MOTION: Commissioner Michael Scott moved to incorporate all the letters received up to this point regarding the issue of bees and beekeeping.
SECOND: Commissioner Adel Murphy
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Chairman Dennis Mehr |
AYE |
| Commissioner Todd Benson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Adel Murphy |
AYE |
| Commissioner John Reed |
AYE |
| Commissioner Michael Scott |
AYE |
Chairman Mehr opened the Public Hearing and introduced Casey Lofthouse, Washington County Bee Inspector and Danielle Downey, State Apiarist, with the State of Utah Department of Agriculture & Food.
Danielle Downey advised that there are over 700 registered beekeepers in Utah. The state requires beekeepers to register and have a license. The cost is $10 for the hobbyist. Beyond that the cities, communities and townships have the authority to regulate as they see fit. There are 30-40 registered beekeepers in Washington County and more that are not registered. The area is a good place to keep bees. The president elect of the Utah Beekeepers Association is Mel Taylor who has kept bees in Santa Clara and in this area for many years. There are approximately twenty (20) commercial colonies in the area. Other beekeepers have a colony or two in the backyard. Salt Lake City allows up to five (5) colonies in the city and even the city library has bees. Most people don’t realize that there are bees in their neighbor’s backyards. There are a lot of misconceptions and fears about bees that are unjustified. There have been no incidents in Utah where the bees have become dangerous.
Casey Lofthouse, Washington County Bee Inspector, lives in Hurricane and is a registered beekeeper. He read information about honeybees and how essential they are to our environment and food source. Most of the calls received are people’s misunderstandings and lack of knowledge. The danger from African bees is when they move into meter boxes, sheds, walls, etc. and disturb people in their home. Managed bees are a better situation. Bees travel several miles to collect nectar and pollen so there is a need for flowering plants close by. The Best Management Practice is encouraged by the state for beekeepers and many cities adopt those practices to alleviate problems with the neighbors. Example, a six foot (6’) fence is important as it forces the bees above the flight path of people’s heads. This reduces the chance of an encounter with a bee going to and from the hive. It also creates an out of sight, out of mind situation and provides wind protection for hives. Bees need to collect water and can use over a gallon of water a day. Bees like small ponds and creeks, dog bowls, bird baths or swimming pools. To detour the bees it’s suggested to provide water such as a small water garden in half of a whisky barrel. Bees prefer aged water and the water should be at least twenty feet (20’) away from the hives. Few communities outlaw beekeeping but some limit the number of hives and require beekeepers to provide water which is critical. If managed hives become aggressive, the beekeeper will know immediately. If the Best Management Practices are followed, the beekeeper immediately re-queens the colony and within three (3) weeks there would be no aggression. It is critical that beekeepers know about the legal restrictions before keeping bees and should not allow them to annoy neighbors. He will support responsible beekeeping practices if Ivins allows beekeeping in the city limits. Basically, his responsibility is a county public information officer, and he does a limited number of inspections for the hobbyist. Contact information is on the Utah Department of Agriculture website (
www.ag.utah.gov) under bee inspector.
Dale Coulam clarified that a Public Hearing is not a question answer forum. The Commissioners can ask questions but he asked the citizens to ask the representatives questions after the meeting.
Commissioner Reed felt the main concern is safety. He directed several questions to Danielle Downey: If someone is in the vicinity of a hive, are they at risk? Are foraging bees at risk when someone is working on plants? Are feral colonies at more risk of becoming Africanized than managed bee colonies? Is it important how water is presented to the bees?
Danielle Downey explained that being in the vicinity of a hive there is no risk because bees are more concerned with doing their work than bothering anyone. She has hives ten feet (10’) from where people garden each day, but if a bee gets into your sleeve or you stepped on one, you might get stung. Typically, the colonies that beekeepers have are not aggressive and don’t defend the space aggressively. Foraging bees are not defensive. The honeybee dies after it stings. Therefore, bees use that defense to defend the nest and hive.
Feral bees are at much greater risks of becoming Africanized. Beekeepers want friendly European bees and they can choose the stock. The queen comes mated and doesn’t mate with other bees. There are ongoing studies in Florida on domestic/managed bees to determine if honey bees would help maintain a better habitat. When the African bee moved into Arizona, the beekeepers left and the African bee took over. Having people educated keeps them from being fearful.
In regards to water, bees will exploit the best resource of water first. If sugar water is out the bees will take that first. It’s a good chance that the bees in the hummingbird feeder could have been yellow jackets. Typically, honeybee’s tongues are not long enough to get the nectar out of the hummingbird feeder. A beekeeper should know when the bees are going somewhere else if they have a water source. Bees need to be trained to the water source. The bees that collect water from a pool will continue to go to that source. It’s difficult to change that pattern. In regards to nectar and hummingbird feeders, she recommended cleaning the feeder to make sure the sugar is not there and check for leaks or get a different type of feeder. After a couple of weeks, the bees should stop foraging.
Chairman Mehr inquired about bees becoming agitated during harvest time and does the Best Management Practices include information on property setbacks, etc.
Danielle Downey gave some examples of environmental conditions that cause bees to be agitated. During harvest time the bees can be more agitated. Usually, harvesting is done quickly and the colony goes back together and don’t maintain the agitated state.
Commissioner Murphy inquired about swarming bees.
Danielle Downey explained that a colony has one queen and is the mother of the workers and drones, and when the colony runs out of space another queen is produced and half the bees will leave. Beekeepers manage the colonies to prevent loosing their honey. When bees swarm, they usually hang on a tree around the queen until the scout bees find a home. Then the bees move to the new home. A swarm looks scary but it is very docile. When bees swarm call a beekeeper. The Utah Bee Keepers Association has a swarm list and they come and box up the bees. Typically, managed bees don’t swarm. Managing the colonies reduces swarming but it is biological for bees to swarm. Neglected hives will cause swarm. Bees foraging from a hive are not swarming.
Commissioner Scott asked if a swarm would survive in a natural setting.
Danielle Downey stated that the bees would have a better chance in Florida’s habitat than Utah. If the bees find a protected area they could survive. One colony can have 50,000-60,000 bees. In Utah there are less than a 1,000 managed colonies. Feral honeybees are hard to estimate. The state has caught approximately sixty (60) colonies of bees in the last two years but not all were feral bees. There are fewer feral bees than managed bees. There are many native bees in the desert that are not honeybees.
Commissioner Benson asked about enforcement help for the City.
Danielle Downey noted that there is the Washington County bee inspector. In Salt Lake if there is a continuous beekeeper, the inspector can make suggestions. There has to be somebody with the specialized knowledge. Also, the Heath Department can be called.
Commissioner Reed asked what the normal foraging range of bees is.
Danielle Downey explained that bees can travel up to five (5) miles.
Commissioner Scott asked how fast a colony grows.
Danielle Downey explained that colonies can grow faster than expected but they don’t grow out of control because of natural attrition. In winter some bees die. A beekeeper can divide the colony and have another queen. A beekeeper can have two colonies or sell them to other beekeepers. There are options to limit how many bees can be kept. There are swarm management techniques but you will never prevent swarming because it’s a biological organism that has a tendency to swarm. She gave examples of how a swarm can be dangerous. Contact information
www.ag.utah.gov.
Kathy Blythe is located at 818 Agave Court, which is three homes down from where the hobby hive was located. She expressed her disappointment with the Planning Commission during the last meeting, and felt she and her husband were singled out and inappropriately lectured on the bias of their packet. The information presented was their views, their position and their research from the Utah Bee Hobby Association, from Danielle Downey, knowledge gained from Dr. Hoyt, and the Best Management Practices on backyard beehives. They are not emotional about this subject but passionate. The bees affected there weeding, gardening and there was a constant humming of bees when on their patio that caused safety concerns. They did not panic and say bees are bad but did some research on regulations. Danielle Downey informed her that Cindy Smith did not have a license. The department of agriculture sent a notice of violation, licensing information and the good neighbor policy "Best Bee Keeping Practices" for them to sign. The hive was against CC&R’s but the hive was found to be located on Terry Marten’s property which was a strip of land in question. The HOA made several attempts to have the hive removed but to no avail because of this technicality. Because the neighbors did not contact her about the hive, were not licensed and it was against the CC&R’s, in her view there was an irresponsible beekeeper down the street and it worried her. They were not following the recommended safety guidelines. There can be 40,000-60,000 bees in a hive and it double about every nine (9) months. That is too many bees for a residential neighborhood. Bees cannot be managed like dogs and cats. They are wild insects that the beekeeper has no control over when it leaves his property to forage. The hummingbird feeder was not leaking and there were not many flowers to get nectar from. Cindy Smith suggested spraying the bees with water. She blamed it on a feral hive and said it couldn’t be her bees even though they were coming down from the back road from the direction of the hive. My neighbor sprayed the birdfeeder and I took it down. Several days after taking the feeder down, the bees were still coming where the feeder had been. The feeder was put out a day or so afterwards, and the bees were there within minutes. After the bees were removed, they had no problems with the bird feeder. This was proof enough that the bees were from that hive, and there was an over population of bees and not enough food for them. Commissioner Reed indicated that there must not be sufficient water near the hive for them to come to my feeder and that they were not interested in the sugar and water, just the water. However, the Smith’s have a large pond on the property for the bees. The Utah Beekeeper’s Association on How to Become a Beekeeper, item #8, explains how it is necessary to feed new colonies using cedar, honey, sugar water or fructose corn syrup when there is no food supply. Page 2 of the Best Management Practices explains "Robbing Behavior." and if there is not enough nectar bees may rob from other hives... The statement that bees aren’t attracted to sugar is false. The statement about managed bees don’t swarm was misleading. Chapter 9 from Beekeeper for Dummies have many suggestions and techniques to prevent a swarm but it’s not a guarantee. Another concern is how the City is going to enforce the swarming and the flyway. She quoted from Practices for Maintaining European Honeybee Colonies about Africanized bees taking over weak hives. It also states that if you are a beekeeper you will get stung. The Commissioners should look at the matter impartially and decide what is good for all the citizens of Ivins. Dr. Hoyt, entomologist, gave a presentation in Kayenta and stated there were enough bees here. There’s approximately eighteen species of bees that exist in Utah and in Southern Utah, and they all pollinate. The only crop that requires honeybees is almonds. If the hive is not dealt with properly, bees swarm and look for a new home. Bees are docile within the few days of searching but as time goes on if they don’t find an appropriate spot they will become aggressive. They will be aggressive in defending their hives when they are building it and when it is disturbed. Cindy Smith’s bees will not save the world.
They don’t want the zoning changed. The bees affected our quality of life and our feeling of safety in our own backyard. It is not appropriate to amend this for a few people. It is not an emergency situation where we will not have food if we don’t have backyard beehives. This will affect the entire city, the water parks, parks, the churches, and the backyards of people everywhere. Bees forage for miles. It’s not a Kayenta issue but a citywide issue. The Commission needs to make an impartial decision based on the entire community. Honeybees can be a danger.
Tom Fabio gave an example of bees taking over his attic and the cost involved if a pest control agency removed the hive, approximately $10,000. Commissioner Reed’s statement that it was just a piece of stucco needed to be put over the patch to get rid of the hive was not true. A local beekeeper admitted that it was probably one of his bees that had swarmed and he neutralized the hive. There is no shortage of bees in Washington County. The bee inspector talked about well managed hives but there is no training that he knows of for beekeepers. The beehive in Kayenta was not a well managed hive. If bees are allowed in Ivins, there needs to be strict regulations, and a million dollar insurance policy to cover bee stings, etc. It’s inconvenient for people to replace hummingbird feeders. Bees also affect bikers and bicyclers coming through Ivins.
Pat Robichaux noted that there are a lot of people that don’t realize that they are allergic to bees. Her niece was stung and actually died but was fortunate enough to be revived by the paramedics.
Dean Ripple came in support of bees but didn’t realize that bees could be this much trouble. He is allergic to bees but wants to help the environment. He’s been thinking about getting beehives but doesn’t want bees to attack his neighbor. After hearing the statements and even though he’s allergic to bees, he still supports beekeeping.
Representative of Morgan Pest Control, explained that he has removed several hives and it can costly to extract the bees. He calls the bee inspectors to collect the bees before exterminating any bees. Bees will collect water from swimming pools and bird feeders. Sometimes he cannot use his own swimming pool because of the bees. He would not be in favor of his neighbors having bees. He’s not against bees but they should be regulated. Feral bees get in sprinkler boxes, etc. and they can be a threat. Educating people about bees is important. He has been within five feet (5’) of European bees swarming and did not get stung. With other bees you cannot get that close. The water source is very important.
David Kidder is a beekeeper, not for the honey or the money but to help the genetic diversity for the bees. He has six (6) beehives at DI Ranch. He quoted from the author, Simon Buckston. "The privilege of being a beekeeper is not to generate as much honey as possible but to contribute to pollination. The future of beekeeping is not one beekeeper with 60,000 hives rather 60,000 people with one hive."
Melvin Taylor and his son are probably the largest beekeepers in the area. The City of St George does not allow beekeepers within the city limits. He was asked to leave and he moved. His son lives in St. George and doesn’t get apricots on his trees and hasn’t for a number of years until recently. The African bees have come into St George and they cannot run the African bee out. Passing an ordinance to not allow beekeeping will not keep the bees out. The African bee is here to stay. Bees will look for water, nectar, pollen, etc. anytime during the year. In February, he moves his bees from Washington County to California to do pollination for the LDS church. His hives are located along the borders of Ivins. If land is annexed, he will have to move. He has thirteen (13) locations in Washington County and he tries to comply with the city and county ordinances. To maintain bees and keep anyone from getting stung is a hard job. His granddaughter is allergic to bees and they have to carry a bee kit. Someone could die but it probably would be from an African bee, not a honeybee. Communities should spend their money educating the public on African bees instead of worrying about honeybees.
John Kearn talked about allergic reactions, the bee sting kit and his experience being in a hospital with a reaction. Ivins City needs to look first at the welfare of the residents and make sure that bees would not endanger a citizen.
Slava Lubomudrov furnished information on the health care perspective. The National Institute of Health and Mayo Clinic websites and lists several comments on how to protect yourself from bee stings. He quoted the list. It’s not just people who have a problem with bee stings but those that perceive to having a problem. The last point that the health care website suggested was is if you are concerned about being stung have beehives near your home removed by a professional. The Commission and Council should decide if they want to become the referees to remove the hive. The City does need to think about individuals that do have either perceived or real difficulties dealing with bees on a day by day basis. We need to give them consideration in the deliberation on how to handle this very important issue facing the community.
Representative with the Department of Agriculture in Washington County explained that we can pass all the ordinances we want and band anything but it will not stop Mother Nature and biology. A perfect example is Beryl where there are no managed colonies. There was a swarm of bees that came in and it was Africanized. An Africanized colony can swarm six or more times a year. They can expand a lot faster than European colonies. There have been at least a dozen samples of African colonies in Beryl. There have been a couple of instances that a dog has been stung to death. It could be a child. There’s habitat out there and something will move in. If there are European bees, there is a lot less chance of it being someone’s child or dog. Not allowing managed bees doesn’t matter to the Africanized bees. There’s a chance for a lot more swarms to develop.
Brecken Bang referred to an article about squirrels that said the number of squirrels would be limited to the resources available for that habitat. If there is no food, they won’t continue to grow in numbers. If bees run out of food, they would have no reason to swarm to a neighbor’s attic and create a new home. They would leave the area or go somewhere and die. If backyard beekeepers are providing homes and managing the bees, they won’t be in your attic, car or garage. If they become Africanized the beekeeper will know and remove them quickly. In regards to safety, he is a volunteer firefighter and has trained on hazardous material. Hazardous materials are any material that can be a health or life threat to an individual. Large quantities of water, dog attacks, guns and bicycles can be hazardous but we cannot ban them. The fact is there is an element of risk in everything we do. Honeybees can be good for people and the environment and comes with a calculated amount of risk. There could be great presentations on why we should have bees and why we shouldn’t have bees but the deciding factor could be based on the idea that if the City gets to a point where they try to ban and control everything that a person does, what do we have left? There will be strict controls, very limited use of our homes and our property. The fact is the ordinance never allowed for bees but it did not say no bees are allowed. He would like to see a decision based on the fact that we can’t control everything that happens. He doesn’t feel that the City should have to police bees, dogs, cats, etc. We give up freedom for safety.
Mike Scheidle stated that there are already restrictions in residential zoning that prevent us from having bees. We are spending lots of time and money on one group that wants to plant them in their backyard. We’ve attended meetings to educate us about bees. Dr. Hoyt stated we have plenty of bees in Ivins to take care of our desert community. We are in a drought and have limited resources for the bees here already. There are professional beekeepers in agriculture areas. He doesn’t want to see bees in his backyard. He observed the bees at Skip and Kathy Blythe’s on the hummingbird feeder and was hit by four (4) bees. He has a reasonable expectation to do things on his property without my neighbor interfering with it. In regards to insurance, any homeowner that has a dog has insurance on it. He’s not anti-bee but feels bees need to be controlled in a proper manner and responsibly. It’s obvious that did not happen.
Chairman Mehr closed the Public Hearing.
Commissioner Benson asked for clarification about what is expected from the Commissioners and if they are expected to come up with policies.
Chairman Mehr’s opinion is that beekeeping is not a permitted use and it was not intentional to exclude beekeeping in Ivins. He asked Staff if there was anything on the record that denied beekeeping.
Kevin Rudd stated that he was not aware of any discussion.
Chairman Mehr explained that they have heard evidence on Best Management Practices Guidelines from the Utah Department of Agriculture. The Commission could recommend to the City Council to approve an ordinance to allow beekeeping as a permitted use and follow the Best Management Practices Guidelines or we could continue to discuss it further and asked Staff to draft an ordinance, etc.
Dale Coulam explained the process that the Commission would need to follow if an ordinance was drafted. He suggested that they discuss the issue to see which direction they want to go. If they decide to draft an ordinance, and when they are comfortable with presenting that for public comment, there would be another public hearing.
Commissioner Reed stated that it was never his intention to offend anyone. Commissioners have to disclose evidence and conversations with other people. He did not put himself forward as an expert but indicated that he had experience and understanding of bees to help people understand bee’s behavior. He felt this is a straight forth issue. The entomologist state that beekeeping can be done safely in an urban environment. The European honeybees do not pose a danger even if they are in close proximity to a hive. All entomologists are uniform in this conclusion. His experience with beekeeping on a small residential lot is consistent with their conclusion, and he never had any problems that had been reported tonight. It doesn’t mean that they could not happen. Some people don’t want bees in Ivins even in agricultural areas. The facts stated by the experts have no sway on those feelings. Some people submitted information as facts, news articles and examples of cautions and cautions from other city ordinances. News articles are written by reporters rather than entomologists and which aren’t expert opinions. In reference to other city ordinances, he appreciates the cautions stated but cities try to balance the facts with the public clamor and a lot of cautions and conditions that are set forth in an ordinance may result from the desire to calm fears of individuals. His conclusion is based on what he believes to be right and respecting the rights of individuals. We should be able to do what we want on our property as long as it doesn’t infringe on the neighbor’s property. But the neighbor has a right not to infringe upon your property. An ordinance should be based on facts not fears. His judgment tells him to stick to the facts. He strongly believes that government should not regulate nor infringe on individual liberty unless the activity prevents the quantifiable danger for inherent uses to others. Fear does not equate to danger and should be the cause to restrict one’s liberty. The General Plan states that we should honor the city’s pioneer heritage. Many residents are transplants from other urban areas and their values and opinions may be different. He is a descendant from the first pioneers. Honoring this pioneer heritage means allowing the heritage to be practiced. Salt Lake amended their ordinance to allow beekeeping throughout the city. Legalizing what was already going on in the city. He checked with Salt Lake City personnel to see what problems they may be experiencing in compliance and enforcement. In their ordinance, the City Council left open a variety of enforcement options to the Mayor to use at his discretion. They have yet to decide on a method of enforcement because there hasn’t been a complaint. There are other cities the size of Ivins that allow for and standards for beekeeping. It is his opinion that Ivins can do this as well. An individual wrote in stating, "The record would be more complete if the Commission had also had information from an appropriately trained and experienced experts who disagree with the state and county experts. If no experts can be located, then it may be the case but at least the record could reflect the Commission’s good faith effort to obtain such input. The lack of due diligence or support for the anti-hive constituency was evidence of the Commission’s due diligence relative to any further recommendations." He has researched in depth and has not been able to find from experts that bees are hazardous beyond what should be tolerated. He believes the Commission has done its due diligence and the facts are clear.
Commissioner Benson stated that he is not expert, doesn’t have the experience and takes experts at their face value. In the Salt Lake City ordinance, it says, "it finds such action reasonably furthers the health and safety and general welfare of the citizens of Salt Lake. It’s interesting that they included safety. His concern is the safety issue. No one wants to endanger the citizens or their neighbors. The experts tell us it can be done safely. The Salt Lake Ordinance also says, "Gentle strains of honeybees can be maintained in populated areas without causing a nuisance when properly located, managed and maintained." If it’s not maintained properly, it’s a problem. The other issue is enforcement and the burden on the city and Kevin Rudd. There are hives in Ivins that are not legal but if we make them legal we could help to ensure they are done properly.
Commissioner Scott stated that it is not an issue of bees and whether we should or should not have bees. The issue is what does the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan say. Through omission in the ordinance bees are prohibited. Section 1105 of the Zoning Ordinance says that beekeeping is not specially permitted or prohibited. Therefore, anything omitted is prohibited. Section 1213 says specific domestic animals are permitted along with other animals. It’s an ambiguity. The Zoning Ordinance is not clear. He didn’t think it was intentional for bees to be included or excluded but the ambiguity gap needs to be closed in Section 1213. Section 1214 says all potentially dangerous animals are prohibited. There is no guidance in the Zoning Ordinance to explain what a potentially dangerous animal might be. Any animal can be potentially dangerous. He asked Dale Coulam if there was a simple legal norm as to the definition of potentially dangerous.
Dale Coulam stated that’s not a simple answer. We would look at reasonable risks, reasonable practices and what would be considered reasonable under the circumstances. We would try to manage risk to a reasonable degree, and when the threat approaches a level that is deemed unreasonable there could be a regulation imposed. There is not any specific guiding language in the Zoning Ordinance so it falls back on the vague general reasonable standard and there could be arguments on both sides for a lot of different issues.
Commissioner Scott commented that Sections 1213 and 1214 creates ambiguity and no matter what decision the City makes this needs to be resolved on either side. The General Plan’s vision is to create a feeling of safety and comfort. That’s the key word but it’s also ambiguous. It’s not our vision to create safety and comfort but create a feeling of safety and comfort. Clearly the issue of bees creates a feeling of non-safety for many. If the city wants to allow bees, the vision in the General Plan is inappropriate. The other vision connected to the pioneer heritage is the preservation of farmland. He considers beekeeping kind of an agriculture activity. The vision is to preserve and protect the agricultural heritage and farmland, not to expand it. Allowing beekeeping would expand it. It’s the city’s duty to clarify the ambiguity in the Zoning Ordinance and to continue the position of disallowing bees in the City to comply with the General Plan. If we don’t like that, we need to find a way to change the General Plan. It’s not an issue of what happens in other cities because they have to follow their vision and General Plan. The Commission’s duty is to understand the Zoning Ordinance what’s allowed and what’s not allowed and look at the General Plan and say what we should be doing on this issue. The General Plan says don’t allow it but the Zoning Ordinance has ambiguity in it. Therefore, we have to continue disallowing bees. If the majority of the Commission wants to allow bees, the only way the Commission can do that is by changing the General Plan and eliminate ambiguity in the Zoning Ordinance.
Commissioner Murphy referred to a statement about Commissioner Reed using his experience. But that is why a lot of us were appointed because we have experience in different fields, and we need to be allowed to express those experiences. It doesn’t mean we are biased and trying to push an agenda. We need to hear each person’s experience. The General Plan states that the city has a history of agriculture, and she doesn’t think beekeeping is against the General Plan.
She’s more afraid of a loose dog more than a bee. It’s a matter of what we feel is safe. What we heard from the experts and citizens, she doesn’t think the hobby beehives are inherently dangerous. There are risks and we cannot have ordinances to protect everything that happens. She can see more of the good than harm.
Commissioner Mehr commented that the issue of safety exists whether or not there are beekeepers in the community. The General Plan is not called a specific plan, and he felt it allows beekeeping as a general use.
Recommendation:
Chairman Mehr polled the Commissioners on drafting an ordinance to allow beekeeping as a permitted use. Commissioners Reed, Murphy and Benson were in favor and Commissioner Scott was not in favor. Commissioner Benson was in favor based on making sure there was language put in the ordinance to maintain hives properly. Commissioner Murphy was inclined to recommend to the City Council the drafting of the ordinance and include the Best Management Practices.
The Commission recommended drafting an ordinance to allow beekeeping and after completion of the draft hold a public hearing. Commissioner Reed will take the lead and work on a draft with the help of the Commissioner’s input.
Kevin Rudd mentioned that he had concerns about enforcement. He suggested that there be some type of permit system, and to have an expert at the owner's expense to come in and inspect the property to ensure that when it is established it meets the city standards. It’s should not be the city’s burden to go and inspect it, and it should be inspected once a year to make sure it is maintained. If there is a complaint, the expert would go out and investigate.
Commissioner Reed’s conversation with other cities is that the county bee inspector and the beekeeper usually work it out. It can be put in the ordinance that the area is inspected when the license is first applied for to keep from having a burden on Kevin Rudd.
Commissioner Reed said he would draft a proposed ordinance and will give two weeks notice to Staff before putting it on the agenda for discussion.