An increasing problem with bear encounters in Whitefish has prompted the city to propose an emergency ordinance dictating how garbage will be handled citywide.

The City Council tonight will consider passing a law extending a 2005 ordinance on garbage restrictions for residents and businesses north of the railroad tracks to the entire city. A two-thirds vote of the council is required to pass the emergency measure, which would be in effect for no more than 90 days.

A public hearing will precede the council’s vote. The meeting begins at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.

Whitefish’s first restrictions on garbage containers came in 2001 when an upswing in bear conflicts prompted the council to pass a law requiring residents and businesses north of the railroad tracks to keep their garbage cans indoors until 4 a.m. on the day of trash pickup, and then return containers to a secure location by 7 p.m. the same day.

But shortly after the 2001 ordinance was adopted, the council directed staffers not to enforce it because council members believed many people didn’t have an animal-proof enclosure in which to store garbage, according to City Manager Chuck Stearns’ council report.

As bear encounters continued in the city, the council stiffened the law in 2005, requiring animal-resistant garbage containers for businesses north of the railroad tracts. Residents north of Denver Street and Bay Point Drive were required to either store their garbage in animal-proof containers or secure their garbage cans indoors until 4 a.m. on collection days, and then return them to a secure location by 7 p.m. the same day.

Now the plan is to impose those same restrictions citywide.

“Unfortunately, the geographical sightings of bears and other animals reported to the City Council in 2001 and 2005 are no longer limited to certain geographical areas in the city,” Stearns said.

Erik Wenum, a wildlife management specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, talked to the council in May 2013, reporting the city’s bear problem is now citywide and will only get worse unless garbage restrictions are imposed.

Bear sightings and encounters repeatedly have been reported to local authorities in recent weeks, and a photograph of a bear in front of Great Northern Brewing Co. in downtown Whitefish (recently posted on Facebook) illustrated the growing problem.

The Public Works Department has been unable to locate a sufficient number of suitable animal-resistant containers for northside residents, Stearns said, so the mandatory hour restrictions are the focus of the emergency ordinance.

“During the next few months, Public Works will attempt to local adequate and affordable animal-resistant containers and renegotiate the terms of the city’s agreement for solid waste garbage services with Montana Waste Systems (doing business as North Valley Refuse) and will present some long-term options for the council’s consideration.”

IN OTHER business at tonight’s meeting, the council will hold a work session at 5:30 p.m. on septic leachate and aquatic invasive species issues regarding Whitefish Lake. Staffers from the Whitefish Lake Institute will be part of the discussion.

The council will make a proclamation of Nov. 1 as Extra Mile Day and will honor Shepherd’s Hand Clinic, along with Jake and Connie Heckathorn, for “going the extra mile.” Shepherd’s Hand has added free community meals and a free dental clinic to its services, and the Heckathorns have contributed both financial support and “sweat equity” to the Whitefish Community Library.

The Resort Tax Monitoring Committee is asking the council to revise the priority list for street projects. Two-thirds of the revenue from Whitefish’s 2 percent resort tax goes toward city street reconstruction.

The committee wants to take East Seventh Street off the priority list because it initially was ranked higher to coordinate with a possible new bridge across the Whitefish River. The future of that bridge project is uncertain.

Instead, the committee is asking that the reconstruction of State Park Road and Texas and Karrow avenues be moved higher on the priority list.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.