Trail residents will have to make do with a single communal bearproof garbage bin, as the society that subsidizes them says it can no longer afford to pay for two.
Natural Control Alternatives Society president Scott Leyland says they have pulled the bin in West Trail, although the one at the entrance to the public works yard in Glenmerry will remain.
The society has partnered with the City of Trail for more than a decade to provide the bins, which are intended to eliminate human-bear conflicts. A secure coin box is attached to each, with a requested $5 fee per bag to offset the tipping fees and maintenance costs.
However, Leyland says donations have been down in the last five years and they have been running them at a loss. Additionally, the society’s other funding comes from ground squirrel control contracts it holds, which are due to expire. The city will then carry out the work in house.
Leyland says he hopes the lone bin will be able to handle the demand, but he has doubts.
“I am a bit worried but that’s our financial truth that we can’t really support two of them,” he says, adding that the most “worrisome time” is in August and September when bears are most active and many people are away on normal curbside pick-up days.
Leyland says they bought the bins based on the “overwhelmingly positive” experience in Canmore, Banff, and Jasper, which did the same thing.
“Our society purchased these bins believing based on the evidence that they work in virtually eliminating human-bear conflicts,” he says. “We’ve been able to support it up until now, but the city isn’t really willing to increase their proportion to offset our losses. We had to make the hard decision around the one in West Trail.”
But Leyland thinks municipalities need to consider such bins to complement curbside pickup.
“Curbside works 90 per cent of the time, but the 10 per cent when it doesn’t work, like when the pickup is late in the morning and/or it’s not left in a secure place, options like this need to be provided.”
He says the evidence shows the bins works, but “in the municipalities’ defense, it’s not just about putting the bins out. You do need someone to attend to them, maybe once a day to make sure it’s not actually causing a problem.”
Leyland adds they believe the net cost of widely implementing bear-proof bins would be the same or no worse than curbside pickup.