Mark Leffingwell, Daily Camera
Bear-proof trash cans left open and overflowing with garbage in the alley near 9th and Pleasant Street in Boulder in 2015. Getting your player ready...
COLORADO SPRINGS — The Manitou Springs City Council has ruled that residents need to start using a wildlife-proof garbage bin or keep their trash indoors until collection day.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that the council’s unanimous vote Tuesday night is in response to 12 bears being euthanized this past summer in the Pikes Peak region, some because they got into garbage.
Manitou residents who don’t have a garage or other place to secure their trash until garbage day will have to pay for critter-proof bins, which can cost more than $250.
Nancy Wilson, an organizer with the grassroots Bear Smart Task Force, says the city and the task force will work with Parks and Wildlife to apply for grants that might subsidize the cost of the bins.
