East Hills Bottle Depot Tour & Discussion

On Sunday, June 7th, 2020 the business owner of the proposed bottle depot, Mr. Kam Khamba and sons, extended an invitation through Deer Ridge Community Association to tour the East Hills Bottle Depot location and discuss the proposal for Deer Valley Village Plaza location.

The tour and meeting proceeded on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020. In attendance were four Board members from Deer Ridge Community Association, one Board member from Parkland Community Association, and Parkland resident/owner of “Engaging Imaginations Childcare”. Also, in attendance, was a representative of the Deer Valley Village Plaza landowner.

The East Hills locations is a shopping area similar to Deerfoot Meadows with a concentration of retail stores. It is a new development with no residential homes yet built adjacent to the shopping area.

1. Outside Valet service:

Employee brings shopping cart to customer and aides with loading from vehicle to cart. Valet escorts customer into the depot directing customer to a station. Valet was seen sweeping front parking area.

2. Inside Front service:

Upon entry, a very tidy clean presentation and no off-putting odours. Floors are have appearance of wood/vinyl fabrication, similar to local coffee shop. No loose garbage on floors or counter areas. There is a sitting area with coffee table and upholstered furniture chairs. A coffee station is at the front wall. Beverage container receiving stations surfaces are stainless steel. Garbage bins are present at each station. Bottle counts are done manually by employee and entered into computer networked at each receiving station. There are multiple hand washing stations for customers. An ATM kiosk is used for dispensing of bottle refund.

3. Back area for sorting and storage:

The sorting and storage area appears organized and well-stacked. There are clear areas for employee movement. The Deer Valley Village Plaza will be not be forklifts for movement of containers.

4. Items of discussion:

When asked why locate bottle depot in residential area we were informed having bottle depots in malls such as the one in Deer Ridge is becoming popular for easier access to residents.

The East Hills location and the proposed location in Deer Valley Village Plaze are both 6000 sq ft. The East Hills location has approximately 12 employees full & part-time. In the summertime this increases to 15. Employees are resourced from an agency however the business owner is open to considering submitted applications of local residents. Agency employees car-pool to work. Employee vehicles would be not be parked at the Plaza. The East Hills locations has a very high ceiling with HVAC (air exchange) located on the inside ceiling. The building height of Deer Valley Plaza Village will remain the same, HVAC to be installed/upgraded on the roof.

There are no plans for an after-hours drop-off of beverage containers. Consistent, accurate bottle counts are very import to the business owner. Any concerns regarding a count will be quickly addressed. When asked if any storage or pallets will be outside we were told all storage will be kept indooors. The business owner will endeavor to keep parking area clean of debris and fluids. The property management company is responsible for parking lot maintenance. The business owner expressed a keen interest to work with the daycare owner to resolve traffic concerns in the parking area, such as moving business entrance to furthest end of business frontage away from daycare. The landowner representative informed us additional measures can be taking to control flow of traffic in the parking lot.

Owner was made of issues with outdoor cart storage such as potential for wayward carts hitting vehicles, carts being removed from premise. Presence of valet employee may mitigate this when available. Owner seemed will to consider keeping carts indoors. During close of business hours, proposed bottle depot will use roller security screens over the windows to protect the business. These are similar to what the optometrist business has at Deerpoint Plaza. The business owner was made aware of frequent graffiti in the neighbourhood. The landowner representative mentioned property management company is responsible for removal of graffiti and site/building repairs.

The business owner has a community service program for local organizations’ bottle drives such as Scouts, Guides, etc. Program includes depot adding 10% funds to the group’s beverage container refund.