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Approved City Council to limit the number of chickens she had as chickens were quieter than dogs and she did not want anyone to take away the freedom for her to raise chickens in her yard if she wanted to. She stated if there were squabbles among neighbors those squabbles could be resolved with what was already in place. She stated they did not need any more laws. Kurt Posz, 554 4th Avenue NW, stated for approximately the past five years him and his wife have had a small flock of chickens in their back yard, they have a garden, a raised bed garden, and a compost pile. He stated they do those things because they care about the food they eat and in some way, even if it is symbolic, they want to take ownership of those things in their life. He stated they have had an incredibly positive feedback from their neighbors about their chickens and it has been a community building thing to have the chickens in their yard. He stated in reading the minutes of the meeting from September 26, it was noted that there have only been on average one or two complaints a year about chickens and the issues have been resolved with no citations needing to be issued. He stated the Task Members are supposed to look at the issues on a broad basis, but during the September 26 meeting a City Staff person who was not named in the minutes, pointed out a specific incident that occurred 18 months ago and said "that is the reason you are here in this room tonight ". He stated he had a lot of hope that the Task Force would look at this in the large picture. He recommended the go out and visit some of the people who had chickens, talk to their neighbors to ask for their input. He stated he hoped when they made recommendation to the City Council that they were broad and instructive rather than narrow and pro - strictive. He hoped the recommendations were not taken by the City Council as ammunition that they use to write specific Ordinances to address only the one incident that occurred 18 months prior. He hoped neighbors could work together and be good neighbors to each other. Bradley Parrott, 1616 86th AVE, stated he was speaking on behalf of his parents who reside at 703 Forest Dale Road and who were on vacation. He read from a prepared statement. Harry Miller, 729 Forest Dale Road, stated they had quite a task to balance the rights of everyone. He stated he has lived here since 1999 and fixed up and maintained his home, including the waterfront. He stated they had a lot of wildlife in his back yard. He stated the urban family farm has affected his home and the ability to enjoy his home. He stated he was not adverse to people keeping animals. He stated a lot of his net worth was tied up in his home and he believed his home value has gone down. He stated the thing that brought the most value to him was the pond. He stated he has three decks on his home, but he has not been able to enjoy the desks any longer due to the odors. He stated he did not like the rusting truck in the yard and the coops in the back yard. He stated he no longer is able to sleep with his windows open. He expressed concern about diseases and the close proximity of his home to the urban farm. He stated the urban farm was not being maintained well. He stated some diseases were air born and that concerned him. He stated he was considering selling his home because he no longer enjoyed the setting. He asked them to balance the rights of some to the rights of all. Norman Anderson, 2792 Forest Dale Road, stated he was 89 years old and had grown up in Minneapolis. He stated at that time there were pig farms in the City which has now become residential. He stated he had volunteered to be on the committee, but he was too close to the problem. He stated when they moved here years ago, it was a very nice place to live and they knew all of their neighbors and it was a friendly neighborhood. Now it was not that way any longer. There were the chicken lovers and those that didn't. He stated it was too bad. He noted Mounds View and Vadnais Heights did not allow chickens. In another community, they did not allow chicken within 400 feet of their neighbor's property. He stated he wanted it to go back the way it was 50 years ago when everyone got along and it was a nice, clean residential area. Andrew Yurista, 331 Silver Lake Road SW, read from a prepared statement. He stated he was a lifelong resident of New Brighton and his family lived in New Brighton for 120 years. He stated his family has always raised poultry and his interest in poultry when his grandfather gave him chickens to care for in grade school. He stated he currently had a small flock of chickens and planted a vegetable garden each year. He stated he has never had anyone complain to him about these activities and had been told people enjoyed his yard. He stated he had checked with the City previously as to the policies for raising policies and was told there were no specific policies so he invested a lot of money in his raising poultry. He stated unfortunately some people do not value his activities and as a result the City Council has set up the 2