Deer Work Faulted
Terry O’Riordan of the East Hampton Sportsmen’s Alliance joined animal-rights activists at an East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday in opposing the sterilization of deer to reduce the local herd.
Such programs conducted elsewhere have proven “ineffective and not cost-effective,” he said, referring to litigation by residents of Cayuga Heights, N.Y., where the village had to defend its sterilization program, albeit successfully.
The village does not have a current contract with White Buffalo, the organization that conducted deer sterilization here last winter as part of an expected five-year effort, but opponents nevertheless attended Friday’s meeting and repeated a prior request that the village abandon any plans to hire the firm again.
White Buffalo sterilized 114 does in the winter of 2015, returning in November to sterilize 95, including 50 bucks. The village has spent approximately $190,000 on the effort to date, and critics have argued that the process is cruel and ineffective, and have claimed that the surgery resulted in several deaths.
“Responsible, well-planned hunting is by far the most successful way to control the deer population within the village and would be in keeping with the deer management plan of its neighbor, the Town of East Hampton,” Mr. O’Riordan said. Drugs or chemicals used in the capture and sterilization process, he said, could “compromise the safety of the meat of a legal game animal . . . denying state residents of their right to harvest an animal to feed themselves, their friends, and their relatives.”
Members of the Group for Wildlife who had attended the board’s Feb. 19 meeting were also on hand Friday. Among them was Beverly Schanzer of Sag Harbor, who suggested that the 27-acre East Hampton Nature Trail be renamed the Mary Woodhouse Sanctuary. She said that a sanctuary “would be by definition a place where no experimentation, no intrusion, no bow hunting . . . nothing that interferes with their lives” would be permitted. (Mrs. Woodhouse donated the land that became the Nature Trail.)
The board was noncommittal, and Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said the effort to reduce the deer population remained a work in progress. “But again . . . the overpopulation of deer within the footprint of the village is a public health hazard with attendant tick-borne disease. It’s a public nuisance. We love those creatures just as much as any one of you out there, but it’s become a problem.”
“Respectfully, give the board of trustees a little bit of credit for trying to accomplish a goal,” he continued. “We still have a problem. I’m going to underscore that on behalf of the board of trustees and the residents that we serve, knowing it’s very sensitive.”
Also at Friday’s meeting, the board adopted two code amendments. With no public comment, the board voted to prohibit parking on the east side of James Lane between the driveway of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the intersection of Maidstone Lane. At its Feb. 4 work session, Mayor Rickenbach had told the board that the Rev. Denis Brunelle, rector of St. Luke’s, had expressed concern about sight lines for motorists entering and exiting the church’s parking lot, particularly during events at the church, Guild Hall, or the Home, Sweet Home museum.
The other amendment eliminates the requirement for solid-sided enclosures around commercial Dumpsters. While such receptacles will still be required to have secure covers, the board found that side enclosures were regularly scraped and impacted by garbage trucks and other vehicles, rendering the enclosures more unsightly than the Dumpsters they were designed to obscure.
The board also issued a notice to bidders for a Hook Pond water quality improvement project that is to be implemented behind the East Hampton Methodist Church and by the flagpole to the north of Town Pond. Bids will be opened at Village Hall on April 12 at 2 p.m.
Approximately four to 18 inches of soil and silt will be removed from each area, both of which receive stormwater runoff that ultimately flows into Hook Pond, Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, said. “Whenever there’s a heavy rain, both areas flood because the stormwater can’t adequately seep down.”
The drainage course to be installed in each location, known as a bioswale, will remove silt and pollution from surface runoff, and the areas will be reseeded. Work at both locations will take one to two weeks. The county provided a $46,000 grant for the project, and the village budgeted 50-percent matching funds in its current budget.
Also on April 12 at 2 p.m., the village will open bids for the renovation of the Police Department’s jail and booking area. At the board’s Jan. 7 work session, Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer, had presented plans for the addition of polycarbonate glass panels in the holding area to improve security, as well as lighting modifications, floor resurfacing, new ceiling tiles, and additional furniture. The project will cost approximately $90,000, Mr. Bennett said.