Mt. Lebanon commission earmarks $68K for deer solution
The Mt. Lebanon commission voted to allocate $444,000 in unassigned funds at its Sept. 9 meeting. The money will fund a range of projects, including pedestrian traffic upgrades, improvements to the police firing range and private street repairs.
The amount also includes an initial allocation of $68,000 for deer management.
Deer management continues to be a subject of spirited debate amongst commissioners – particularly on the point of whether the ubiquitous animals should be culled or sterilized to reduce vehicle accidents.
The Sept. 9 allocation earmarks $68,000 for deer management, but does not specify methods. Municipal staff are currently in the process of drafting a more detailed deer management plan.
In discussing the allocation of funds, commission president Kristen Linfante reiterated her view that some combination of culling and sterilization would be necessary. “(Consultant) Tony DeNicola has made it clear you need to sterilize 90 percent of female deer to have an impact,” she said. “If we take this money and sterilize 68 deer, we still have not reduced the number of deer. I would see that as a waste of money.”
“To be clear, our goal is to reduce accidents, not deer,” Dave Brumfield responded. He asserted that it is still too early to decide on specific methods for deer management. “What still needs to happen is that (DeNicola) needs to come here and present the different options and their costs – culling versus sterilization or a combination of the two.”
Brumfield added that a detailed plan may itself narrow the commission’s options. “I don’t want to see a bad plan that fits $68,000,” he concluded. “I want to know the full cost of a real solution.”
Commissioner John Bendel agreed. “We have money in the budget for a plan,” he said. “We can then weigh our options.”
Commissioners set another $68,000 aside as a municipal contribution for private street maintenance, despite the fact that the commission has yet to approve a specific policy for such improvements. Residents of certain private streets, such as Summer Place, have petitioned the commission for assistance in repairing deteriorating roads, especially those that see high volumes of commuter traffic.