SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - One city councillor says he's fed up with city administration dragging its feet on re-establishing the public salvaging area at the city dump.

City councillor Paul Falvo is waiting for the salvage area at the dump to re-open so can he can dispose of his old vacuum cleaner with at least the possibility that someone in need will be able to salvage it. Falvo plans to bring a notice of motion forward at the Feb. 22 city council meeting to push administration to open the area to the public again. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Coun. Paul Falvo plans to table a motion at the next council meeting scheduled for Feb. 22 at city hall. Tired of the lack of movement on the issue, Falvo said it's time for council to start making salvaging a higher priority and force administration's hand on the issue.

"I have every confidence in our staff to get this up and running," Falvo said. "I think council is being to ambiguous about what we want here so we need to clarify for them what council's priorities are. If that means realigning some priorities then fine, or if they need more resources then so be it."

During the Oct. 26 city council meeting, administration told Falvo the salvaging site would be open within two to three weeks and at the solid waste committee meeting last Monday, Mayor Gord Van Tighem requested an update on the salvaging situation and Falvo said he was surprised by the response.

"February wasn't sounding so likely," Falvo said of how questions put to administration in January about an opening date for the months-delayed area found the earliest opening date would be February or later.

"We were initially told it was going to be closed for a short time and then it was October and every time I've asked it's just becoming later and later. I think people are getting tired of waiting. I get a lot of inquiries from residents about this.

"I've been tripping over my old vacuum cleaner to take out there."

A draft of the motion obtained by Yellowknifer says, "public salvage contributes to Council's stated goals of sustainability, in that it reduces costs by prolonging the life of our landfill, and reducing our dependency on imported goods."

The motion calls for, "Administration to proceed with haste to reopen public salvage as soon as possible and to report weekly in writing to Council if public salvage is not open before the end of March 2010." It also directs administration to open a temporary public salvage area at the landfill if a permanent area is not open before the end of March.The salvaging area has been closed since a fire at the dump on Sept. 5, which the city has suggested was caused by a careless salvager's cigarette. Kefalas told Yellowknifer recently one of the contractors employed to build the salvaging area has been too busy clearing snow in the city, which added to the delay.

"There are a lot of advantages to salvaging," Falvo said. "It saves money for individuals. It's a quality of life issue for some people, it's what they enjoy about being in Yellowknife."

Coun. Lydia Bardak said she will be seconding the motion when it's put forward and wants to place an emphasis on the issue of cost of living.

"It's a way to address the high cost of living in Yellowknife because of all the great treasures people find out there," she said, adding organizations like the John Howard Society benefit from it. "People don't tend to take stuff out with them when they move, so Yellowknife's got good junk."