Still some life left

PALMER — Looking for a pair of wooden snowshoes, a credenza, some chain-link fencing a or a spool of high-density polyethylene conduit? If so, a weekend auction in Palmer might be the ticket.

The Valley’s two cooperative utilities have been cleaning out the proverbial closets over the past couple years and are planning a joint public auction Saturday at the Matanuska Electric Association headquarters in Palmer. Matanuska Telephone Association also will contribute an auction inventory.

Historically, each utility held its own event, but in more recent years efforts have been combined to sell off items that may have aged out of accounting parameters but still have life for an “upcycling” Alaskan crowd.

The last combined auction was in 2013, said MEA public relations supervisor Cassi Campbell. This year’s event will be the third combined auction.

“Since that (2013) event, we’ve been accumulating and storing items until we had enough that would warrant having another auction. We’re fortunate to be teaming up with MTA once again this year,” she wrote in an email.

MTA didn’t have enough to warrant its own sale, according to Carolyn Hanson, MTA’s director of sales and marketing.

“We have a facilities manager that goes around to the various departments and selects an inventory for the auction,” Hanson said. “We didn’t have that much this time.”

The live event will be headed up by longtime Anchorage auctioneer Ron Alleva and his family-run Grubstake Auction Co. A preview of items is set to begin at 10 a.m., with the auction scheduled to start at noon.

Campbell said the auction will use the employee parking lot at the Palmer headquarters at 163 E. Industrial Way. Parking for auction attendees will be marked with signs in the front customer parking lot and across the street in the annex lot behind the arboretum, she said.

Photos of the auction items as well as a parking map can be found on the Grubstake website at www.grubstakeauction.com

Along with the more utility-centric items like PVC conduit and meter bases, selections of broader interest include gas cans, a 500-gallon fuel oil tank, air compressors, generators, ladders, tires and assorted tools. On the office-supply side, the auction will feature office chairs, desks and cabinets along with telephones, printers and computer servers Vehicles and trailers also will be featured.

Campbell said one of the more unusual items up for auction were the canvas shipping tarps for the 60-foot-long engines at the Eklutna Generation Station.

“They are huge,” MEA director of public relations Julie Estey said of the tarps. “I imagine they could be useful for someone.”

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com