Bear necessities

If you live downtown south of 7th Street, you now have a reason to look forward to trash day. The City of Durango is wheeling out its new line of bear-resistant trash cans starting this week. The new cans are fully automated, meaning no more WD40 or bungee cords, and remain locked when upright and unlock when turned upside down by city trash trucks. Best of all, they relock when set back down.

The roll-out is Phase I of a capital improvement project. The area – 1st Street to south side of 7th Street and East 2nd Avenue and East 9th Avenue – was identified by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as being a bear hot spot. A trial roll out of wildlife-resistant containers in high-traffic areas showed a 50 percent drop in incidents.

Residents who do not have a wildlife resistant container will see a new $4 monthly fee on their utility bill. This fee enables the City to recoup the cost of the new containers over a four-year period, after which time the fee will be removed. The up-front cost of containers was covered by trash/recycle user fees.

Residents who already pay the $4/month fee for a wildlife resistant can will have their container replaced and see no change in their utility bill. Residents who have already paid for a wildlife resistant container in full will not be charged.

Phase II of this project will take place in spring 2019 for residences on the west side of town, from Ella Vita Court to Arroyo Drive, Columbine to West 23rd Street and North Main Avenue.

For more information, go to www.durango gov.org/wildlife or call 970-375-5004.