Thank you for your article about bear encounters [“Close Encounters of the Ursine Kind: Bear-human Conflicts Are Getting More Intense,” June 7, Xpress]. I think one way to increase the number of folks who have bearproof garbage bins is for the city of Asheville to put this high on the priority list and fund it with tourist tax dollars. Businesses need to contribute. The city of Asheville needs to get serious, do more and make the bearproof bins accessible.
If you look at the city’s website about bearproof bins, you will see it is still in pilot project phase. If you want one of these bins, you are put on a waiting list. My neighbor stated that she was on the waiting list for a year and a half!
You also have to sign up by giving your water bill account number. I am a renter and do not have a water bill. Many landlords pay water and trash.
If you buy a bearproof bin yourself, you are looking at paying more than $350. The cost of living here is sky-high — parking, rents and other inflated prices. So it is less likely people will opt to pay that $350-plus for a bin.
This is a citywide issue, a public service issue.
People pay plenty enough in property tax. Stop using tax-dollar income for advertising for more tourism.
— Tamera Trexler
Asheville
3 thoughts on “Letter: City should get serious about bearproof bins”
Perhaps also if people did the recommended thing and waited till morning to put out the bins, there would be less trash on the roads and sidewalks. You think you’re special to the point that bears will walk by your bin in the middle of the night? Be smart people.
Tamera, if you are going to make an argument don’t pepper it with misleading statements. Property taxes here are high. Asheville property tax revenue is up over 75% in the last decade with inflation less than half that. The city could eliminate waste and fund plenty of bear bins. The occupancy tax people pay who use hotels (and probably rarely gets paid by strs) has nothing to do with property taxes.
City also charges a monthly fee for the bins in perpetuity. No thanks. I don’t need what is essentially a monthly subscription for my trash bin!