DuPage auctioning lost, abandoned property
DuPage County Forest Preserve officials hope their trash is the public's treasure.
The district's July 25 auction offers district surplus items or lost property recovered in the district's various forest preserves.
The inventory includes vehicles, electronic equipment and furniture. But it also features such unique items as a horse-grooming vacuum, an antique turnstile entry gate and a salinity tester. The auction is at 7 a.m. at the district's fleet services warehouse at 881 St. Charles Road near Lombard at Churchill Woods Forest Preserve.
"It's like this," said John Walton, a district fleet services manager, "I'd rather you take it and use than fill the landfill with it."
The auction will feature 345 items, all of which are listed at the district's special auction Web site, dupageforestauction.com. Many of the items also have pictures attached, which in some cases may not be so beneficial to a sale.
"Some of this stuff has outlived our use for it," Walton explained. "We've got equipment that is no longer cost-effective for us to use everyday with all the regular repairs we make, but someone who only uses it every other week and has time at night to work on it might like it."
The district could make more than $100,000 from sales of the items, which would all go back to the district's vehicle replacement fund. That's because most of the big-ticket items for bid in the auction are vehicles. There are several retired forest preserve vehicles, but about 10 other cars that were impounded by the forest preserve police are also on the block. The vehicles were awarded to the district by the court because the drivers were convicted of drunken driving.
The district raked in more than $140,000 last year, mainly on the strength of surplus items from millionaire industrialist Brooks McCormick's St. James Farm. McCormick deeded his land to the forest preserve when he died, and the district is in the process of overhauling the property to make it ready for public use.
During the year, assistant to the fleet services manager Chris Lyon catalogs and inventories outdated equipment and unclaimed property released by the forest preserve police. He said the district keeps unclaimed property for at least a year before it goes to auction.
Lyon also gets to hear the tales of how some of the items arrived on the auction block. One of the more interesting sagas this year is the story of a nearly 40-year-old boat.
"The serial number's been filed off so we don't know who it belongs to," Lyon said.
The 1970s-era boat was found about four years ago in a forest preserve, nowhere near water, chained to a post. There's no other identifying features to track down the owner and because it was attached to the post, investigators believe whoever dumped the boat really wanted the trailer that was used to haul it to the forest preserve.
There are also some items that make Walton and Lyon wonder about the back story.
"Someone lost their cane in a forest preserve last year and it's up for auction this year," Walton said. "If you're having trouble walking, how do you get out of the forest preserve without your cane?"
Walton said they don't announce starting bids in advance of the auction. Minimum bids are based on estimates, but Walton said they won't go below certain points for vehicles because he knows he can get the lowest price he'll accept somewhere else. He said most items are bargains, but occasionally bidders overbid.
"We had a toaster found in its box and the guy bid $50 for it and when he opened it up there was a receipt inside for $25," Walton said. "He wasn't too happy."