The topic of scavenging was brought up again at the city council meeting Monday.
Stewart Schafer, director of public works and engineering, had previously suggested council might try to implement a scavenging program at the landfill to offset costs and reduce the amount going into the landfill.
Schafer gave four reasons for the stopping of the scavenging program in 2010. There were serious liability concerns, the dump was left messy and dangerous and the City lost money by allowing scavenging as it usually sells scrap metal and other materials to salvage companies. After examining other scavenging programs in other cities, Schafer recommended that council create a "free for all" week in September.
Instead of taking place in the landfill itself, during the "free for all" week, residents would be encouraged to place useful items they no longer need on their front lawn with a sign explaining that they are free. The event would be first-come, first-served, and the City would reserve the right to remove any items deemed unsafe or harmful.
Schafer called for only a single "free for all" week to take place from Sept. 6 to 8 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. If the week is successful, Schafer stated that it could be made into a yearly event.
Council expressed disapproval with the idea, with councillors suggesting that they could easily put items on their lawn with a free sign right now without the "free for all" week, and that what was put on the lawn would have already been through the garage sale cycle. Council voted against implementing Schafer's idea.
