, questions answered, plants rescued.
We will be resurrecting the annual EEV Garden Tour — bigger, more inclusive, and more fun than ever. Please mark your calendars:
April 18 - Neighborhood Garden Kickoff Social & Garden Tour planning
May 16 - Spring Plant Swap & EEV Garden Buddies assignments
June 13 - Garden Tour Sneak Peek Campaign kickoff
July 25th - EEV Garden Tour
Meeting locations: TBD (we’ll announce soon)
Please join our Facebook group EEV GARDEN CLUB 2026
If you’d like to volunteer, host a stop on the tour, or be matched as a buddy please sign up on the Garden Club page of this website or catch any of us at the kickoff on April 18. You can email Ron Otto at ron@motusre.com
Come join us — whether you’ve killed one houseplant or keep a small jungle, there’s a place for you.
See you in the dirt!
— Ron, Grace, & Jeff
Paid Pick-Up Bulk Collection Service
Department of Public Works offers a Paid Bulk Collection Service to help residents remove unwanted debris from their yards.
How to Guide for Paid Pickups:
Fill out Paid Pickup Bulk Collection Request Form or call DPW Solid Waste Division (313) 876-0004
A DPW employee will respond to your request within 1 business day and will provide you with an estimate for removal.
The charge for removing debris is based on the size and weight of the debris.
Provide DPW with payment for pick up.
Cashier's Check, Money Orders, and Credit Cards are accepted. No cash can be accepted.
DPW removes debris
Most types of debris including branches, construction/renovation materials, and couches are accepted.
Debris must be accessible from the front curb - DPW will not remove debris from garages, alleyways, or yards.
Call DPW Solid Waste Division (313) 876-0004 to schedule your pick up
Special Assessment District Update May 2023
Dear EEV Residents,
We have an update for you regarding the Special Assessment District (SAD) initiative. As you may know, this initiative has been in discussion for EEV since 2016 but this year we began in earnest exploring this option for our neighborhood. Over the past several months we have been gathering feedback and moving this initiative forward. Our EEV Special Assessment coordinator recently shared a status report outlining what we’ve learned about EEV and this process over the past six months.
Here are the key takeaways from the report:
A majority of EEV residents want the Special Assessment District. Based on the mail/online poll conducted in April 2023 with 200+ responses, nearly 70% of residents support the Special Assessment District.
There are residents in EEV who cannot afford $150/year for this. Some have expressed their concerns, while others believe that the neighborhood desperately needs this and that $12.50/month is a small price to pay for 24/7 private security. Both realities exist here in EEV.
EEV has a significant number of absentee owners, which makes the process of passing this initiative with 60%+ owners signatures a very difficult process. 50%+ is the minimum required by ordinance, but the EEV board figured that 60% would be a respectable submission. In order for a petition signature to be valid it must be witnessed by a volunteer in-person. Tracking down landlords and/or LLC agents for an in-person signature is tough, as most are located outside the neighborhood, or in other states or countries.
Based on these factors, the EEV Board is pausing the SAD initiative. While a clear majority of residents support it, the number of absentee owners in EEV adds an extra layer of complexity to the SAD petition signing process that we did not anticipate. We now understand that this is a challenge unique to EEV as compared to other neighborhoods where SADs have passed, and one that we will consider with any future initiatives.
We appreciate all of the honest feedback received over the past 6-months, and we encourage residents to continue to stay involved! EEV Board elections are coming up on Wednesday May 10th. We are optimistic in our hope that more residents will consider assuming an active role either by joining the Board or simply volunteering to assist on one of our many committees throughout the year. Let’s continue to move forward so that East English Village remains a “Community of Choice” - one of the great neighborhoods in Detroit.
Sincerely,
EEV Board Members
