Final 2019 budget approved, tax rate decreases

By Lauren Young

Staff writer   

The Town of Manlius will join forces with the Village of Fayetteville in deer culling next year.

Despite some vocal opposition after the Manlius Town Board’s public hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 14, the town adopted a new deer management program and intermunicipal agreement (IMA) with Fayetteville, citing resident safety as its determining factor. The program will emulate and enhance the Fayetteville deer hunting program, adding more locations for culling, but not more hunting days.

Councilor Karen Green, the point person for the issue, said the town has received many complaints from residents over the years regarding ticks, deer collisions and property damage, and brainstorming solutions has been an “ongoing process” — about three years now, she said.

“This is a process that’s emotional, but it’s also a process that we have to come to terms with as a town — we all have to work together for a solution,” said Green.

On Oct. 24, the board proposed to join Fayetteville’s deer culling program by adopting the village’s 2019 management plan, which includes an IMA between the village and town, although the town must have its own permit application.

The board has worked with Fayetteville, the DEC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Cornell Cooperative Extension in the process, and the night before, Nov. 13, the Fayetteville Village Board voted to adopt this same IMA.

Fayetteville began its deer culling program in 2016 through an agreement with the USDA, using a bait-and-shoot method by sharpshooters hunting from elevated locations in the village. During its Oct. 22 meeting, Fayetteville approved its fourth year of deer culling under USDA management.

All venison collected is donated to the Food Bank of Central New York — in 2017, Fayetteville donated 2,900 pounds of it, Green said.

“The town is in a very unique place right now to address this issue,” said Green. On average, nearly 100 deer collisions happen around the area per year, she said.

The decision to cull arose from safety concerns for residents, especially regarding ticks carrying Lyme Disease and the number of car accidents.

Manlius Supervisor Ed Theobald said his main concern is controlling the deer population, not necessarily reducing it. The agreement would also be more cost-efficient for the town, he said, and the town would only be charged a $41 processing fee per deer, paid to the village, which pays the USDA.

To cull, or not to cull?

While public hearings are not required for a permit, Theobald said the board was interested in resident opinions due to the community-wide impact. Upon opening the public hearing, resident Wendy Scherer, ecology professor at Le Moyne College, questioned the board’s data, including incidents of Lyme disease, if a census was taken and how big the town’s deer population is.

“My perception of the neighborhood is that I’m seeing far less deer,” she said. The number of accidents reported seemed too high, she said, and in New York State, Scherer said drivers have a one-in-162 chance of hitting a deer, making chances of hitting a deer “fairly low.”

According to a most recent State Farm study on deer collisions from July 2017 to June 2018, there is a one-in-165 chance of hitting a deer in New York — considered a “medium-risk” state, and a tad higher than the nation’s average of one in 167, said Scherer.

Resident Cheryl Vollmor also questioned the data, saying she had never encountered ticks in the area and asked how many deer are anticipated to be culled.

Kristina Ferrare, forestry specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County, said there is an overpopulation of deer in the area, and the culling number is measured based on its impact, like the number of car accidents, tick bites or other resident complaints.

“That’s usually what initiates the process of looking further into the deer management question,” said Ferrare. “[It’s the] impacts, not necessarily the headcount.”

Councilman John Loeffler agreed, explaining that deer “aren’t evenly spread.”

Ferrare said the town’s 100 accidents per year statistic is based on a study focused on the east side of Syracuse, which represents a similar habitat. The study showed that there are nearly 100 deer per square mile, with some pockets of land containing more, said Ferrare.

Courtney LaMere, regional deer biologist for the DEC, explained how impacts are stressed over the number of deer in making these decisions, and when some residents questioned why deer were targeted over other tick-carrying animals, like rabbits and chipmunks, LaMere said that white-tailed deer are a tick’s preferred host, especially for a female tick before she lays her eggs.

“They have so much potential — they’re a big-bodied animal, they don’t groom really well, so lots of ticks can ride on a deer,” she said.

LaMere said that while minor property damages, like eating flowers or tomatoes, is inconvenient, it is also an indicator of what deer are destroying in the forest.

Patricia Carter, a 20-year resident, said she rarely sees deer, but with more education about Lyme Disease prevention, humans can “prevent almost all of it.” Instead of culling, other avenues can be taken, like routine tick-checking while outside and putting up fences or deer netting.

“Before we start killing all the wildlife, we really need to think of all the consequences,” she said. “You can’t get rid of everything you don’t like, but you can learn to deal with it much more safely and humanely.”

However, resident Alan Byrne said he supports the deer culling agreement, especially for the prevention of Lyme Disease.

Arnie Poltenson, a 50-year resident and survivor of Lyme Disease, explained how his wife, also a survivor of Lyme Disease, and himself take proper precautions daily, especially since a family of six deer visit their front lawn twice a day, maneuvering around their property’s fencing.

“We’re aware of the fact that there are other tick carriers, but there is nothing like a deer,” said Poltenson, who supports culling for town safety and because it is “the right thing to do.”

The public hearing was closed and after some discussion between board members, the deer management program and IMA were unanimously adopted.

The board has planned an environmental review and an approval of the permit at its next meeting on Nov. 28.

“We take this very seriously, both emotionally and realistically,” said Theobald, stressing the importance of community safety.

“The object here is not to reduce the deer population — it’s to reduce the tick population,” said Loeffler. “I know people who have had Lyme Disease and it absolutely destroyed their lives.”

Also at the meeting, the board unanimously approved its final 2019 budget — a $15.2 million budget that includes $11.7 milion raised by taxes and a six-cent decrease in its tax rate — from $4.89 to $4.83 per every $1,000 of assessed value.

Previously, the preliminary budget showed a tax rate of $4.92 per every $1,000 of assessed value — a two cent increase. Councilman Nicholas Marzola said that “there was a lot needed to be done to get us here,” but it was a “tremendous result.”

The preliminary budget was introduced at the board’s Oct. 10 meeting, with public comments heard at its Oct. 24 meeting.

The next Manlius Town Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the town hall at 301 Brooklea Dr.