title
CC - (1) Approval of the City of Culver City Coyote (Canis latrans) Study and Management Program Proposed by Dr. Eric G. Strauss, PhD from the LMU/LA Center for Urban Resilience; (2) Authorize the Culver City Police Department to Implement the Program; (3) Approval of a Three-Year Agreement with Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) for the Implementation of the Culver City Coyote (Nanis latrans) Study & Management Program in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $211,000.00; and (4) FOUR-FIFTHS VOTE REQUIREMENT: Approval of a Related Budget Amendment.
body
Meeting Date: February 11, 2019
Contact Person/Dept: Lt. Leon Lopez/Police Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-6251
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (02/06/19);
Department Approval: Scott Bixby, Police Chief (01/24/19)
_____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) approve the City of Culver City Coyote (Canis latrans) Study and Management Program Proposed by Dr. Eric G. Strauss, PhD from the LMU/LA Center for Urban Resilience; (2) authorize the Culver City Police Department to implement the Program; (3) approve a three-year agreement with Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) for the implementation of the Culver City Coyote (Nanis latrans) Study & Management Program in an amount not-to-exceed $211,000.00; and (4) approve a related budget amendment (requires a four-fifths vote).
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
After experiencing an increase in the amount and severity of coyote encounters, the City Council adopted the Culver City Coyote Management Plan on January 26, 2016, providing guidance to manage the amplified presence of coyotes with an emphasis on education, enforcement, and lastly trapping when public safety is at risk. Due to the increased concerns in the community and the desire to manage the increased coyote activity in neighborhoods, on September 26, 2018, staff met with Dr. Eric Strauss from LMU/LA Center for Urban Resilience to discuss a Culver City Coyote Study and Management Program. Approval of the three to five year program will enhance the City’s existing coyote management initiative.
Long-term wildlife management solutions are most effective when integrated with methodology that is based on site-specific biophysical animal data plus educational outreach and social surveys within the target community. The Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) has been pioneering in its integrated approach to wildlife management through the use of professional wildlife scientists, social scientists and educational experts.
Per Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) Section 3.07.065.A, professional services are exempt from the formal bidding procedures, provided competitive quotes are obtained, if practical, as determined by the City Manager. Given that LMU CURes has been identified as the only known source to provide and implement a Coyote Study and Management Program reasonably available to the Culver City Police Department, the City Manager has determined that competitive quotes are not necessary in this case.
Drs. Eric Strauss, Peter Auger, and Michele Romolini have several decades of experience assessing and mitigating coyote/human management issues in New England as well as in cities in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Auger has been radio tracking coyotes in Rhode Island since 2004, and the program is considered one of the most scientifically clear and respected long-term coyote management programs in the United States. Additionally, Dr. Auger has been developing a new cellphone-based GPS radio tracking collar in partnership with the University of Rhode Island and LMU engineering departments.
Proposed Culver City Coyote Study & Management Program:
First Year
The study is proposed for three to five years with the focus of the first year on a review and assessment of existing data relating to coyote distribution and activity that has already been recovered by the Police Department’s Animal Services Division. This assessment will be augmented through additional data recovery using game camera analysis and the assessment of coyote dietary preferences from scat analysis. Preliminary site selection and pre-baiting for potential coyote capture and fitting of radio-telemetry collars and/or remote sensing technologies installation will also be conducted during the first year.
In conjunction with the collection of biophysical coyote data, activities directed towards human social factors affecting coyote management will be initiated. These activities will include key informant interviews, initial neighborhood educational measures and the identification and recruitment of key teachers working at community schools.
Second Year
The focus will be on remote tracking of target study site coyotes. A domestic cat field study component of the project will also be implemented at and around coyote activity and trapping sites. The cat field study will track their movements helping with analyzing both coyote and domestic cat patterns. In addition to continuing certain social science measures initiated during year one, school curriculum development tasks will be initiated, and a stakeholder survey will be developed based on information gathered in year one. Field research activities associated with the baiting, trapping and mapping of target coyotes will require labor-intensive on-site field activities in addition to equipment purchases.
Third Year
The study will include the continuation and finalization of field game camera analysis, coyote radio telemetry/remote sensing data collection and analysis, plus completion of the domestic cat study. The stakeholders surveyed will be implemented and all other components of the human social factor sections of the study will be finalized. The results of the study will be analyzed and discussed in a comprehensive final study report, containing specific coyote management recommendations for present and predicted coyote/human interactions.
Project Task Timeline
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Should the proposed Plan, budget amendment and three-year agreement be approved by the City Council, the cost will be $211,000.00 based on the following annual amounts:
Year 1: $65,000
Year 2: $78,000
Year 3: $78,000
A budget amendment requires a four-fifths vote.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2019-02-11- ATT Draft Proposal Culver City Coyote (Canis latrans) Study & Management Program
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Approve the City of Culver City Coyote (Canis latrans) Study and Management Program Proposed by Dr. Eric G. Strauss, PhD from the LMU/LA Center for Urban Resilience; and,
2. Authorize the Culver City Police Department to implement the Program; and,
3. Approve a Three-Year Agreement with Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) for the Implementation of the Culver City Coyote (Nanis latrans) Study & Management Program in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $211,000.00; and,
4. Approve a Budget Amendment to transfer $211,000.00 from the General Fund Reserve to Appropriate $211,000.00 from the General Fund Reserve to Operating Bureaus Contractual Services (10140200.619800) (A budget amendment requires a four-fifths vote); and,
5. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare any necessary documents; and
6. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.