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Council confronts hazardous bear activity at landfill; staff say fence RFPs issued but longer fixes will take money
Summary
Councilors and residents described escalating bear activity at the landfill, including a recent dead bear and frequent digging into waste. Staff said they issued an RFP for fencing contractors after receiving no engineering responses; immediate operational changes (hook-truck/baler use, limiting staff exposure) and long-term composting or infrastructure investments were discussed.
Councilors and several residents described growing safety concerns at the landfill after a dead bear was found and repeated bear incursions at open-dump cells. "We need to do something other than sit around and wait for events to be put up," one speaker said, urging immediate action to limit staff and public exposure.
Staff responded that they had put an RFP out for a fencing contractor and had not received engineering proposals on an earlier solicitation. They described operational mitigations already under way — increased use of hook trucks and baling/transfer to reduce on-site handling — and said more permanent fixes would require funding and possibly DEC permits. Council discussed options including deeper burial (limited by DEC groundwater rules), improved daily cover/compaction, composting/food-waste diversion, and potential training or less-lethal hazing options to reduce staff risk.
Council asked staff to continue pursuing a fence contract, seek debriefs on a rejected solid-waste infrastructure grant application, and report back with costed options to better secure the site and reduce food-source attractions.
