Anyone missing a bathtub?
Oh, and a crappy toilet, a soggy couch and maybe a broken wooden door?
You can find it all in the lane behind the thrift store Donna Bissessar manages on Scott Road.
On three occasions this week, junk has been dumped illegally in the parking lot behind the Penny Savers store, on 82nd Avenue in Delta, much to Bissessar’s frustration.
“It was Monday night, Tuesday and now Wednesday,” she said Thursday.
“It rained so much Tuesday night, and everything was so wet – I had to clean it all up, it was bad. It costs us money to get rid of it.”
Signs in the store’s window warn against illegal dumping in the back lot, and stress that no donations are accepted after store hours, but the dumping continues.
“We have video of the (dumpers),” Bissessar said, “but the pictures are apparently not clear enough for the police to investigate – it’s too hazy. I’m in the process of negotiating to get a better camera from the security company. Hopefully that helps.”
Proceeds from stuff sold at the store go to Surrey Memorial Hospital, as part of the auxiliary’s work there.
“I wish people would appreciate what we do, and not dump their stuff,” Bissessar said. “Everybody uses the hospital. Additional volunteers are needed at the store for weekday shifts, she noted.
Among this week’s dumped junk are large plastic bags of dirt.
“The other day, the stuff was from one end of the building to the other, and it took us four hours to clean that up,” Bissessar said. “If it’s things we could sell, that would be OK I guess, but it’s just junk that we can’t sell.”
Bissessar said she called the City of Delta for help, but was told there’s nothing bylaw officers can do because the junk is on private property.
“It’s a problem for us because we have this back lane, and I think Talize has a similar problem there,” she explained. “It’s wherever they can find space to reverse in and dump, that’s what they do. The landlord told us it’s not his responsibility, but we’re not allowed to put in a gate because apparently that’s against fire regulations.”
So, what will Bissessar do with all the junk?
“I’m going to make some calls,” she said, “and I got one quote of $250 just for the couches to be taken away, and this is all new stuff, so I don’t know the whole cost yet. “It might be around $600 for everything. And that’s money not going to the hospital now.”
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