Correspondence from Goats On The Hoof – January 29, 2016
Letter from the business owners detailing their service, insurance, and experience in other municipalities.
James Davison
To: Elena Bolster; Lindsay Chase; Paul Hurst; Enzo Calla
Subject: RE: Permission to Work In View Royal
From: Mayor And Council Email
Sent: February-02-16 10:01 AM
To: Elena Bolster
Subject: FW: Permission to Work In View Royal
Agenda – Feb 16th pls
From: Goats On The Hoof [mailto:goatsonthehoofvm@gmail.com]
Sent: January-29-16 12:28 PM
To: Mayor And Council Email
Subject: Permission to Work In View Royal
Good Day
We are sending you this email with the hope that we might have permission to provide our service within the Town of View Royal.
Our small business is called Goats On The Hoof Vegetation Management, and we utilize a small herd of eleven goats to target graze areas which are unsightly and overrun by weeds, grasses and invasive plants. The herd is brought to a target site, contained within electric net fence, and supervised 24/7 for the duration of the contract. One of us will attend the goats at all times, and work with them throughout the day to clear the unwanted material. They are especially useful on steep and rocky terrain where it is difficult or dangerous for people and machinery to work, and they are very efficient at reducing the biomass and seedbank of blackberry, English ivy and scotch broom to name a few. Plants that have been browsed at the correct time are substantially less vigorous and subsequently easier to control and eradicate. Seeds that are ingested are rendered sterile in the animal's digestive tract. Our goats are quiet and entertaining to watch, so we always draw a smiling crowd wherever we work, and often hear comments about how much nicer this method is than using noisy machines. For your protection we are covered by $5 million in liability insurance and are fully licensed to run the business. We are an affiliate of Rent-a-Ruminant LLC who has done this type of vegetation clearing for over 10 years in the Seattle area and has affiliates throughout the U.S.
Our company has been operational for three years, and we have worked in various areas of the Island, including Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Lantzville, Nanaimo and recently Esquimalt. The City of Parksville drafted a bylaw to allow us to work there, Bylaw 1503, and the City Council of Nanaimo unanimously gave us permission to work there. We were very pleased to be invited to participate in the Earth Day festival in Esquimalt last year, and have been invited back this year, as having us attend was very successful for them and brought lots of positive attention.
A short time ago we were contacted by a potential customer in View Royal, who would very much like us to clear a site of blackberries for her. We are always very careful to comply with all regulations laid out in each municipality we come to, and when we checked with the Bylaws Officer in your town we were told no, we could not work there. Before we tell our client that we can't help her, we thought that we would contact you and see if there may be some provision for temporary permits or an amendment to your animal control bylaw to accommodate us. Our client has offered to contact you as well to discuss her reasons for wanting to use our method.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reply to this email or contact Allan at 250 927 5323. We invite you to have a look at our website for some photos of past jobs and a more thorough description of our methods.
Kind regards
Beverly Ness & Allan Iwanyshyn
Goats On The Hoof Vegetation Management