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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes (2) MINUTES Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Meeting October 25, 2010 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLLCALL The meeting was called to order at 4:45 P.M. Present: Michael Beeth, LorRae Crubaugh, Steve Cummings, Nikki Hronis, Cecil Streeter, Wendy Suzuki Steve Voss Excused: Grady Bullington, Richard Hall Staff: Ray Maurer, Parks Director; Trish Wendorf, Recording Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Beeth for approval of the September 27, 2010 minutes, as distributed. Seconded by Hronis. Motion carried 6-0. CITIZEN’S STATEMENTS (Items on Agenda) Lori Meitzen, 1064 West South Park Avenue, stated that Doug Averkamp from the Vulcan Quarry visited her neighborhood recently and held discussions with the neighbors as to access within the Vulcan’s fence line. The Vulcan’s fence line has a few “gated” areas along the South Park property line and the neighbors by those gated areas used to have access and were able to store personal property inside the Vulcan property along the fence line. Mr. Averkamp stated that the neighbors’ personal property needs to be removed since the gates on the fence line will be removed in the near future and that the fence height will be increased due to insurance liability purposes. She suspects that part of the reason for the changes is due to people unlawfully entering the Vulcan premises and poaching the deer. Discussion ensued as to the increased height of the Vulcan Quarry fence. It was the understanding of the Committee that if a fence is increased to 8 ft., then the property becomes a sanctuary and that is not allowed. Mr. Cummings arrived at this time (4:55 PM), thereby making a 7-member Committee. Mr. Maurer stated he will contact Mr. Averkamp at the Vulcan Quarry for further information and report back to the Committee as to his findings. Cindy Smith, Kensington Avenue, stated she still has concerns with the deer in the Vulcan Quarry area. She stated she does not attend the Urban Wildlife Committee meetings since Monday nights do not work for her. She stated that the City’s website does not contain the Committee members email addresses and she requested that those be made available to the public as well as their telephone numbers. She stated it appears that since the deer issue has been turned over to the Urban Wildlife Committee that the whole issue has gone backwards. The deer issue does exist and can be proven by the landscape affected by the deer destruction. She stated that the property value of the homesteads in the area is detrimentally affected by the ruined landscaping. She also stated she is also concerned with the safety of the neighbors as the “parents” of the fawns in the area are very protective of their young and might turn aggressive to the owners of the property where the fawns are feeding off the landscape. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -2- OCTOBER 25, 2010 Mr. Maurer thanked the citizens for their statements. He stated that it is up to the Committee members if they would wished to have their personal email addresses on the City’s website since they are a volunteer group and not elected officials. He stated he would place that issue on the agenda for the next regularly scheduled meeting for discussion and/or action. Mr. Cummings inquired if any Committee member knew of a community where no (zero) deer were allowed within the City limits? None of the Committee members were aware. BUSINESS 1)Review monthly car accident reports from Police Department Mr. Streeter stated hunting should be encouraged in the Town of Oshkosh since most of the car/deer crashes occur in that area. Ms. Crubaugh inquired if the car/deer crash spreadsheet will be kept updated so the Committee and/or the public would have a year-to-year comparison? Mr. Maurer reiterated that staff will continue to update the spreadsheet and send out with the monthly packets. 2)Update on quarry owner cooperation with deer management Mr. Maurer stated he will follow up with Mr. Averkamp of the Vulcan Quarry as to the earlier comments made by the citizens. He stated, as can be seen on the aerial map (said aerial map on file at the City Parks office and made a part of these minutes) there is not much habitat area with the Vulcan property. He will attempt to obtain aerial maps of the other areas of concern for a future meeting. He suggested that it might be a viable option to do trapping within the area. Ms. Crubaugh inquired, “Didn’t Mr. Dallman express concern with box trapping?” Ms. Hronis stated that it is dependent on how the box trapping is managed and maintained. Mr. Beeth inquired that when the Quarry owners say “habitat”, what do they mean? Mr. Maurer stated habitat is vegetation and wooded area. The total area and amount of cover is very limited. Discussion ensued relative to the Osborn area property and possible future development. 3) Discuss Draft Management Plan Discussion ensued relative to deer population goals. Mr. Maurer stated he left it at 25 deer per square mile of habitat for a “starting point”. Mr. Maurer stated that on Page 3, a final bullet point was included reflecting the City Council’s nd adoption of the Committee. On Page 5, under Recommendations it was left that the deer will be harvested. Page 6, 2 paragraph was changed to reflect number of geese removed and eggs addled. On Page 7, the verbiage of bringing in dog/cat food was added. Page 8, under Cats, verbiage was added relative to contacting the OAHS. Pages 8 & 9 reflect the addition of the DNR’s websites. Ms. Hronis discussed her conversation with Steve Barney relative to forms of contraception. She stated there is new information and research being discovered and inquired if she should continue with research to add to the Management Plan. There was discussion about the costs of the contraceptions, including dart guns, labor, etc. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -3- OCTOBER 25, 2010 Mr. Voss inquired if any Committee member had information on the cost of dart guns? None of the Committee members were aware. Mr. Cummings inquired as castration and if that would be cost-effective? Ms. Hronis stated she felt castration would be labor intensive and traumatizing to the deer. Discussion ensued relative as to why eradication is not an option (due to the vacuum effect). Mr. Beeth suggested seeking more information for funding (as PZP is regulated through FDA). Ms. Suzuki stated that the deer would need to be tagged after they were contracepted. Mr. Voss stated dye from a dart gun would spread, but wasn’t sure how long the dye would stay on a deer to reflect that they were treated. Discussion ensued as to whether to keep the costs of certain items in the plan. Ms. Hronis suggested tweaking the costs or removing the costs entirely. Mr. Beeth suggested the wording “costs are being evaluated at this time”. He stated putting a dollar amount that is not accurate might be construed as mis-information. Mr. Streeter stated that page 4 is microplanning. In any given year, the plan could be different because of costs or technology and different areas of the City. Contraception most likely would only work in the Quarry area because of the mingling of other communities. He stated there will be a need to have support for yearly aerial surveys. Also, there is a need to keep track of reported poaching records, starvation and/or diseases and to work with the DNR relative to the deer carcasses (i.e., CWD). Ms. Suzuki stated all of the items Mr. Streeter suggested should be included in a plan because it is information to the public. Mr. Maurer concurred that aerial surveys are important. Mr. Cummings suggested that if the goal is 25 deer within the Quarry, and here is how we achieve the goal, if the deer population goes over the 25 count, then a recommended effort would be this or that to maintain the 25 deer. Mr. Street stated this is an inter-city deer area (Quarry) and inquired if there is a need to get rid of the deer completely. Mr. Cummings inquired as to what is the rational for allowing deer herd in the City? Mr. Maurer stated that the DNR would not accept a plan that suggests or recommends a species be eliminated. Mr. Beeth stated page 5, the 4 Step Model should be listed under the historical information. He inquired if the expert from Humane Society of the US would be willing to visit the area again? Is there an agreement with them that they would come out again? Mr. Maurer stated he is unaware of any plans or future appearances by the personnel of the Humane Society of the US. Discussion ensued relative to the goal population. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -4- OCTOBER 25, 2010 Ms. Hronis suggested removing the last sentence on page 4. Mr. Beeth suggested to take out the words “no pain or discomfort” because we don’t know that. Ms. Crubaugh commended the Committee on doing a good job on the management plan. She stated she is a free lance reporter and offered to proofread the final draft utilizing the Associated Press writing style. 4) Discuss applying for Urban Wildlife Abatement Grant Mr. Maurer researched the grant information and determined that one item that would qualify up to $5,000 (total project cost $10,000) is the aerial survey. Mr. Beeth suggested that whoever does the aerial survey should also be required to give a written report. Mr. Cummings inquired if there was a grant available for those individuals who have suffered a lot of property damage due to the deer. Mr. Maurer stated he was not aware of any funding in that regard. 5)Topics for next meeting (November 22, 2010) nd Mr. Maurer stated that he will be on vacation on November 22, but noted that Chad Dallman, Parks Operations Manager, would be available to attend the November meeting. Mr. Cummings questioned what land is available in the Quarry area? What constitutes “habitat” land? What impact will this (management plan) have? Mr. Maurer stated he will attempt to pin down what area is what property (fence lines for the Armory & Quarry areas). Review monthly car accident reports from Police Department  Update on quarry owner cooperation with deer management  Approve Management Plan  Topics for next meeting (December 27, 2010)  CITIZENS STATEMENTS (Items not on agenda) Lori Meitzen, 1064 W South Park Avenue, distributed pictures of her property (said pictures on file at the City Parks office and made a part of these minutes) showing an injured buck and updated the animal status on her property. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, Motion by Beeth for adjournment; seconded by Streeter. Motion carried 7– 0. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Trish Wendorf Trish Wendorf Recording Secretary