Increasing numbers of bears are roaming Glenwood Springs, resulting in the usual problem of bears getting into people’s trash and coming in close proximity to humans, pets and livestock, despite even the best efforts to keep them out.
The problem is heightened this year by the extreme drought and the lack of a good natural food source for the bears out in the wild, explained Colorado Parks and Wildlife Glenwood Springs Area Officer Becca Cass during the Sept. 3 Glenwood City Council meeting.
“It’s one heck of a bad year out there for bears,” Cass said, noting she had gotten three calls about bears in just the hour she was waiting for the bear discussion to come around on the agenda.
Based on recent sightings and confirmed encounters, Glenwood Springs can have around 16 bears wandering around town on a given day. Several of those are sows with cubs, “and we’ve had two of the biggest male bears I’ve ever seen coming over to Midland [Avenue] from the dump,” Cass said.
Cass covers two counties, Garfield and Pitkin, and Parks and Wildlife is short-staffed in general to deal with the problem. So, as usual, it comes down to human behavior and tougher rules, she said.
The city has been aggressive in its enforcement of rules requiring residents and businesses to keep trash secured, either in bear-resistant containers or within secure structures until the morning of trash collection day, City Manager Steve Boyd said.
City Council enacted heavier fines for violating the trash rules last year, and police have taken a “zero tolerance” approach to enforcement, he said.
What normally would have been a work session discussion to revisit those ordinances became a regular meeting agenda item in order to allow the public to comment, Boyd said.
Several members of the public did speak up, many saying that they’ve been fined for allowing bears to get into their trash, even though they’ve followed the rules to a T.
Mike and Suzanne Henry manage hundreds of residential units in Glenwood Springs, and whenever a bear gets into even one tenant’s trash, their property management company gets fined $1,000.
In many cases, the bears are getting into even the most secure trash containers, they’re so desperate for food.
“These bears have super-human strength, and there’s not a container out there that’s going to prevent it,” Mike Henry said. “Businesses are being levied fines for a problem that is uncontrollable. We need to get together and figure something else out.”
Cass advised that, while Glenwood has tightened its rules and made the punishment harsher, a move to mandating bear-resistant containers for all trash customers would help.
Though the more-secure containers aren’t fully bear proof, they do act as a deterrent, she said.
Those still using the less-secure containers often don’t have an enclosed place to keep them between trash pickup days, so that’s part of the problem, Cass added.
The city could front the cost to purchase bear-resistant containers for all customers, and recoup it by increasing hauling fees, some council members suggested.
However, there’s also a supply issue, said Nick Blanton, district manager for Mountain Waste and Recycling, Glenwood’s designated trash hauler.
“Everybody is ordering these containers, and we’re waiting on inventory,” he said.
City Council plans to revisit its trash hauling fees and related ordinances at their regular Sept. 17 meeting.
Otherwise during the Sept. 3 meeting, several residents along the downtown portion of Bennett Avenue appeared before council for items not on the agenda about parking issues on their street.
At the suggestion of residents earlier this year, city crews painted delineated parking spaces on the street to help control the situation and leave more space for local residents to park.
That actually reduced the amount of parking the street could accommodate, residents now say.
Instead of allowing a free-for-all parking situation, residents instead are now asking the city to implement a resident parking permit system for that area.
“We tried to do something, and now it’s worse,” resident Rachel Windh said.
City staff plans to reassess the parking issue and determine if there’s an immediate solution ahead of the Sept. 17 meeting.
In other business …
• Mayor Marco Dehm read a proclamation regarding the restoration of an early 20th century fire bell that was on the city’s first motorized fire truck in 1917, replacing the horse-drawn fire carts that were in use before that time.
• An update on the city’s urban forestry program was presented by outgoing Parks and Recreation Director Dan Roper.
• Council approved the renewal of the city’s franchise agreement with Comcast for use of the public rights of way for its infrastructure.