Jamestown resident Robert Sisley expresses concerns about deer population to Jamestown City Council (February 26, 2024)
The deer population issue could be getting another look in the City of Jamestown.
Resident Robert Sisley, speaking at City Council‘s voting session Monday night, said the deer problem in his neighborhood has been getting worse, citing over 30 deer recently seen on his neighbor’s camera by the corner of Linwood and Barker Street, “And two nights ago we had 14 deer walking right down the street from Allen Park towards Foote Avenue. And it’s a problem. And there’s several communities.. several towns and cities across the country that have deer harvesting successfully and the council has to look into it. It’s getting worse every year.”
Resident Scott Axelson, who lives behind Fletcher Elementary School, said he’s seeing more deer during day time hours.
He suggested that if the Department of Environmental Conservation is involved, that surrounding towns and villages should be involved in discussions, “Especially when you live on the city boundaries with the towns. If the DEC were to get involved, would there be some way to have cooperation with the town of Busti, town of Kiantone, town of Ellicott. Because, the boundary, South Street, is 500 feet away and we know the deer go back and forth because they know the city is safe.”
Council President Tony Dolce said he’s looking at resurrecting the Deer Committee now that new council members have had a chance to “get their feet wet.”
He agreed that it should be a regional approach with the DEC, “They came in several years ago and gave a presentation about it. It’s not an easy fix. There are a lot of things to consider. Public safety being number one. Whether to have a controlled hunt in the city, where to have it, when to have it, how to have it. There’s just a lot of things to consider. It’s not as simple as just allowing people to go out and pick off deer in the neighborhood.”
In September 2021 , Council voted down a proposal 2 to 7 that would have allowed 8 bow hunters to receive licenses with the two sites for hunting limited to Jones Memorial Park and the wooded area behind the Allen Park Ice Rink.
In October 2022, Council members at large Randy Daversa and Jeff Russell along with Council members Andrew Faulkner and Brent Sheldon were supposed to have a formal meeting on the issue, but there was no follow-up by that group back to Council.
New council members Joe Paterniti and Russ Bonfiglio both expressed concern at Monday’s voting session over the city’s deer population, saying council needs to revisit the issue.
The one reason that the deer population in town is bad is that people keep feeding the deer when they come into their yards. They need to understand that if the deer are not being fed, they will start looking elsewhere for their food.
I like deer. But they reproduce every year with no predators to keep them in check. I live off of Camp Street near Allen Park. They eat everything and I mean everything. Something needs to be done…..please.