Agenda Packets - 2015/10/26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council August 24, 2015 Regular Meeting Page 7 Chip Gruver, 5278 Red Oak Drive, was pleased that the City was amending its code to allow for 1 the keeping of bees. He stated that his grandfather would be training him on bees and asked if 2 this training would be sufficient. He suggested that the City allow for a nucleus hive. He 3 commented that he has a half-acre lot and was requesting the Council consider allowing him to 4 have four hives. Mayor Flaherty thanked him for his previous correspondence. 5 6 Hearing no further public input, Mayor Flaherty closed the public hearing at 8:06 p.m. 7 8 Council Member Meehlhause asked why bee licensing was being treated differently than 9 chickens/ducks. City Administrator Ericson explained that the keeping of bees differed because 10 the amount of work necessary to manage the hive was considerably different. He did not believe 11 there would be a lot of City involvement in managing beehives. 12 13 Council Member Meehlhause requested further information on a nucleus hive. Mr. Gruver 14 indicated a nucleus hive was the smallest possible size to survive the winter. He commented that 15 the nucleus hive would provide beekeepers some insurance to ensure that the hive continued to 16 thrive after the winter. 17 18 Mayor Flaherty inquired what type of bee training the City was requiring of its beekeepers. Jens 19 Loder, 7575 Pleasant View Drive, discussed the various types of bee keeping courses that were 20 provided in the metro area. 21 22 Mayor Flaherty did not believe that the City was requesting too much by requiring beekeepers to 23 attend a training course. He questioned why Mr. Gruver should be allowed to have more than 24 two hives. Mr. Gruver commented that he has .46 acres and would like to have four hives, given 25 the fact this is allowed on all properties over .5 acres. He did not believe that the bees would be 26 disruptive creatures and for this reason, he was seeking the freedom to have four hives. 27 28 Kathleen Smith, 7405 Spring Lake Road, explained that four hives would assist beekeepers with 29 covering their winter loss. She reported that in Minnesota alone, beekeepers had a 52% loss last 30 winter. She encouraged the Council to allow for homeowners to have more than two hives to 31 assist with winter loss. She appreciated the formal training requirement being suggested by the 32 City. 33 34 Council Member Meehlhause did not believe that Mr. Loder would require training as he has 35 been around bees his entire life. 36 37 Mayor Flaherty agreed with this comment, but wanted all residents to be properly trained. 38 39 Finance Director Beer questioned if the Council would consider approving a variance from the 40 proposed Ordinance to allow for homeowners to have more than two hives on their property. 41 City Administrator Ericson did not believe this was the proper way to manage this situation as it 42 was not a zoning issue and it would be difficult to determine a hardship. 43 44 MOTION/SECOND: Meehlhause/Gunn. To Waive the First Reading and Introduce Ordinance 45