When Steven and Jennifer Hamilton decided to enroll in the Orange County bear-resistant roll carts program, they were getting quite a bargain.
That bargain was a $50 for a 65-pound lockable container that an automated pick-up truck can lift as opposed to the few hundred dollars Jennifer Hamilton said they would have shelled out at a private retailer for the same product.
The Hamiltons were one of three Apopka households to whom Orange County workers delivered bear-resistant roll carts on Tuesday, October 10, the start date of this program. The other two residents were Suzanne Cannon and Sheila Evelyn.
According to Steven Hamilton, 48, black bears have been knocking over the garbage he puts outside his West William Avenue home during the last five years he and his wife lived there. They figured a bear-resistant roll cart would cut down on cleaning up after the animals and keep them from eating their trash.
Orange County’s bear-resistant roll cart program was supposed to launch on September 9 but was sidetracked because of Hurricane Irma. Of the 10,000 unincorporated Orange County households located within black-bear zones, 110 households signed up to get a cart. The county could order more carts if necessary, according to county spokeswoman Doreen Overstreet.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) partnered with Orange County in setting up the bear-resistant roll cart program. To fund it, Orange County received a $200,000 grant from the FWC, of which Orange County matched with $25,000. With the grant, the county purchased 910 cans.
The roll cart is designed to be “gravity-based,” meaning that it must be tilted at an angle of at least 270 degrees when an automated truck picks it up, so the content falls into the vehicle without extra effort.
For more information about the program and to find out if a household qualifies for the program, visit www.ocfl.net/bearcarts.
An extended version of this story appears in the Friday, October 13, edition of The Apopka Chief.
