By Sara QuamDonald Gonnerman brought concerns to the Luverne City Council Tuesday night that he and his family felt unsafe when hunters were allowed in the city limits.Gonnerman said that on Sunday, Oct. 31, pheasant hunters were near his property on East Mead Court. He said BBs hit his buildings and his wife, children and grandchildren were scared.His horses have been "spooked" he said.Gonnerman estimated the three hunters were within 400 feet of his house.He said he is most upset because the hunters had permission to be there, on agricultural land within the city limits."Do we have to wait until somebody gets killed before we’ll do something about it?" Gonnerman said to the Council. "Laws have been broken and nothing’s been done. If kids are out 10 minutes past curfew, they get hauled away, but people are allowed to hunt in town? Something’s got to be done."City Administrator Greg LaFond said that even with permission from the sheriff or other officials, hunters aren’t allowed in town by city ordinance."Mr. Gonnerman and his family are entitled to the same protection under the law as anyone else," LaFond said.Gonnerman said he went to LaFond for help because the hunters returned, after being told once to not hunt there.LaFond said, "Despite the assertions of some who claim that the city administrator has no right to be involved in these matters, I assure you that my office will respond when presented with similar circumstances wherein a member of this community requests assistance and wherein our contract law enforcement agency has failed to take appropriate action to prevent a repetition of a potentially dangerous and illegal situation. I will not ignore the plea for assistance from any city resident no matter what their community or financial … status may be."By state law, on top of city ordinance, hunting is prohibited within 500 feet of a residence or barn or within 500 feet of a corral or fenced enclosure holding animals or livestock.Sheriff Mike Winkels said he felt bad about the inconvenience to the Gonnermans. He said it’s been common in the past for people to hunt near the old dump, which is approximately a half mile east of the junction of South Freeman Avenue and Hatting Street, as long as there were no complaints from residents.It is agricultural land, although it’s in city limits.Winkels wrote in a letter to the council, "The kids were told they could hunt there, under the conditions that they followed the hunting and safety regulations, got permission from the landowner and there were no complaints from residents in the area."The hunters misunderstood where they were granted permission to hunt, and they mistakenly went too far north. The Sheriff’s Office responded to two complaints that were received from the individual that owns a pasture in that area. Let it be known that at no time did I give permission for anyone to hunt next to any dwellings or a horse pasture."Since receiving the complaints, all hunters have been contacted and have been advised that there is to be no hunting within the city limits of Luverne. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused to the citizens in that area."The entire matter has been turned over to the Department of Natural Resources for a follow-up investigation."