Deer Culling

June 22, 2015:  Deer culling was discussed during last Monday’s meeting. There is a July 31st deadline to apply for a culling permit for Walker Road Park. Avon Lake and Bay will partner in the culling. No one knew definite costs and the cost will be shared between Avon Lake and Bay. During the April 21st Walker Road Ad Hoc Committee Meeting, Avon Lake President of Council Marty O’Donnell stated the cost for deer culling at Walker Road Park would be a little less than $6,000. A resident asked what that expense would cover. Avon Lake Chief of Police Duane Streator responded that the $6,000 is the fee paid to the Department of Agriculture for the permit. There were additional costs for safety forces and other expenses.

The Mayor stated last Monday that she thought the cost of culling ran about $1,000 to $1,500 per deer. However, the reality was Avon Lake “signed an initial service agreement with the USDA to spend up to $15,960 for sharpshooting services, but the actual cost came in at $8,557 for the 19 deer that were killed between Feb. 27 and April 11. That total amounts to an average of slightly more than $450 per deer, which at-large Councilman John Shondel, who has been preparing a 10-year deer management program to present to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in July, said was worthwhile. USDA sharpshooters killed 16 deer at Weiss Field and volunteer archers killed three deer at the city landfill.”