It soon could be easy to be green in Glenwood Springs with the construction of a recycling center at the intersection of Grand Avenue and 23rd Street.

And if all goes well, the center could have a built-in group of people to operate and maintain the facility.

Earlier in the year, Glenwood Springs City Council members listened to an idea about turning the old gas station at that corner into a combination Salvation Army day shelter-recycling center, with the people utilizing the shelter working for that privilege by maintaining the recycling center.

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In council’s upcoming meeting on Thursday, the idea will again be discussed.

In a memo written by public works director Robin Millyard, he wrote that he supports the concept and included some cost estimates.

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Cost estimates include $3,700 for asphalt repair, $7,995 for security fencing, $9,500 for three roll-off recycling containers and $1,000 for a sign. The total cost, he estimates, would be just over $22,000.

Transporting the recyclables also would be an ongoing cost, estimated to be $75 per trip to the Pitkin County Landfill.

“At this point in time, the indication is that there will not be a tipping fee for these recyclables at the Pitkin County Landfill,” Millyard wrote. “That may change in the future, or we may have to take the recycled materials to the Waste Management facility in Grand Junction.”

Millyard was unsure of the volume of materials that will be collected there, as the majority of city residents have access to curbside recycling programs.

“If we are going to provide recycling service outside the city, I really don’t know how to gauge the potential volumes,” he wrote.

The idea to combine the recycle center and Salvation Army day center was first brought up by Salvation Army administrator Karolyn Spencer. The building would be used temporarily while a new shelter is built at Glenwood Meadows on land donated by Meadows developer Robert Macgregor.

“I’m looking for work projects, and they’re eager to help,” Spencer told council in June, referring to the day center users.

During that meeting, Councilman Don Gillespie agreed that the site would be favorable for a day center, but balked at the idea of using the old gas station for recycling.

“I’m not so hot about putting a recycling system there,” he said, citing concerns about how a recycling center would look to people as they drove through the city.

Councilman Dan Richardson is slated to give an update on the progress of the center at council’s regular meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in City Hall.