March 21 Mammoth Town Council briefs

In additional action on March 21, Mammoth’s Town Council canceled the June 5 Town Council election, due to only two candidates running for two open seats. The move means a savings of $17,000 and that incumbent Jo Bacon and candidate Michael Raimondo will be appointed to office. They’ll be sworn in during the second regular meeting in June.

The Council rejected two bids for the Mammoth Police Station remodel, both of which came in well over the $75,000 budgeted amount . Staff must rework the project to conform to the budget and send it out to be rebid.

Council approved the following: a USA Football grant application for the Whitmore Track and Field Project; the 2012 Measure R Spring Award timeline and associated application materials; and the Measure U Steering/Application Committee goals and priorities for the spring “test” award cycle.

Councilman John Eastman requested a future agenda item on whether or not to allow a potential applicant for the Town’s second, currently open permit for a medical marijuana dispensary to submit an application.

And Town Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles briefed Council on the state of the bear population. Searles said about 10 bears are awake in our area, which is about two months early. Due to changing weather and drought conditions, their normal, natural food sources aren’t readily available yet. A dumpster has already been hit and a car was recently broken into. “This is shaping up to be a challenging summer season,” Searles warned. “We need to do more and do it early.”

The good news is that given Mammoth’s recent bear-proofing improvements and local awareness, there’s “no place better than to accommodate the bears and help them than here,” Searles said. He added, however, the mortality rate for new cubs is expected to be very high.