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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/28/2014 Jeffery T. Standish Town Hall, 53095 Main Road Chairman P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Telephone (631) 765-1283 Ext.235 Fax (631) 765-9015 Deer Management Committee TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MINUTES August 28, 2014 6:30 P.M. Southold Town Hall Conference Room A meeting of the Deer Management Committee was held Thursday, August 28, 2014 at the Town Hall Conference Room, Main Rd., in Southold. Present were: Chairperson Jeff Standish, Members: Councilman Jim Dinizio, John Betsch, David Dominy, Adam West, John Haas, Robert Lehnert, John Rasweiler, John Rumpler, Nancy Foote. Guests: Mimi Ellis, John Sepnoski, John Severini Call to order : Jeff Standish called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. New Properties : Jeff presented new properties proposed for the DMP. Properties are as follows: Mulford Court, Orient may have parking issues. Cedarfields off Moores Lane in Greenport and Greensfield in Southold can be hunted in the center of the properties. Greensfield is off Tucker Lane and Jeff has the permission from the neighboring property to enter the Town owned piece off their private property. Angel Shores is a big piece with potential for one zone on the west end. Jeff would like a sign posted for the zone stating that the hunter must stay within the boundaries of the 150’ setbacks. Zones will be within the safety zone but it is the responsibility of the hunter to stay within the boundaries or risk being ticketed. The new 150’ set back is very close to private properties and can backfire if hunters are not very careful to stay within the zones. John Betsch thought it would be a good idea to inform the Police Dept. of the rules and dates of the program. In the past if a call came in to the Police Department concerning hunting, the PD will call DEC. Jeff notifies the Chief each year as to the commencement of the TOS hunting program. John believes the residents need to be educated as well. Adam West thought sending out a flyer to surrounding properties where the new rules and legislation are affected the most. Other properties being considered: North Bayview, Southold off Shellfisher Road can have 2 zones, Leeward Dr., Southold is a small piece, Ackerly Pond, Southold in back of Jasmine Rd., Cox Neck in Mattituck where Jeff will need to get permission from surrounding neighbors, Marratooka Preserve, Mattituck potential for 2 zones, and Hogs Neck will have 2 zones added to the existing property. Jeff spoke with Nick Gibbons and the co-owned Town/County properties will open November 1 this year Website: Jeff met with Susan Switzer of the North Fork Deer Alliance. She would like to see the Town Website have more Deer management information on the home page so to bring more awareness to the exploding deer population. There should be more explanations of why the Town uses hunting and no other management methods. Other methods have been researched and documented but these reports need to be 1 available for reading on the website and direct users to DEC and USDA links for more information. Residents need information on the other methods. ie: Sterilization, 4 poster program for tick control. These methods need to be further debated for affordability and public health practices. Publish information on East Hampton’s sterilization project conducted by White Buffalo Company indicating it is a research project. Committee needs to address other issues other than hunting and put information on the website, including information from past Town sponsored forums. John Sepnoski believes all relevant links should be put onto the website with a nonresident section with links for hunting County properties. John suggests using other forms of social media ie: Facebook. Meeting minutes and agenda are available on the website. John Betsch thought enlisting Philip Beltz to help direct inquiries to the website for information would also help. Nuisance Program – Jeff reported to the committee that 34 deer was harvested on the Town Nuisance Permit with baiting using corn and feeders. Most were from Bayview area. The program is unable to get additional tags due to the injunction. It is unclear when the legal issues will be settled. There is a hearing scheduled for September 6. The Town Deer Management program will be able to get tags for 2014 season. 2014 Program - The committee would like to permit Suffolk County Veterans to participate in the Town Archery program. Jeff will present this request to the Board. Ladder stick and ladder stands can be left in place this year on properties without walking trails. Hunters will assume all responsibility for this equipment. Tree stands left in place will be open for use by everyone. John Rumpler questioned who would be responsible if a hunter fell out of your tree strand. Committee believes hunters need to be responsible for themselves and the Town is covered by DEC law for Liability. Dave Dominy reminded the group that there were no complaints during Nuisance season when stands were left behind. Dave presented a letter from Fairfax Virginia that was mailed to residents adjacent or next to property being hunted. The committee would like to develop a similar letter for Southold to send or distribute to residents near DMP Town properties notifying them of the hunt and asking for cooperation. John Rumpler suggested sending it to Suffolk Times for publication too. Dave, Adam West, John Rumpler & John Betsch will create a Southold letter for Jeff to present to the Town Board for approval. Jim Dinizio added the letter could be read at the end of the Board meeting. Jeff asked committee to be more involved. John Betsch suggested coming up with a list of ideas to bring before the Board. John Rasweiler offered to write about contraception for the website. Jeff will be meeting with Suffolk County Parks staff to walk the Blocker property on September 6. Jeff discussed the Fred Theile press release outlining the following: January shotgun season includes Saturday and Sunday hunting. Bow and arrow will continue into January but will require 10 acres. Town DMP program in January will be a lottery. There will be less available property in January due to this 10 acre rule. Jeff reviewed the numbers from the Town 2013 season. Total reported: 265, of which 100 were taken off Town properties and 174 were donated to the cooler. John Rumpler suggested adding above statistics to letter being developed. John Sep recommended putting year end summaries on the website. John Severini would like to know the # goal of the committee to use for educating the public. The goal is to reduce the herd to a manageable level. Jeff would like to conduct a spotlight count with the permission of the Town Board. John Sep added to start documentation; take pictures before the season then go back next year to see the effectiveness. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Foote Deer Management Program Secretary 2