(A) WATERFOWL is any bird that frequents the water, or lives about rivers, lakes or other bodies of water; an aquatic fowl, including, but not limited to, ducks, geese, swans, herons and egrets.
(B) Ohio Department of Natural Resources strongly recommends against feeding waterfowl including, but limited to, Canadian geese due to the following negative effects of feeding:
(1) Lack of balanced diet may cause wing deformity in goslings, hindering the bird’s flight ability;
(2) Feeding causes overcrowding allowing diseases such as botulism and cholera to spread easily and possibly result in massive waterfowl die-offs;
(3) Geese lose their fear of humans and become aggressive; and
(4) Feeding reduces the need for geese to migrate so they stay in an area longer and create more problems.
(C) Based upon this recommendation the City Parks and Recreation Commission will enact the following rules and regulations regarding feeding of waterfowl on park land.
(1) No person shall purposely or knowingly, with intent to provide such food, feed, bait or in any manner provide access to food to any waterfowl within the corporate limits of the City of Barberton, on park land. This section shall not apply to agents of the city feeding animals kept and managed by the Barberton Parks and Recreation Commission and/or the city.
(2) No person shall purposely or knowingly leave or store any refuse, garbage, food product, pet food, forage product or supplement, salt, seed, birdseed, fruit or grain in a manner that would constitute an attractant to any waterfowl on city park property.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the actions of any agent of the State of Ohio lawfully engaged in a wildlife or waterfowl management program.
(4) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the actions of an agent of the city authorized to implement an alternative control method set forth in any approved community based goose management plan and possessing a special good management permit issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
(D) Any person violating any provision of this section shall be liable for a fine according to the following schedule:
(1) Effective 1-1-2016 through 12-31-2016. An informational citation will be issued to a person violating this section which will site the reason of the policy and the penalty for violating the policy beginning in 2017.
(2) Effective 1-1-2017. The penalty for violation of this section shall be $75 for the first violation, $150 for the second infraction committed within one calendar year and $300 for the third infraction committed within one calendar year.
(Ord. 183-2015, passed 12-14-2015)