Whitefish Council considers garbage rate increase for bear-resistant containers

Whitefish City Council on Monday will consider increasing the garbage collection rate by about $6.50 per month for residences as a result of requiring the use of bear-resistant trash containers.

City staff has been working with the city garbage contractor Republic Services and Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks for several years to identify solutions to minimize bear attractants such as unsecured garbage, simultaneously reducing the risk of human and bear conflicts.

Regulations required that garbage containers be animal resistant or stored securely inside, but with many residential and commercial locations using 300-gallon containers in alleys that proved impossible.

Thus, Council previously approved requiring the use of bear-resistant garbage containers throughout the city with all residential locations using a 95-gallon container.

On Monday, Council will vote on a resolution setting fees for garbage collection. The current monthly residential garbage collection rate is $10.78. If approved, the new rate will be $17.25.

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E Second St. in Whitefish.

Republic Services originally said that individual containers would have to be serviced curbside due to logistics and limitations in the alleys, Public Works Director Craig Workman notes in a memo to Council, but that change in procedure was met with “considerable resistance from residents” saying that it would be extremely difficult for property owners without street-side driveways to get their containers to the curb during the winter months. There also were concerns about parked vehicles preventing the contractor from serving the containers.

City staff has met with Republic to work out a solution.

“Republic acknowledges the public pressure that the city is under to maintain alley service, and they are willing to work with the city and their customers to continue alley service,” Workman said. “However, it is going to take some very strict guidelines that are heavily enforced for the program to work and Republic is only willing to retain alley service if they can continue to do so safely.”

The transition period to bear-resistant containers is expected to take until the end of August.

ALSO ON the agenda, Council is poised to look at two separate planning and zoning requests.

One is a request by MG Ventures for a mixed-use planned unit development to erect a mixed-use building on just over 2 acres at 509 East Sixth Street and 806 Spokane Ave. The property currently houses real estate office buildings.

The developer is looking to construct a three-story building with commercial on the first floor and four residential units on both the second and third floors of the building. It would also include 11 underground parking spaces with a small commercial space on the level with the parking.

The other request is to rezone about 13 acres of land at 6335 U.S. 93 from county R-3 and county B-4 to WR-2 and WB-2. True North Partners is asking to rezone the property that was recently annexed into the city limits to facilitate future residential and commercial mix-use development.

The requested zone change is consistent with the city’s Highway 93 South Corridor Plan. The lot is intersected by the future Whitefish Avenue right-of-way and thus the two zoning districts were selected to be in conformance with the city’s growth policy map, city planning staff notes.

Council is also set to vote on approving the city manager’s proposed budget as the FY23 preliminary budget, setting a final public hearing on the budget and capital improvement projects plan for Aug. 20.

During a work session at 5:30 p.m., Council will hold its annual goal setting session.

For more information, visit the city’s website at https://www.cityofwhitefish.org/.

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.