11-23-09 Councl Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 23, 2009 The foregoing resolution was duly seconded by Montour. Ayes (5). Nays (0). Resolution declared adopted. llEER HUNT The City Administrator reviewed his report dated November 20, 2009 UPDATE relative to the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base (MBRB) efforts to cull the deer herd on behalf of the City. I3e reviewed the current hunt rules which include hunts to occur on November 9 and 10, November 30 and December 1, and on December 21 and 22. Under the rules a total of 12 antlerless deer could betaken. The Administrator also reviewed the designated hunt area. The Administrator reported that during the November 9°i and 10°' hunt, 10 deer were taken. While the City is unsure as to how many deer there arc in the City, the MBRB believes that after the 10 that were taken, there are still 15 to 20 in the specific hunt area. The MBRB does not feel it would be unreasonable to take another 5 to 10 deer from that area. The Administrator stated that it would be his recommendation to allow up to 10 additional deer to be taken as part of the November 30°i and December 1 S` hunt, and that the December 21 S` and 22"d hunt be cancelled. Blesener suggested that the third hunt could proceed if the MBRB did not get many deer during the second hunt. He noted that the Council will meet on December 16`x' (prior to the third hunt) and can discuss the status of the third hunt at that meeting. Kim Walsted, Yorkton Ridge, appeared before the Council and reported that he was in favor of taking as many deer as possible. Ile submitted a petition signed by 18 people on Yorkton Ridge in support of the culling of the deer herd. Walsted reported that he and his neighbors have seen up to 11 deer at a time in their neighborhood. Blesener reported on previous estimates of the deer population provided by John Moriarity, Ramsey County, which could possibly be as many as 150 deer in various undeveloped areas of the City. Blesener also noted that Little Canada is approximately 4 square miles in size, and factoring out freeways and roads as well as developed areas of the City, according to Moriarity the City can really support a population of 12 to 15 deer. Therefore, the City has approximately 10 times the deer population that it can reasonably support. The City Administrator noted that the City has contracted with Ramsey County to do a fly over deer count during the waiter. As a result, the City should have a good estimate of the total number of deer in the City. 9