GAINESVILLE - First it was deer in the Riverside Drive area, now Gainesville city council members are hearing about coyotes in the same section of town.
Councilman Bob Hamrick said Thursday he's been getting calls about coyotes in the Park Hill Drive/Enota Drive area just a few blocks from Riverside. Of particular concern to Hamrick - some of the callers have said they've seen coyotes very near Enota Elementary School which is on Enota between Park Hill and Riverside.
Hamrick commented at a city council work session at which City Manager Kip Padgett update council members on developments since a neighborhood meeting a week ago on the deer problem.
Padgett says his phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from people who want to be included in the hunt which is being planned this fall with the airm of thinning the deer population along Riverside.
"We've received a lot of phone calls from people wanting to hunt out there on the property," Padgett said.
Padgett and the head of the city's code enforcement office, Gary Kansky, both got a first-hand look at what Riverside residents have been complaining about following last week's neighborhood meeting.
Kansky said Thursday he and Padgett drove along Riverside for a few blocks and "there were deer everywhere, right across the street from the water treatment plant, they were all over the place, standing on the side of the road and everything else."
Kansky says they must have spotted "eight-to-ten" deer that night.
He is putting together a list of deer hunters for interested in participating in any hunt that is held later this year. Kansky said it would not be held before the opening of deer season in the state. He said he would like to have the list finalized by August.
Monday
October 7th, 2024
7:31PM
