Trail is atwitter over its growing pigeon population.
The city is looking at ways of managing the birds, which have nestled into the Victoria Street Bridge, with help from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
After bringing their concerns to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention, Minister Blair Lekstrom has made a commitment to working with Trail to find a solution to the growing population of the birds that have found a place to nest and breed inside the structure.
“Ministry staff are currently investigating options to modifying the bridge structure to resolve this issue, including the installation of stainless steel spikes on the tops of the trusses to prevent pigeons from landing on the bridge,” Lekstrom said in a letter to Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs.
Public works manager Larrry Abenante met with highway representatives last week to get the ball rolling on a plan of action.
Emcon Services Inc. has already increased its sweeps across the bridge to twice a week, meanwhile Trail’s bylaw officer was out making his rounds to businesses Tuesday to ensure there are lids on all city dumpsters after councillor Sean Mackinlay noted the birds are feasting on garbage that is not properly stored.
This is a surprise to Bogs, who believed most local businesses were locking their dumpsters in response to some residents previously dumping after hours.
He’s disgusted with the mess pigeons are marking in the city, especially at the northeast side of the bridge.
“I don’t know if somebody is feeding them but I went there and there were pigeons by the dozens,” he said.