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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-6-18 Work Session - DEER[1]Page 21 Item 4d(6) Police Officer Grant Over hires - Resolution amending budgeted positions in the Police Department by temporarily adding two full-time police officer positions. Taylor/ I had a question also for Geoff on .... on 4d(6), um, with the police officer grant overhires, uh, the final sentence said, uh, be increased by temporarily adding two full-time police officers. So as those grant -funded positions go away, will you just by attrition then sort of work into that? You won't just automatically .... get rid of two positions. Fruin/ Correct, no. Yeah, there's no layoffs. So, um, once those grant funds end, you're right. The next two .... uh, employees to leave the department, whether retirement or .... another job or whatever they choose to do, we just wouldn't fill those positions. Taylor/ Is .... is there a possibility that.....we might continue, uh, those specialty kinds of things, like for the domestic violence, etc.? Fruin/ Um, yeah, a lot of the .... lot of the, like for instance the domestic violence grant, a lot of what that provides for is training for our investigators and for, uh, the community. So some of the, um, victim advocates and social service agencies will also benefit from that grant, because we'll be able to do joint training with our department. So, it's not all about a person dedicated to the issue. It's.... it's.... it's a .... it's about education.... education for the entire department and the community. But certainly we .... we hope, and .... and (laughs) this should be the case with anything we do along these lines. If we're getting a grant, uh, whatever skills we learn, whether it's Invest Health or ..... or this particular grant, should carry on well beyond the term of the grant. If. ... if not we're not doin' things correct. Taylor/ Thank you. Dulek/ Plus there is an officer already dedicated just to domestic violence. I'm not sure if you realize that but .... Scott Stevens, that's a full-time position already. Item 4f(5) Andrew Wendel: Inquiring about an Interview Throgmorton/ Uh huh. Any other agenda items? I'd like to make a quick comment about a piece of correspondence. Item 4f(1), which is a request for an interview, coming from Andrew Wendel, and it....it has to do with, uh, alcohol and.....I don't..... where's..... where's Simon? (laughs) Oh, sorry! Couldn't see ya (laughs) Uh, alcohol and crime and.... incidences of this and that, and .... and, uh, Simon provided a lot of really detailed information. I've shared it with Andrew Wendel and he and I are gonna have a conversation and a short interview for his research project. Just wanted to let y'all know that. And thanks for doin' that, Simon! Information Packet Discussion 1IP8 and IP10, February 151: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018. Page 22 Throgmorton/ Okay, I guess we'll move on to the info packet, uh, February 15. Urban wildlife deer might be a good one. IP #8 in the February 15' packet. So .... Liz, is Liz in the audience? Uh.... I.....thanks for providing us with a memo and some .... and than all that background information that Sue provided, right? Who knew? I should know, I mean it happened right after I left the Council 20 years ago, but nonetheless.... So, is there anything you want to say to us before we try to figure out how to proceed? Ford/ I'm just here to answer questions for anyone. I know you have history in your packet that Sue provided. Um, everything that has happened previously was a little before my time. Um, but I .... I understand that, um, a task fort ... force was created, um, including experts and a lot of public input, which is exactly what, um, National Resource Commission is still looking for today when they look at municipalities that are .... that are requesting deer management zones or special harvests. They, you know, they want public input and they want, um, to know that you've really done your research and, um, consulted your wildlife biologist and things like that, so.... Throgmorton/ Yeah, okay. So we've received correspondence about this, including one very lengthy petition signed by, I don't know, 50, 60 people. I didn't count the number. Uh, and we've received correspondence before, which is .... which drew our attention to this particular issue, and.....which led us to ask staff to collect some information and all that. It seems to me pretty clear we need to take action .... uh, perhaps contracting with an entity like White Buffalo, urn .... uh, to cull the herd, perhaps. Um .... uh, but it seems to me also that it might be wise to revive the Deer Task Force. There's.... there is a need for some kind of periodic review of the status of the deer population and, you know, whether it's grown too large and something needs to be done. But I'm wondering what you folks think about this, uh.... cause we need to provide staff with some guidance and, uh, Geoff, did you want to add anything into this to help us get this discussion going? Fruin/ I don't think so. Um .... (laughter) You have .... you have the history there, um.....it's, I think the, you know, we have a right deadline if you want to do something this fall, and I .... I'm not sure it's realistic to .... to think we could do something this fall, if you want to really go through the robust public input process, which is called for on an issue like this and, uh, which some of you probably recall from living in the community, uh, 10, 15, 20 years ago when this was a .... a very hot topic. So, unfortunately we have that .... that pretty tight deadline for any type of action this year. So, uh, probably the first discussion you need to have is do you see this as an extremely urgent issue where we need to work towards getting something in front of the DNR by April 15th, or do you want to take a more .... a slower, more methodical process and whether it's with the Deer Commission or public input sessions, hear some feedback from the community? Cole/ I feel there's some degree of urgency to it. Um, we have received a lot of reports on this. You know you think about, um, I wish we would not have to do it, but I think the paramount consideration that we all have on Council is public safety, and this is a public safety issue, um, especially given our proximity to Interstate 80, um, the other major four -lane highways, um, so I .... I think we need to move forward with it. I know it was extraordinarily controversial, um, we may take some heat for this one, but I think it is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018. Page 23 something that we need to do, but that said, um, so I'd like to expeditious .... that's my vote, but I also think in terms of the long-term, if we could have a parallel track, to the extent that'd be feasible for .... for, cause I'm always, I know we're all public input people. We love that process. To the extent that's feasible, I'd like to see a parallel track on that, uh, but not to the extent that it would delay the April 15th deadline. Taylor/ I would like to hear, maybe from Liz would have some ideas on this, as far as a relocation alternative, besides the ... a .... a kill method. Do you have .... ideas on that? Ford/ Um, I can answer that question as best as I know, but I .... I'd like to address the timeline just, um, to make sure that it's clear.....that the Natural Resource Commission considers, um, DMZs they call `em, deer managements zones, and they are otherwise known as bow hunts, and there are bow hunts conducted in .... in a variety of cities and counties all over Iowa. And that is the April 15th deadline. If. ... if that's what we choose to do, and there are so many of these DMZs out there that the city manages, and most cities it's the police or fire or something like that because of the nature of what's.... what's being done. But, um, so putting together that kind of process to get that approved, um, would ... we would be able to use some of the plans that are already out there and look at what other cities are doing and things like that. But if...the Council decides to go with sharpshooting, which was done, uh, historically for .... for a number of years, that's a little bit of a different process, and that goes in front of the Natural.... Natural Resource Commission, not through the DNR. We go right to the Commission in Des Moines and, um, we need to get on their agenda to do that, and I think, um, that's going to take a .... a, quite a bit longer process to .... to get that done. So I wanted to make sure 1 addressed that. And, um, to answer your question about, you know, alternatives to, you know, re .... rehoming the deer or, um, sterilizing them. You know I've tried to read as much as I possibly can in the .... in the last couple weeks about this issue, and I'm .... I'm not a wildlife biologist but, um, my understanding of wildlife and .... and how, uh, the humans tend to relocate it, that the survival rates of animals that are relocated is really very low, and anytime you take a species, whether it's a raccoon or a deer or a bear and you take it out of its territory, the survival rate just plummets. And so removing the deer and putting them somewhere else, um, isn't ... isn't really the best solution for the deer, you know, either, even though it seems to be the most humane, you know, and it sounds like the nicest .... the nicest solution. It just....it doesn't work for the deer. Um, and I've, you know, I've just read as much as I can about sterilization, but urn .... I .... I ..... I wouldn't be the person to answer that. Really it's almost a wildlife biologist that we need to ask that question, you know, if it would be .... something that would be feasible in this area or .... so..... Taylor/ Thank you. Throgmorton/ So I warm be clear about the timing part of this. If we .... thought that it would be good to do a ..... if we thought it would be good to cull the herd, um.....by hiring some firm, uh, and using guns basically to cull the herd with, how long would that take? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018. Page 24 Ford/ Well, that process, the .... the National, um, Natural Resource Commission calls it a, um, a special harvest, and we are actually the only city, the only municipality in Iowa that has ever done that, and um, so they don't actually have a set process for that like they do for the DMZs, deer management zones, otherwise known as bow hunts. There's more of a timeline and, you know, process that's been set up for years for those because they're so common. The, um, sharpshooting is (mumbled) so .... um, so the, um, the Commission, we would have to go in front of the Commission in Des Moines and so they would put us on their agenda. So I believe that, um.....their April meeting, um, is the second week of April and I think they start working on the agenda about three weeks before that. Mims/ Well, my preference is to try and get the approval for White Buffalo or some other organization to come in. I .... I think when I look at the .... the pros and cons, um, that are in the memo in terms of the bow hunting versus sharpshooting, the amount of time that it takes to actually get the numbers down through bow hunting can take years, um, I .... the thing that I really liked about White Buffalo when we had them in before is this is a group that knows what they're doing. They are highly trained. I think a lot of them are ex -military sharpshooters, as I recall. They have an incredibly high standard in terms of, you know, they have like a target on the sides ... on the deer the size of a quarter, and if they miss it, they're in trouble. I mean they drop them as .... one shot, the deer's dead. No .... I won't say no suffering, but as little as you can possibly have. The idea of, um, I mean I grew up in a family of hunters, but the idea of a deer running around with an arrow sticking out of it, I think you got a lot more wounding and suffering with people, amateurs out there, even if they're having to do some testing that they've got some proficiency with a bow and arrow, um, I would rather have it done that .... with the sharpshooters. Um, so I .... I would rather see us start the process with.... with the DNR and see .... see if we can get a .... we've done it before, and how many years did we do it before? Do you .... maybe it told in here (several talking) Ford/ .....first year was 1998. Cole/ Yeah. Ford/ And they went until 2010 was the last year, 2000 .... winter of 2009/10. Mims/ And missed just maybe one or two years in there that we didn't do it or something, but yes, we did it for quite a few years, and .... I don't know if we had to get approval every time, but let's see if our luck holds and go back. Throgmorton/ Yeah, tell me if I'm remembering a .... a couple, uh, bits of information correctly. I think in your memo you say that ... uh, a .... a January 2018 report from White Buffalo, uh, indicated that it had conducted a count and those counts are probably three times as large as they were 10 years ago, and what they call a .... a density similar to what was present when we initiated the sharpshooting program in 2000. Ford/ Yes, I believe that's correct. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018. Page 25 Throgmorton/ Yeah. Okay. So the numbers are pretty large, and we've gotten a lot of complaints from people, uh, it sounds to me like we do need to act, uh, I think.... sharpshooters is the way to go. I do believe we need to reconvene a Deer Task Force though. So, we might get a little bit of, uh, have, uh, preliminary steps taken about that, Geoff, in terms of tryin' to identify who the members might be or the .... the, uh, type of expertise that would be involved. We have historical experience to go on there, and what the purpose of the Deer Task Force would be, cause there's this history now of 10 years or whatever of ...ebbing and flowing of the Deer Task Force, and I guess Sue know .... Sue knows that pretty well. Mims/ But I do like Rockne's point of trying to do that parallel, of not waiting to get a Deer Task Force in place before trying to get on the agenda. Fruin/ I .... I guess I would ask if. ... if. ... if as a Council, and I don't know if you're there yet, but I'm gonna assume a little bit. If as a Council you decide you want to do sharpshooting and that you want to take action this year, what are you .... what are you really asking the the Task Force to provide? It.... Mims/ I'm only asking if the DNR's gonna come back and say have we done this. We can say we're in the process of doing it and we'll complete it before we actually bring White Buffalo in. Fruin/ Okay. Throgmorton/ I think ... I mean it's completely appropriate question (laughs) and Geoff, I think one .... one aspect is that we need to have some continual review, or assessment, of what's happening with the deer population, instead of going 10 years and going, oh my gosh! It's now three times as large as it was way back (mumbled) Fruin/ ...beyond the current set of decisions on whether we take action it's more of a long-term commitment. Thomas/ I mean my question is is it sounds like there are lots of these zones all over Iowa. What .... what are these, what are the cities where these zones are located, what are their practices with respect to .... managing the situation in terms ... do they have a task forces as we were discussing or ... what? I mean.... Throgmorton/ But those are all bow hunting. Ford/ They are all bow hunting and they .... of all, the cities that I made contact with and talked to the people who are managing the program, they have been doing it for a number of years and their .... their numbers are at a manageable level in those areas (both talking) and so I don't .... I don't get the sense that they have to have a task force because they are continuing to do them, management, every year. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018. Page 26 Thomas/ So that ... that seem ... I mean as a strategy, the .... trying to get the numbers down through sharpshooting and then allowing hunting, why .... why is Iowa City the only place that has gone the sharpshooting route? I mean it .... I don't know. I don't know. I don't have much background (laughs) in this area but it .... uh.... Throgmorton/ I think that's a useful question and we have a history of this, and so I think Sue or others could provide us with an explanation as to why the Councils back then made the decision they made. Dulek/ Yeah, the Task Force back then or the Committee, I mean .... they looked at the humaneness of it and ... and that was it. They felt if you were going to cull the herd, that was the only way to do it, and that bow hunting just was not .... was not acceptable, and that ... that was it. Plus it .... it's expensive, and perhaps other communities were .... were not willing to do that, but the .... the City was, but that's really what it came down to was the humaneness. Cole/ Sharpshooting, I'm supportive of that. Throgmorton/ All right. Do you have enough clarity.... about what we think? Fruin/ Yeah, I .... if I'm .... let's make sure. Um, you want us to initiate, um, efforts with the... with the DNR, the State commission, this year with the intention of trying to do something this fall, if possible. We don't know if that's possible yet. And at the same time try to reconvene a committee to, um, not only help us .... not only help inform us with this year, but perhaps check in once a year, twice a year, to .... study the issue so we don't lose sight of it going forward. Throgmorton/ Yeah, that sounds (both talking) Fruin/ ...more or less correct? Okay. Throgmorton/ All right. Thank you, Liz. Ford/ Thank you! Throgmorton/ It's 18 minutes till 7:00. Why don't we, um, adjourn this work session and come back to it after the formal meeting. Okay. BREAK TO FORMAL) RECONVENE WORK SESSION) Review the draft 2018-19 strategic plan [IP4 of 3/1 Info Packet]: Throgmorton/ Uh, do we need to take a break? (several responding) No, no, no .... apparently not! Okay! So we left off at .... the moment where we would begin reviewing the draft This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of March 6, 2018.