Lock up your garbage as Poco bear sightings keep growing
Posted August 13, 2013 11:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS1130) – You better make sure your garbage is secure after an increase in bear sightings in Port Coquitlam this summer.
Councillor Wayne Wright says they’re going to be more diligent with a bylaw that requires all garbage bins to have a $75 bear-proof lock.
“This year there’s been an explosion of bear sightings. We had 98 in June, 190 in July. We’ve had a couple of bears put down in August.”
Wright emphasized the bylaw has been on the books for some time.
He says that for the time being, the bylaw will only be enforced on a complaint basis but that once council reconvenes, they’ll have to make a decision about how to move forward.
“What the city has not done in the past is go out and pro-actively enforce the bylaw. There hasn’t been a high priority on it. But because of the explosion of bear sightings, it’s becoming more and more urgent.”
Wright says there has been no consideration to giving the locks away for free.
They won’t start enforcing the bylaw immediately but will consider doing it in the Fall.
