SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After a nearly six-month hiatus, Yellowknife treasure-hunters can once again sift through the piles of discarded goods at the landfill. The city opened an interim salvaging area at the dump Tuesday morning.

City councillor Paul Falvo, left, stands in the temporary salvage area at the city dump with his daughter Juniper on March 17. During the visit, Juniper found a coloured wooden block, and a toy house for toy animals, which she happily took home with her. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

Dave Kellett was one of the first people to check out the new salvaging station when it opened.

"It's good that they opened something again," said Kellett.

The Yellowknife resident said he used to go salvaging two or three times a week before the city closed the dump to salvaging following a massive fire and there last September.

"It left me with some time to kill ... I also had some projects and it cut off my supply of raw materials," said Kellett, who said he is a glass artist.

Kellett said there were lots of things he wanted to get rid of that other people could still find uses for, such as a workbench that had been kicking around for a while.

"I didn't want to just take them and throw them in the big red bin," said Kellett.

He said he ended up throwing a lot of salvageable items away at the dump.

"You can't keep everything forever, hoping finding a new home for it."

Kellet said there are also people he knows who go to the dump to collect cans and bottles to rake in a little "supplementary income." As well, many people would go there and collect firewood, which was sorely missed with salvaging banned during the coldest months of the winter.

Carl Bird, director of corporate services for the city, said last September that the salvaging area was to be closed for only a month and a half tops, but the project was repeatedly delayed.

In early February, city councillor Paul Falvo expressed dismay at the delays in reopening the salvage area, and was planning to table a motion asking for salvaging be made a higher priority for city administration. And, at the very least, that an interim salvaging area be opened if the three-cell system was not in place by the end of March.

Dennis Kefalas, director of Public Works, announced on Feb. 24 that the interim area was on its way.

"There were unexpected delays," Falvo told Yellowknifer on Tuesday, noting that the day-to-day operations of the facility, such as snow clearing, slowed down the process.

Falvo said the new area is a "great interim step" and was happy to take his old vacuum there as soon as it opened. The vacuum cleaner still works except for the power cord.

"It's an example of a great thing to take to the salvage area," said Falvo.

"It'd be hard to sell in a garage sale, at the flea market or at the (Salvation Army)."

Kellett said there wasn't much to see at the dump on the opening day – other than Falvo's old vacuum – but he intends to head back out later this week or on the weekend.

"I'll go see if the inventory has arrived," said Kellett.