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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/13/2016 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 January 13, 2016 6:30 P.M. Southold Town Hall A meeting of the Deer Management Committee was held Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at the Southold Town Hall on Main Road, in Southold. Present were: Chairperson Dave Dominy, Adam West, Jeff Standish, Jim McMahon, John Scaramucci, John Betsch, Rob Lehnert, Laura Khlare and Councilman Jim Dinizio. Meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairperson David Dominy. Deer Management Plan - Jim McMahon presented the draft for the Deer Management Plan. The DEC requires this plan to be submitted when applying for the Town DMAP tags. Jim outlined the specifics of the plan: deer problem in Southold, ticks, habitat damage, collisions (esp during rut), educating the public in all area including driver safely. The report includes additional methods used in other communities. Tick borne illnesses are addressed in the report. Acorn amounts give a clue to the amount of deer mice present which are hosts to tick larvae in the first stage of tick development. John Scaramucci read somewhere that the common deer tick can live an entire life cycle on a mouse. Deer supply a larger host and carry more ticks. The public needs to be made aware to being exposed to ticks and managing ticks on their properties: removing leaf litter, landscape property and treat property. The deer reduction can help but is not the solution. As weather patterns change, ticks will thrive. Laura Khlare added that the Town Tick committee is talking about reducing deer population as a method of tick control. The four-poster program is being used on Shelter Island to help with their tick issue. Deer are impacting agriculture. Farmers are putting up additional fences forcing the deer into neighborhoods where they can’t be hunted. For example, there is 7 acres in Southold village that can be hunted near neighborhood but does not have enough Homeowner support. The funneling effect fences have created also increase car collisions. Jeff Standish will ask at the next East End Wildlife Task Force meeting to have NYS update road signs due to fence placement. Other options to consider are flashing lights and sensors on the roadways. Jim would like the committee to read over the plan and make suggestions. Main management option is hunting. More areas are needed to hunt. Only 2% of the Southold properties are being hunted. There are farms, vacant parcels that are available but are not being hunted. 1 Laura asked if there has been any discussion on virus(s) that kill deer. Jeff reported there is HDE – Blue Tongue disease in Iowa. A parasite enters the brain and kills the deer. At this time, it is not known if this disease has been noted in NYS. New York is afflicted with chronic waste disease. How we can keep people interested in hunting? John Scaramucci believes there are more women and children interested. There is a demand for hunting classes. There is more interest but they have nowhere to hunt unless they have family that owns property. Jim thought that making more land available to hunt and have a list of hunters who are proficient in archery can help the effort. Increase in areas will increase opportunities. Hold special classes where hunters could be certified in proficiency. Hunters need to show up for nuisance permits and hunt for more than trophy hunts. Dave would like to see the Town cooler publicized more. John Scaramucci believes the cooler needs extended hours with additional staffing or install a combination lock for drop off. Offering a bounty can also spark interest in more hunting. Jim asked the committee to submit comments to him via email. Current Hunting Season – Jeff Standish reported that every property will be submitted to DEC for the nuisance hunt (excluding properties co-owned with Suffolk County). Each property will be baited. The bait stations will be rotated among properties. New batteries and corn have been purchased. Other states bait all season long. This is being discusses in NYS. The nuisance program could be opened to non-residents if there is not enough interest from Town participants. Using a reservation system, each hunter must call the DPW office to reserve a property on a specific date. Crossbow is permitted on certain properties during nuisance season. Regular hunting season program is in line with last year’s results. The parking issue at the Sinatra property has been resolved with the installation of a fence. Jeff would like to send out a survey to hunters at the end of the season and asked the committee to review the handout. Legislative changes have been reviewed at East End Wildlife Task Force meetings. Discussions include: extending hunting season, educating hunters and public, open more properties, allowing crossbow, culling, Health Dept needing tissue samples for Lymes testing, bounty on deer, sale of venison and tax deduction. There was discussion of reduced understory and reduced birds. Deer population affects endangered species. This can be a good hook for deer funding. Wildlife Specialist/Manager North Fork Deer Alliance requested the committee to review their outline for the position. Jeff asked committee members to review the handout and submit any suggestions before the next meeting. A desk audit will have to be done through Civil Service. Civil Service can create a position. Shelter Island is in the process of creating a new full time position. Jeff has been in touch with Jim Colligan from Shelter Island and will ask for help creating a description for the Southold Town part time position. John Betsch suggested tasks that should be included in job description: education and tick committee. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Foote Deer Management Program Secretary 2