City Council Meetings

CITY OF GREEN RIVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS December 9, 2014 The Governing Body of the City of Green River met in workshop session at 6:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Castillon called the meeting to order. The following Council Members were present: Brett Stokes, Gary Killpack, Ted Barney, and Lisa Maes. The following were present representing the City: Acting City Administrator Chris Steffen, Director of Public Works Mike Nelson, Director of Finance Jeff Nieters, Director of Community Development Laura Leigh, and City Engineer/Utility Manager Mark Westenskow APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Council Member Maes moved to approve the agenda. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried (5-0) Discussion on Deer in Town Issue Chris Steffen gave a power point presentation and gave the council three options on what the committee came up with from the survey that was put in the September Utility Bill. He stated 1064 surveys came back. The five questions asked on the survey: 1. Are deer a problem for you in your neighborhood? ( no – 511/ yes – 552) 2. Do you experience any property damage from the deer? ( no – 484 / yes – 571) 3. Do you feel something needs to be done to manage the deer in the City of Green River? ( no - 41 / yes 467) 4. Would you support a culling program to remove a select number of female deer from within the City of Green River? ( no – 475 / yes – 425) 5. Do you utilize some method of deterring deer from coming onto your property and causing damage? (50/50 split) The comments were put together and these were the recurring ones: 1. Put up a liquid fence, electric fence or some kind of netting 2. Buy flowers the deer don’t like 3. Repellents 4. Beware of wildlife around town and slow down 5. Educate the citizens about the deer habitat 6. Get Game & Fish involved 7. Have designated feeding areas out of town 8. Raise the number of deer license to reduce the deer population 9. Higher fines for people that feed deer in town 10. More public lighting to reduce traffic accidents The three options: 1. Culling Program targeting a limited set amount of female deer 2. Birth Control – Non Lethal for female deer 3. Do Nothing Patsy Sorenson stated she has lived in Green River for thirty years and they have tried many different options. The deterrent that works best for her is Bird X Deer Guard. It is noisy but does protect their yard. She stated Liquid fence works good too. They have learned to live with the deer. So she would go with Option 3. Laurie Lewis stated she doesn’t think the deer belong in town. They get caught in fences and are becoming aggressive. She stated they are starting to go on school grounds and it scares her to have them around the children. She thinks the City needs to do something to control the deer. City Council Workshop Proceedings December 9, 2014, 2013 Page 1 of 4 She stated she would like to see the city go with Option 1 at first to control the deer problem then use Option 2 to keep the deer issue under control. Howard Hart stated he has lived in Green River since 1970. He stated he does not think it’s a good idea to have the Police Department take on the responsibility of this project. He stated we are in the deer’s back yard they are not in ours. Green River does not have a deer problem the deer have a people problem. He stated they should lower the speed limit on Upland Way to help with accidents caused by hitting deer. Robert Earl stated there are about ten deer that live in his yard and that his wife has been attacked and chased by deer. Council Member Killpack stated he thinks that the City does have a deer problem and thinks the City needs to do something to control the growth of the herd. He also thinks the deer are becoming aggressive. He stated he would hate to see someone get attacked by a deer and then the City do something about it. He doesn’t really think we should do the culling option but wants to see something done. He stated he thinks we should be telling the deer what to do not the deer telling us what to do. Council Member Maes stated the Game and Fish have stated that the deer are not healthy in town so they do not think the deer herd will grow. She stated the town has expanded and we are starting to build where the deer live. She is against the culling and thinks it is dangerous for the Police Department to be killing deer in town. She thinks option two is a good idea and the city should put up extra signs around town. She stated when you live here you learn where you need to slow down and watch for deer. Council Member Stokes stated he doesn’t agree with the culling program and does not want to put the Police Department in the position to be shooting deer in town. He would like to see the City look into the sterilization program. Council Member Barney stated the deer have been around as long as he can remember. He said his family has learned to live with them. He stated it is a big game animal and if you choose to live in this state, you should learn to live with them. They were here before us. He stated he is for Option 3. Mayor Castillon stated the deer have been here for a long time. He stated culling would be the ideal situation to control the deer population and he does not think the sterilization program would work. He thinks it would be too hard to tell from year to year which deer you had already sterilized. He stated we need to do something though but he is not ready for the culling program yet. He is for Option 3. Mrs. Lewis stated the Game and Fish are for culling because the deer are sick and she doesn’t think the Game and Fish will move them to another location because they are sick. Patrick Burke with the Game and Fish stated if they tried to relocate them the deer would try and come back and if they were transplanted they would starve because they were not raised to eat the foliage in other areas and would not know how to get it. He stated they would not transfer them because it’s not worth the risk of making the rest of the deer population sick. Council Member Killpack stated why don’t we make a deer refuge like Jackson to take care of the problem. He stated in some areas of town it is a problem. Mr. Burke stated he has never got a call on someone getting attacked by the deer and didn’t know about it until tonight. He stated most of his calls are damage to property and getting caught in the fence and fawns being born in people’s yards. Council Member Barney asked if the city has an increase in large predators because of the deer in town. Mr. Burke stated there have been spotting’s of large predators but none that have set up shop in Green River. City Council Workshop Proceedings December 9, 2014, 2013 Page 2 of 4 Mrs. Lewis stated if it was acceptable to manage deer in the State why it not acceptable to manage deer in town. Mr. Steffen stated that the state manages the deer by hunting. Mr. Hart stated the council really needs to think about it before they make the Police Department responsible for shooting the deer in town. Discussion on Whalen Butte Road Laura Leigh gave a power point presentation on the history of the road and the lots it affects. She stated why this needs to be addressed. • Section 8.c. (9) of the GR Subdivision Ordinance “Every lot shall abut a dedicated street and shall have a direct means of primary ingress and egress to a dedicated street. • Provide safe and open access to each property for emergency vehicles (including county resident). • Legally established access rights for each property owner for homes that were already permitted by the City of Green River. • Allow for future development and use of Tract A of the Prospector Heights Subdivision. She stated some options for the council to look at. 1. Leave it as is. 2. Work with property owners to dedicate a street right-of-way (60’) and develop the road to residential standards (curb, gutter, sidewalk, asphalt, etc.). 3. Work with property owners in city limits to dedicate a “public access easement” – property owners will still own property but will not be able to close off the access. Existing “road” will remain as-is. (note: a subdivision variance from the Subdivision Ordinance will still be required for the subdivision of Tract A Mayor Castillon asked what option staff was looking at. Mrs. Leigh stated they would suggest Option 3 with some changes. Robert Earl gave an update on what they go through with people dumping garbage all over and tearing up the road. He stated he would like to see some kind of maintenance done on the road. He stated that he would like to see the garbage trucks pick up their garbage cans at their houses instead of having to take them down to Hitching Post Road to be picked up. Mrs. Bozner stated there is no emergency access to their houses and would like to see the garbage picked up at the houses. She stated she would go with Option 3 if they could have some kind of maintenance done on the road. Mr. Nelson stated there are a lot of issues on that road. He stated if it became a public access road some maintenance could be done on that road if the City decided to. Mr. Steffen stated Whalen Butte Road has had a problem with the public dumping on it for a long time but the City Landfill going to a transfer station should not have an effect on citizens dumping more garbage on the road. Mrs. Leigh asked if the council would like her to move forward with contacting the property owners and trying to get something worked out that would benefit everyone. Council Member Barney stated that in Option 3 it says as is. He asked Laura if she was going to leave it that way or add in some maintenance on the roads as the home owners have asked for. Mrs. Leigh stated they would make some changes to Option 3 and move forward with it. Mayor Castillon asked Mrs. Leigh to write something up and come up with some figures and put it on a council agenda in January for a vote. City Council Workshop Proceedings December 9, 2014, 2013 Page 3 of 4 John Kelley stated the county used to blade the road but they quit about four years ago. He stated his family has maintained the road since they moved there so he has went back to what his family used to do and is maintaining it himself. He stated he is determined to make it work. Council Member Killpack stated the City can only fix what is in the City Limits so it wouldn’t benefit Mr. Kelley. Mrs. Leigh stated when they have their meetings to discuss the issues they will invite the County to come and maybe that will help Mr. Kelley. Mrs. Bozner stated the road is full of pot holes all the way to Mr. Kelley’s property and she would like to see something done for him too. Discussion on Automated Radio Read System Bid Mr. Westenskow stated the bid for the Radio Read System was awarded to Finish Line Systems. He stated through the contracting process Finish Line has been unable to acquire the payment performance bonds. He stated normally they would throw it out and rebid the project but he would like to see the award modified to allow Finish Line to reduce the amount of their bid by the amount of their bond cost and move forward. He stated he would like the council to look at it and take a vote on the December 16th council. Mayor Castillon asked if that was staff’s recommendation to move forward with the bid from Finish Line. Mr. Westenskow stated it was. Adjourned to Council Meeting at 8:21pm ____________________________________ H. Castillon, Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ Jeffrey V. Nieters, City Clerk City Council Workshop Proceedings December 9, 2014, 2013 Page 4 of 4