11-28-07 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 28, 2007 The foregoing resolution was duly seconded by McGraw. Ayes (4). Nays (0). Resolution declared adopted. It was noted that once the Sign Ordinance has been published, the Council will take action to lift the moratorium. REQUEST FOR Nathan Johnson, 2539 Mon•ison, appeared before the Council requesting BOW AND a bow and arrow permit so that he might hunt deer on the St. John's ARROW Cemetery property. Johnson reported that he has had a couple of traffic PERMIT - incidents with deer and felt that they are a traffic safety hazard. Johnson NATHAN stated that he has seen up to eight at one time. JOHNSON The City Administrator reported that the City Ordinance allows the hunting of deer by bow and arrow permit issued by the City. The City did approve such a license several years ago for a couple of years in a row. In these instances deer were doing damage to crops. The Administrator was not sure that the taking of one or two deer would improve public safety. He also noted that there are other large tracts of land in the City, and the potential for other people to request bow and arrow permits. The Administrator reviewed the City Clerk's report relative to the County's handling of this problem and the fact that they only contract for the taking of deer on site they own that are at least 9 to 10 acres in size. There is the issue of a shot deer running into adjacent properties to die. This happened with the license granted several years ago, and a property owner was upset about having the deer come onto his property to die. Keis noted that many metro cities do not issue bow and arrow permits to residents to hunt deer. Keis stated that he preferred the approach of allowing the County to coordinate a hunt with a hunting organization should it be determined that there are too many deer in Little Canada. Keis pointed out that the County would fly over Little Canada, count the deer population and then make a recommendation on whether or not the population was too high. Keis asked Johnson about his qualifications. Johnson reported that he has hunted deer with a bow and arrow for approximately 8 years and is a good shot. He also felt there was little chance of his missing a deer since he would be up in a tree about 20 to 25 feet and shooting down at the deer. He also reported that the hunts put on by hunting organizations involve a lottery that members can enter. If they win the lottery, they are allowed to participate in the hunt. 17