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Seminole County residents want answers about delay in delivery of bear-proof trashcans

By Ken Tyndall
By Ken Tyndall
Residents of one Seminole County neighborhood who have been waiting months for bear-proof trashcans, came together Tuesday night wanting to know why deliveries were taking so long.
In the past several weeks, two dogs in the Springs neighborhood have been killed by bears.
The animals have been getting more brazen when they show up in populated areas, and residents worried that without bear-proof trashcans, the problem was only going to get worse.
Access to trash is one of the biggest things that draw bears into residential areas, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission assistant bear program coordinator Mike Orlando said Tuesday.
While bear-proof trashcans are an effective deterrent, they don’t work unless every resident uses them, Seminole County commissioner Lee Constantine said.
“If you have a few violators, or a few people who don’t have these cans in your neighborhood, the bears will still come,” she said.
The county can get the cans at a discount, but they still cost about $45 each.
Springs resident Jeff Davis ordered one of the bear-proof cans several months ago and was frustrated that he was still waiting for it to arrive.
After the meeting Tuesday, several members of the Springs homeowners association told Channel 9 that they wanted to buy bear-proof trashcans for the entire neighborhood of 875 homes and require every resident to use them.
While it would cost about $38,000 to purchase bear-proof trashcans for the entire neighborhood, members of the homeowners association said the safety issue outweighed the cost.

Cox Media Group

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