Hello Chanhassen Residents,
Please see below for an update on two hot topics of the week.
Deer & Wildlife Management
City Council discussed the deer management concern brought forward by many residents at our Work Session meeting on March 20. We received a report from our City Manager who had an extensive conversation with Tim Pharis, the Assistant Area Wildlife Manager with the DNR. Below are high-level points:
- Deer management is done only in the wintertime. The recommendation is to have all steps completed by September 2023 for winter 23-24 action (earliest option for action).
- Must adopt Wildlife Management Plan for approval by DNR. Requires public hearing/comment period for the public.
- Required to contract with USDA Wildlife Services or a private contractor.
- 50% of deer meat must go to someone in need (food shelf or similar). 50% can be retained by hunters. USDA donates 100%.
- DNR process has become much stricter for issuing permits over the last 10-15 years.
- This winter has a high winter severity index rating. The large snowfalls, rain, and heavy wet snow have been difficult for wildlife.
- Anecdotally, Tim Pharis shared that he has received more calls about deer and turkey this winter than in the previous 14 years combined.
The City Council has agreed to move forward with gathering information on costs associated with the Wildlife Management Plan design, approval, and implementation.
Potholes
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” However, in Minnesota, we can add potholes to that! Please review important feedback from our City Engineer/Public Works Director.
- Cold patch supply is now gone which has been used as a temporary fill.
- There is only one hot patch supplier open in St. Paul - we’re attempting to go twice a day to this source until the normal asphalt plants open.
- We are prioritizing streets based on our own observations, phone calls, and SeeClickFix info.
- Prioritizing “basketball” sized holes and larger.
- The hot mix plant which is closest to Chanhassen is currently oiling up to start production with the intent to open on Monday. When open, we will send dump trucks to maximize speed and the amount of supply. We’ll run multiple crews once this happens.
- Our contracted work is set to begin on April 3, which supplements what the city crews do and will speed up city-wide repairs.
- We’ve had 38 SeeClickFix cases and multiple emails so far this year reporting pothole issues. We have used 8 tons of cold mix over the last 2 weeks, we typically use 1.5 tons of cold mix each spring as we wait for hot mix.
- The city hasn’t seen potholes to this degree since 2014/2015.
Thank you for your patience as we wait for the hot mix suppliers to open. We do know it is a concern and we will be working hard to tackle the potholes. We just need a stretch of warmer weather.
Please reach out with any questions as I am always happy to hear from you eryan@chanhassenmn.gov.
Warmest Regards,
Elise Ryan
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