City Council To Discuss Deer Hunting Ordinance At Work Session, Meeting

Mentor City Council will revisit a piece of proposed legislation today that, if passed, would .

The ordinance is on the schedule to be discussed at a work session 5:30 p.m. today at . It is also on the agenda for the Council meeting at 7 p.m. However, Council may choose not to vote on it tonight.

Earlier this year, Council gave the city administration permission to pursue the permits needed to get a .

This latest ordinance is only part of the city's ultimate plan and not its totality, city officials said.

The ordinance proposes:

• long bow, crossbow and compact bow hunting of white-tailed deer in Mentor during the appropriate state-sanctioned hunting season. No firearms will be permitted.
• hunting would only be allowed on parcels of five acres or larger or a combination of no more than three adjacent properties that aren't separated by a public roadway and are five or more acres.
• hunters must have all necessary state permits, as well as a city permit issued by the chief of Mentor Police Department.
• hunters must have the permission of the property owners on which they hunt
• all hunters must agree to hunt only from a fixed, elevated position at least eight feet from the ground
• no hunting shall occur within 100 feet of a property line, driveway or roadway
• the first deer harvested by a hunter must be an antlerless deer
• any hunter who kills a deer, or any other animal, shall report such a kill to the police department within 24 hours

Also at tonight's City Council meeting:

• the city will amend STERIS's .

According to its current grant, STERIS should receive $1.3 million in tax incentive grants during the next 10 years (or $135,000 per year) for adding $13.6 million to its payroll.

The amount of the tax incentive will not change. The grant will only be amended to reflect .

• Council can vote to approve the purchase of eight new Ford Interceptors for the Mentor Police Department. They will cost a total of $222,000, according to the proposed legislation.
• The city can accept $18,000 in funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The money would go to the removal and replacement of ash trees, .