It’s a spot for hidden treasures and must-haves and soon it will be twice as big so all those gems can be kept safe from the elements.
The Okotoks Salvage Centre will be expanding this spring thanks to an agreement with the Foothills Regional Services Commission. The commission has agreed to build a second steel post building for the Salvage Centre to lease. The rent is still unknown, but the commission has agreed to pay up to $500,000 for the 16,000-square-foot building.
Salvage Centre assistant manager Candice Depass said the extra space is needed to keep items such as couches and mattresses out of the elements.
“A lot of stuff is being stored outside,” Depass said. “The stuff outside gets disgusting. We have to take it to the dump.”
Keeping useable items out of the landfill is the Salvage Centre Society’s main goal, explained Depass. They are looking to build more partnerships with recycling facilities to discard items that are broken, not working or unsellable. They already send items out for electronic recycling and Depass said she is looking to work with the Okotoks Recycling Centre as well. Although some items can’t be saved, Depass said, people should be aware there are a lot of household items, cloths, books, toys in good shape and at a reasonable price.
Items are categorized and given a base price and then volunteers working at the salvage centre tell customers the cost of specific items.
“So our base price for bikes for example is $5 to $20,” she explained
Last year the Salvage Centre was closed down for two months and the site was re-organized and cleaned. Depass said the new building is the latest step in a series of improvements that have taken place over the last year.
A new manager and assistant manager were hired and the centre was re-organized to maximize space. Donated goods are now sold, rather than being taken on a donation basis. Depass said the society needs to both cover costs and generate funds for local non-profit groups.
“Everything is being donated back to charities,” she said, adding groups such as the Okotoks Healthy Moms and Healthy Babies and the Canadian Diabetes Association have benefitted from the Salvage Centre funds.
A new application process is available for non-profit groups who want to access money from the Salvage Centre. Money generated from 2011 has not yet been distributed. The previous year more than $100,000 was given to non-profit agencies.
Board chair Joe Bracken said since the reorganization last January, the Salvage Centre has been improving.
“Things are really taking shape,” he said.
The seven board members are trying to balance paying the bills, while providing useful items to the community.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “We are trying to give people the best deal possible, keeping in mind the operations costs and the charities.”
The operations costs for the Salvage Centre will be going up when their building is complete. However, it is unknown what the lease will be until the total cost is determined.
Bracken said the profits were down 20 per cent in 2011, largely because of the two-month shutdown and other sporadic closures over the year. The board sunk $25,000 into the facility last year for maintenance as well.
“The upstairs had to be reinforced,” Bracken said.
They also contributed some money to roadway grading and leveling of the property to using stones.
From April 2010 to March 31, 2011 the centre brought in close to $200,000 and half of that was given to local charities and the rest went to running the facility.
The Salvage Centre is also looking for volunteers and offers incentives, such as $25 per day off items from the centre and also allots a value to the hours worked, which is then given to volunteers in the form of a tax receipt and the amount they accumulate is also donated from the centre’s profits to a charity of their choice.
