Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Friday, September 7, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Sitting on the board of directors for Northern Heights condominiums, Jennifer Marchant helps deal with problems at the residential complex.

Some are caused by technical complications or maintenance issues; others, she says, can only be attributed to pure stupidity.

Zoltan Turi, a maintenance manager with JSL Mechanical Installations Ltd., found this vacuum cleaner stuck in the garbage chute at Northern Heights a few weeks ago after someone in the building tried to dispose of it through the slot. This falls just a few weeks after Turi found a pair of caribou antlers also blocking the chute. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

When she got a call last month that the garbage chute was backed up, she called in maintenance manager Zoltan Turi to have a look.

After clearing out garbage stacked four floors deep, Turi found the source of the problem. Blocking the waste was a pair of caribou antlers that made its way down the chute only to get caught in the garbage compactor in the basement.

Just a few weeks later, Turi got another call from Marchant that the garbage was once again backed up.

This time the source of the problem was an upright vacuum cleaner someone managed to shove in the 18" by 12" chute.

"Can you imagine getting it in?" said Marchant. "You're standing there with an upright vacuum cleaner, and you're going to get it into the garbage no matter what."

Turi was also bewildered at the logic of whoever managed to get it in.

"I'm not sure if it was broken or if they were just mad at it," said Turi.

Marchant had already posted signs beside each chute warning about what's appropriate to put down. She put more signs in the elevator, again pleading with people to be reasonable about what they put down the hole.

"It's the out of sight, out of mind approach," said Marchant.

The worst incident that Marchant heard of occurred at the building a few years ago.

Someone who was moving out managed to roll up a single bed futon mattress and shove it down the chute.

Unfortunately, as the futon fell down, it unrolled itself and became impossible to pull out.

Marchant said the only way to remove it was to pour water into the chute from the top of the building to make the mattress heavy. From there, they put heavy objects on top and pushed it down with poles.

"It's funny," said Marchant, "but I wish people wouldn't do it."