2012 Deer Management Plan in the Works

The Town and Country Board of Aldermen met Monday night. A public work session was held after the meeting where a number of issues were discussed.

Deer Management Plan

Town and Country Police Captain Gary Hoelzer gave board members his final opinion on deer management based on his final Deer Management Report.

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Hoelzer said after extensive research, including looking at other urban areas dealing with the same issues, he recommends decreasing the city's deer population to 30 deer per square mile or 300 total deer. That's down from the current 66 deer per square mile, or 660 total. He said sharpshooting is the quickest, most effective method to reduce a large herd.

"Sharpshooting will get you the number faster," Hoelzer said. "Once you achieve the initial population goals, then you can maintain the goal in a number of ways."

Hoelzer said he looked into managing deer internally, but did not find it to be cost effective to train city employees to sharpshoot, especially with the city's limited resources. He said the city could reach the goal in five years, versus working with White Buffalo, a company contracted to sharpshoot for the city in the past, which could reach the deer goal in two years.

"I don't believe city resources can reduce the deer population significantly," Hoelzer said.

Hoelzer will work with the city's legal counsel, Steve Garrett, to create a bill for a 2012 city Deer Management Program to bring before the board of aldermen for a vote. Alderman Al Gerber, who chairs the city's conservation commission, will also meet with Hoelzer prior to the drafting of the bill to share his concerns on the issue.

Mayor Jon Dalton said he wants to move quickly on the plan because he wants deer management funding in the 2012 city budget. Dalton said there will be a working draft of the bill to be presented to the board of aldermen at the Sept. 12. meeting. This would allow for a first reading of the bill at the Sept. 26 board of aldermen meeting and it could possibly be voted on and adopted by Oct 10.

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City Audit

Each year an audit of the city's financial statements is required according to state statute.

The company contracted to conduct the financial audit for the city of Town and Country gave its report Monday night. Michael Williams said his firm Hochschild, Bloom and Company, LLP reviewed the city's financial statements and gave the city a "clean" audit.

According to Williams, the city's assets totaled $43,026,000, up about 1.8 percent from the previous year. The city's liabilities totaled $1,149,000, which decreased about $143,000 from the previous year. The city's total revenues came in at $13,529,000 which was down about $63,000 from the previous year.

The complete audit report can be viewed on the city's website, www.town-and-country.org.