Appointed Committees

Nuisance Animal Ad Hoc Committee November 29, 2017 Page 1 Committee Members Present: Josh Wolsky, Mike Ruelle, Dwayne Walz, Chuck Emery, Chief Olson, Greg Gullickson (Sat in for Jeb Williams for the Game and Fish Department) Members Absent None Chairman Wolsky brought the meeting to order at 12:30 pm. Approval of Minutes Mr. Walz moved the committee approve the minutes of the November 15, 2017 committee meeting. Motion seconded by Mr. Gullickson and carried unanimously. Hunting in Minot Framework – Continued a. Administrative Consideration Mr. Wolsky recapped the last meeting by saying, the committee looked at public safety consideration, location, and management goals. i. Application – Online/Paper Mr. Emery said the application should be online only. Game and Fish are looking at going to online only currently to get away from paper. Mr. Gullickson said there would be a lot of crossover between the City and the Game and Fish having their own application, but this would be a good thing. Mr. Ruelle made a motion to recommend the City Council develop an online application using the recommendations from the committee, seconded by Mr. Emery and carried unanimously. ii. Pair up Program/Approved Hunter List The committee discussed having nuisance calls paired up with an approved hunter. When someone files a complaint, the caller can decide if they want their name and property added to a list. If the property is approved for safe hunting, someone will be paired with the property. The Committee said, they would like to see a list of approved archers wanting to hunt as well. Chief Olson suggested keeping a list of approved properties and allow a hunter to choose from these approved properties. Mr. Gullickson said it would be good to have a form/letter from the City showing approval for allotted land. The committee discussed having three lists; one for properties that could allow hunting, one for nuisance complaints, and one for approved hunters. Mr. Gullickson made a motion to recommend the City Council develop a program that pairs nuisance complaints with approved hunters, seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. iii. Special Wildlife Management Season – Beyond G&F Season Mr. Wolsky questioned if the herd reduction tags need to be requested to go beyond normal hunting season. Mr. Gullickson said the extension of the hunting season is already in the Game and Fish proclamation to extend herd reduction tags to January 30. The regular hunting tags end the first Sunday in January. No motion was needed from the committee. Nuisance Animal Ad Hoc Committee November 29, 2017 Page 2 iv. City Permit Fee The committee discussed if there should be an administrative fee for handling the application to apply for hunting in the city. Upon questioning from Mr. Walz, Mr. Gullickson said Game and Fish does require a license fee. It is currently $30 for deer license and $15 for a turkey license. The money acquired from the fees goes back to Game and Fish for use. Mr. Emery made a motion to recommend the City Council check with Fargo and Bismarck to see what administrative/process fees they may charge to hunt in the city, seconded by Mr. Walz and carried unanimously. v. Other A resident had concerns about taking hunting into adjacent lands from approved property. Mr. Gullickson said, currently under the ND Deer Hunting Guide, a hunter may enter unarmed on adjacent land to retrieve animal that was shot on approved land. Chief Olson thought this could be an ordinance problem with going on adjacent land to retrieve a deer since no one posts on his or her land no hunting/trespassing in the city but it is assumed. Mr. Gullickson said the state allows retrieval without permission. Mr. Wolsky suggested there will be a need to provide clarity, either consent or applied consent must be given the Committee could create a definition for posted land to retrieve game. Mr. Gullickson said with hunters having permission from the City they should not need permission for retrieval but it would be good to suggest asking permission to retrieve on land not given approval for hunting. Most hunters will usually ask to retrieve a deer on adjacent land as a courtesy. Mr. Wolsky suggested all private property without permission to hunt should be considered posted for clarity. If a hunter must go out of area to retrieve his game, they should have the right to go unarmed but make a due diligence to get permission before going on adjacent land to retrieve. Upon questioning by a resident, Chief Olson said it would help to have language that mimics state laws and to add the language with all due diligence to request permission before entering. Mr. Emery made a motion to recommend City Council add a definition in the no hunting ordinance that all land will be considered posted, seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. Mr. Wolsky read from the 2017 North Dakota Deer Hunting Guide under posting and trespass: “Any person may enter upon legally posted land (without a firearm or bow) to recover game shot or killed on land where he/she had a lawful right to hunt.” Mr. Ruelle made a motion to recommend City Council to add the above language from Game and Fish and add a good faith clause to the no hunting ordinance, seconded by Mr. Emery and carried unanimously. b. Other Considerations The committee discussed if field dressing should be allowed and if on the application there should be a check mark if a hunter will be field dressing/no field dressing for hunters who hunt on their own property. Chief Olson stated, field dressing could attract predators. Mr. Emery agreed and said the adjacent owners may not appreciate field dressing, so it is best to not allow field dressing and have hunters take deer home to a garage. Mr. Ruelle made a motion to not allow Nuisance Animal Ad Hoc Committee November 29, 2017 Page 3 field dressing in the City limits, seconded by Mr. Walz and carried unanimously. Hunting in Minot Definitions Mr. Wolsky asked the committee to better define ‘properly permitted,’ ‘sanctioned by the City’ and ‘wildlife management’. This was a request made by the City Attorney to clarify before being added to the no hunting ordinance. The committee discussed the definition of ‘properly permitted’ and ‘sanctioned by the City’. Mr. Ruelle made a motion to define ‘properly permitted’ as having proper licenses from the North Dakota Game and Fish, seconded by Mr. Emery and carried unanimously. Mr. Emery made a motion to define ‘sanctioned by the City’ as having an approved City permit to hunt in the city limits. Motion seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. The committee then discussed defining ‘wildlife management’. Mr. Gullickson said, wildlife management is defined as "the science and art of managing wildlife and its habitat, for the benefit of the soil, vegetation and animals, including humans." Mr. Ruelle questioned the committee if they really need to define; being it is already defined and is described by the current program through Game and Fish. The committee recommended removing the condition for wildlife management from previous motion amending the ordinance. Mr. Gullickson said it would be best not to have this committee define what wildlife management is being it already is defined through the state. Mr. Ruelle made a motion to amend their previous recommendation, amending the hunting ordinance, to state that hunting shall not be allowed unless properly permitted and sanctioned by the City. Motion seconded by Mr. Emery and carried unanimously. Feeding Definitions Mr. Wolsky presented back to the committee, per the City Attorney it was unclear on having a definition for bait/baiting, because the term was not used in the no feeding ordinance. After discussing, Mr. Emery made a motion to remove the definition of bait/baiting from the no feeding ordinance. Motion seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. Chief Olson made a motion to include info of no feeding ordinance on the application, seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. Public Reporting Application Mr. Wolsky presented the idea of having a database for someone to take a picture of wildlife in areas and upload with a short description of what is in the photo to track wildlife numbers in Minot. Mr. Gullickson said, he does not think there is a need to report all animals because not all would be documenting a nuisance. Chief Olson said, the Minot website currently has a nuisance tracker where people can upload information on nuisances in the City: http://www.minotnd.org/requesttracker.aspx. The committee decided they do not need to create a new database but should make the public aware of the one that already exists. Mr. Emery made a motion to recommend the City Council and Game and Fish make an effort to educate the public on the importance of reporting nuisances using the application on the Minot Website. Motion seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. Committee Member Agenda Items Mr. Gullickson stated, the City is not opening up to hunting but is looking at regulation on where and how to hunt and he feels this is something Minot needs based on the number of deer/car collisions which is Nuisance Animal Ad Hoc Committee November 29, 2017 Page 4 higher than he had anticipated. He said he is happy the City is trying to move in a direction to get a handle on it. Upon questioning from Chief Olson, Mr. Wolsky said, though they have been talking mainly about deer, this will be a blanket application for both deer and turkey. Mr. Emery said, as for geese, there are only two problem areas: Oak Park and Souris Valley Golf Course. The Park District is looking at a program through Game and Fish to reduce the number of geese. If the decision were made to use a Wildlife Services Federal Trapper, the geese taken would be donated to the food pantry. If geese are handled this way, there would be no need for hunting like deer and turkey in the city, especially since there nuisance geese are not found elsewhere in town. Mr. Ruelle thanked the committee to taking time to try to handle the nuisance problems with wildlife. Mr. Walz thanked the committee as well, and said he hopes to keep looking for other ways to keep deer out of the cemetery in order for loved ones to keep nice flowers/plants without the deer eating them. Mr. Gullickson stated, taking away the feeding of animals should help. Mr. Emery said, the deer will move to other areas or suffer because there will not be enough food for the large population. Additional Agenda Items a. Penalty/Violation Consequences It was discussed that violating the no feeding ordinance would be an infraction and the penalty for the new ordinance on hunting in Minot would apply a class B misdemeanor. Mr. Emery asked if our permit rules would apply with Game and Fish Rules, for example, if a hunter were to shoot a buck instead of a doe as per the permit, it would fall to the Game and Fish for penalty. While hunting on posted land would perhaps fall to the City for penalty. Mr. Gullickson said poaching would fall under Game and Fish or the hunting ordinance. He recommends following Game and Fish for hunting rules. Chief Olson said, there will have to be a violation sanctioned by the city if the changes are adopted. He recommended a class B misdemeanor or require a penalty in the current ordinance. Upon questioning by Mr. Emery, Chief Olson said, a trespass violation in the City is a class B misdemeanor, with a maximum $1,500 fine and 30 days in jail. Mr. Emery suggested the violation should stay a B-misdemeanor for hunting on posted land with a loss of hunting privileges in the city for a minimum of one year. He also recommended the hunters name be flagged in the database. Mr. Emery made a motion to recommend a penalty of class B misdemeanor, revoke the current city permit and be ineligible to receive another city permit not less than one year. Motion seconded by Mr. Ruelle and carried unanimously. b. Coyotes Mr. Wolsky asked the committee for any recommendations on coyotes and the thought of hiring a federal trapper. Chief Olson replied that the city has occasionally done that. Mr. Wolsky recommended the City continue a relationship with the USDA trappers and track any coyote calls. No motion was made. Hunting Application – Preliminary Review Mr. Wolsky apologized for not completing an application for the committee to review but recommended it be available online and directing City staff create an application based on the committee’s recommendations. Upon questioning by Chief Olson, Mr. Gullickson said, the City could begin with a permit consistent with the Game and Fish Department. Applications are usually due in May or June, depending on the license request and a request for herd reduction tags is due to the Governor’s office by April first. Mr. Emery suggested the City look into a lottery process if there are more applications to hunt Nuisance Animal Ad Hoc Committee November 29, 2017 Page 5 than reduction tags available, or only release as many applications as there are tags available. Mr. Gullickson said, the City would request a number of reduction tags they would like the Game and Fish Department to review before going to the Governor and Game and Fish would need the request by March. Mr. Walz asked the committee if the City would look at spring season for turkey hunting. Mr. Wolsky replied, the application should state that hunting follows the Game and Fish hunting season, so yes, spring turkey hunting would be allowed. Chief Olson clarified that spring season is in February, a hunter is only allowed one bearded turkey, and no hens are allowed to be shot in the spring. Mr. Gullickson said the hens are not allowed to be hunted in the spring do to nesting season. Chief Olson brought up the issue of moose before the committee wrapped up. Currently the approach to a nuisance moose in the city is to shoot and kill and to haze and tranquilize a moose is not an option at this time. When a call is received reporting a moose, the police department will either shoot the moose or leave it to be monitored and allow it to move on. If it has been chasing people or public safety is hindered, then the moose is put down by the police department. Public Input Mr. Wolsky described an email sent by Natalie Oksendahl. One resident responded they did not like the fines being discretionary and would like to see that changed. Another resident asked if moose would be allowed on the hunting application. Mr. Gullickson replied the application is for hunting, allowing it cover all: deer, turkey, and moose. One would just need the permission from the city and have the proper hunting permit. Future Meeting Consideration The committee will stand adjourned unless unseen circumstances arise. Summary of Committee’s Work Mr. Wolsky said the Clerk’s office would send out these meeting minutes for comments if needed. If something is askew, a meeting can be arranged for discussion. He said he will put together all of the committee’s recommendations and present them to the City Council hopefully by January, either during a regular Council meeting or at a special City Council meeting. Adjournment Mr. Wolsky said, he appreciated everyone attending. This meeting will stand adjourned unless an additional meeting is requested. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:08pm. Respectfully Submitted, Lacey McCarten Administrative Clerk