Kodiak borough manager asks Assembly to reject landfill bear hazing contract

Kodiak Island Borough Manager Aimee Williams asked the Borough Assembly at an Oct. 29 work session to vote down a contract for overnight bear hazing at the borough landfill, saying state agencies no longer require it.

"Please vote no," she told Assembly members.

The contract with Wildlife Safety Services would cost up to $250,000 for its first 60 days and about $120,000 a month after that. It's still on the Assembly's Nov. 5 agenda, and the staff report in the meeting packet, written before the work session, recommends approving it.

The borough has spent months trying to keep bears out of its landfill. In July, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation told the borough it was out of compliance with a state rule that bears be kept out of landfills. In August, the Fish and Game area biologist told the Assembly that some "strongly food-conditioned bears" had been feeding there for more than two years. In early October, Fish and Game and troopers planned a hazing event at the landfill, the same week a resident told the Assembly a brown bear had pressed its paws against his family's front door.

Williams said the environmental department and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game removed the requirement for after-hours hazing at a meeting with the borough earlier that week. Her written report to the Assembly says borough officials met with environmental regulators to update them on the conditions of a notice of violation.

She said bear activity at the landfill had quieted and that Fish and Game staff had been there a few nights after hours.

Williams said timing was the reason to reject the contract rather than cancel it later. If the borough canceled it now and the agencies asked for hazing again in the spring, procurement rules would force big changes to a new bid, she said. A no vote would let the borough rebid the work the same way.

The contract covers 6 pm to 8 am Monday through Saturday and all day Sunday. The borough doesn't hold a bear hazing permit, so the company would have to get one, along with any other licenses the work requires. After the first 60 days, the borough said in its request for proposals, the environmental department "will provide primary direction on how to proceed."

The borough's bear management plan, which the environmental department approved in July, sets a goal of eliminating bears at the landfill. The approval requires the borough to notify Fish and Game every time a bear is seen there and to send the state a yearly summary by Dec. 15.

Williams' written report says the landfill bear fence is substantially complete and cost under $50,000. On Nov. 5, the Assembly also holds a public hearing on a budget amendment that would move $300,000 from the solid waste fund to a landfill perimeter fence project.