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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/18/1986 ^ APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 , 1986 7 :30 PM, ' SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BUILDING BOARDROOM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Gary Peterson, Richard Anderson George Bentley, Patricia Pidcock, and Paul Red path CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J . Jullie , Assistant to the City Manager Craig Dawson., Direc- tor of Community Services Robert Lambert , and Recording Secretary Jan Nelson PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL: Councilmember Pidcock was absent because of a Transporta- tion Commission meeting. s Mayor Peterson stated this Special Meeting of the City Council was set to allow a Public Meeting in order to provide information on the action taken by the Council on August 19th allowing a limited program of goose hunting at Olympic Hills golf course as a means of goose population control . He reviewed the action taken by the Council at that meeting and noted that this meeting had been set as a Special Council meeting so that the Council could also take action if the decision is made to do so . He also reviewed some of the reaction from the community regarding the proposed hunt . Peterson introduced Police Chief Walls, Captain Jim Clark, Jon Parker from the D.N.R. and Mari Smaby, University of Minnesota Research Assistant . David Van House , attorney for Olympic Hills, reviewed the request .7 L.y n1 Yi c AH 1 1 i'..+-. "Cr p1i ograam • a 1,c:,,u l: V V1 ala i�.. aa11lO 1 vt liiiC VVaC �..V114i. of 9 Jon Parker, Area Wildlife Manager for the D.N.R. , said that they were involved in this issue because they respond to people who have nuis- ance problems with wildlife and Olympic Hills had reported their problem with the geese . He said the goose hunt had been proposed as an immediate method of control because it takes a year' s lead time to begin a trap and transplant program . He reviewed some of the prob- lems with the trap and transplant program and outlined other possible means of goose population control . He said they are interested in determining the effectiveness of hunting as a means of providing control at a lower cost than trap and transplant . q Mari Smaby, University of Minnesota Research Assistant , said that she was present to provide information on the methods of goose control F R; City Council Minutes -2- September 18, 1986 used by the University. She said the cost for trapping is about $1 ,000 per trapping. Redpath asked Parker if it was correct that the D .N.R. would like to see the results of a hunt because it has never been tried before . Parker replied they would like to see if the population can be con- trolled through hunting. Anderson said he thought Dr. Cooper also wanted to keep records on the effectiveness of the hunt . He asked why the hunting limit in this area is two geese while in other areas it is one goose . Parker said this limit is part of their response to areas that are experi- encing problems . Parker also said that Dr. Cooper had trapped and banded the geese here so that he could monitor the success of the hunt if it occurred . He noted, however, that the University does not take a position on this sort of thing. Bentley asked how many geese had been banded at Olympic Hills . Smaby responded that 140 adults and young had been banded which she said would represent the local breeding population. Parker noted that trapping can only be done for three or four weeks in the summer when the adults are flightless and the young can ' t fly yet . Mrs . Ted Finholt , 10010 Pioneer Trail, said she thought Eden Prairie had been ridiculed in the metropolitan area because of the quick de- cision to dispense with the geese . She said she talked to Dr. Cooper who said that he himself heartily disapproved of the hunt . She said she thought the Council had acted hastily and , further, that Dr. Cooper said , in his opinion, the Council should have realized the sensitivity of the problem . She said she was here to reprimand the Council for their approval of the hunt . iviavy Radulil a and Larry Kapustka, 9303 rranio Road, distributed material outlining non-lethal alternatives to the proposed goose hunt at Olympic Hills. (Attachment A ) Kapustka said they are here to ask the Council to reconsider their decision of August 19th. He said he understood the problems of the golf course but he questioned the effectiveness of such a hunt . He said he was concerned about this one-time hunt setting a precedent for future years or for other locations in the City. He said the hunt would cause an extra burden on Public Safety. Radcliffe reviewed the material handed out on non-lethal alternatives and related the means used by other areas to control the goose popula- tion, City Council Minutes -3- September 18 , 1986 Heidi Morgel , 9146 Fox Run Circle , reviewed some letters she had received in response to her interview published in the newspaper. Tom Bierman, 9160 Flyway Circle , said he thought the golf course had done a very professional job in promoting the goose hunt . He said , however, there were five residents on his street alone who were opposed to the hunt . He said he thought there should have been an environmental impact statement done on the effect on other wild- life in the marsh area. He said he thought allowing one shoot was setting a dangerous precedent . He said he thought the Council should be aware of their image to the residents by allowing this shoot to occur. He asked the Council to look at different alternatives . Redpath said any taxpayer is allowed to petition or request the Council to solve a problem and Olympic Hills had done that with the goose problem . He said the Council had determined that an informa- tional meeting was necessary to rectify the numerous misconceptions about the hunt . Sharon Ciatti, 17795 South Shore Lane , presented a petition she said contained 337 signatures of persons who were against the hunt on Olympic Hills . (Attachment B ) She said she was concerned with the k safety issue , particularly for the Public Safety officers . She was also concerned about the problems of public liability in this case and about the issue of precedent . Bentley said that. regarding the issue of precedent . the Council when it first voted on the issue said that this was not a precedent- setting situation and that it would not occur again anywhere else in the City. He said he would like to hear from Public Safety on the issixe . Chief' Wall said that Public Safety had been directed by the Council to look into the feasibility of issuing permits but that none had been issued to date . He said that Public Sarety has not taken a stand one way or the other on the goose control issue . He said they have been at Olympic Hills to measure distances for the proposed shoot . Captain Clark reviewed the area proposed for the hunt and the dis- tances of the blinds from the residences in all directions . He said they were concerned with the safety issue and pressed the manufac- turers of shotgun shells for more information on the distance shells would travel . He said they had received an answer from the manufac- turer about the type of shells proposed for this shoot which said the maximum distance the shell could travel is 920 feet . He said he was not sure the shot would go that far but that they were concerned about the possible safety hazards if an error in the direction of the shooting were to occur. City Council Minutes -4- September 18, 1986 Gus Benakis, president of Olympic Hills , presented a statement in which he said that Olympic Hills has never wanted. to be treated dif- ferently from the other landowners and that they consider themselves a taxpayer just like anyone else . He said, in order not to cause any problems, Olympic Hills would withdraw the request for the permit to shoot the geese . He said they would return to request a permit to trap and transplant the geese with the help of the D .N .R . He also said that they would cover the cost of the trapping procedure . Robert Krueger, 9090 Neill Lake Road , said he thought the hunting would have set a bad example fcr the young people in the community . Terry Johnson, 15020 Ironwood Court, suggested that everyone should give ideas to Olympic Hills for controlling the goose population. MOTION: Redpath moved to rescind the previous action by the Council to allow the hunting of geese at Olympic Hills . The consensus was that no such motion was needed because the request had been withdrawn . MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND . t Marlene Morgel, 9146 Fox Run Circle, said that she was concerned that the request would be brought up again at some point in the future . She reviewed in detail the actions she had taken during the time since the goose hunt was announced . Peterson noted that , while the decision had been made in good con- science at the time it was made , he believed more public input should have been solicited . He said , however, since the request has been withdrawn, it is not necessary to continue to criticize the golf course or the Council for their previous actions . Sheldon don Mayer, oZ Kn Fl y.o ff C i rr l n said he thn>>�ht the Council had g the responsibility to allow a public forum on the issue and they had not done that . Bentley noted that the petition was presented the night the request was made ; therefore , it was not possible to thoroughly check the petition. He said further, that Council decisions are not made based on a petition presented to the Council and that a petition request does not require a public forum. He said , while it would probably have been wise in this case to have noticed the surrounding residents on the request and petition, it would not be possible to follow that procedure for all petitions presented to the Council . He said he thought we had learned that similar situations regarding such vola- tile issues should be dealt with by a public forum but that this one R was no longer in question. i City Council Minutes -5- September 18, 1986 Peterson said he thought the cause had been served and concerns had been adequately addressed . MOTION: Bentley moved , seconded by Anderson, to adjourn the meeting at 9: 25 PM. a 33 } 3 k S i 9 i i