Relocation of the Habitat ReStore to downtown Alpena has made visiting the facility convenient - maybe a bit too convenient.
Employees came into work one morning last week, only to find someone had illegally dumped a load of dilapidated furniture, wet carpet and ripped mattresses by the facility's back door.
"The one mattress is hideous," said ReStore Manager Brenda Holsworth. "You could see from three blocks away that it is garbage. This is starting to happen more and more. We need to nip it in the bud."
A $100 reward for information on who deposited the unusable items has been put up by Bob Bonczyk, a former Habitat for Humanity, Alpena Area Inc. board of directors president, and his wife, Helen.
The ReStore's business is to accept donations of other people's used, but still in good condition appliances, furniture and building materials. Those items are then resold at a deeply discounted rate to the general public and to homeowners who might not otherwise be able to afford to remodel their home. Proceeds from the ReStore are in turn used to construct Habitat for Humanity housing.
According to Holsworth, with the dumping of those unwanted items, Habitat must now pay between $75 and $100 to haul away someone else's garbage.
"We reserve the right to refuse items. They have to be in good condition, otherwise Habitat pays for the disposal fees," Holsworth said. "Some people get upset if we don't accept everything, but we always try to have an alternative route for them where they can take and dispose of it."
The ReStore has brochures available that staff willingly passes out to help people know where to take unusable items and how much it may cost.
"One of our main goals is to save the stuff from the landfill," Holsworth said. "We're all for proper disposal of items that we can't resell. Why dump the stuff? Just work with us."
One side of the Habitat ReStore building accommodates recycling of materials through the Montmorency-Oscoda-Alpena Solid Waste Management Authority. Even that service has been subject recently to people leaving unwanted garbage there. A couple of weeks ago, a woman dumped 11 bags of her personal garbage at the recycling area. Staff was able to get the woman's name from a cell phone bill left behind in the garbage.
Holsworth has been in contact with local police to find out what the best way is to address the problem. Without the identity of the offender, there is not much that can be done, she said, although police have agreed to step up their patrol of the area.
People dumping their garbage at someone else's garbage pickup site is a fairly common problem, said Linda Jewell of Jewell's Disposal Service in Posen.
"That's why you see dumpsters locked," Jewell said. "I've watched in the parking lot at Neiman's as Cadillacs have driven up, opened their trunk and put their bag of garbage from home in the container in front of the store. It's blatant and they're doing it in front of the store."
When her employees become aware of people on their routes sharing the same garbage pickup while only paying for one service, Jewell said a letter usually is sent to the offender. That mild form of embarrassment often takes care of the problem, she said.
The ReStore recently extended its hours for the convenience of customers. Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Holsworth said she is available by phone at 255-8422 for anyone who can't make it to the ReStore during that time frame.
"Call me at home to make arrangements," she said. "I'll make sure someone is at the store. If the dumping keeps up, it will eat us up. We're really trying to do a good thing here. I just don't get it."
Diane Speer can be reached via e-mail at lifestyles@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5691.
