Mentor Council Continues Discussion On Deer Hunting Ordinance

The members of Mentor City Council seem to agree that something should be done to control the deer population in the city.

However, they do not yet have a consensus on precisely what steps should be taken and what order those steps should be in.

Council chose not to vote on an ordinance Tuesday night that, if passed, would legalize the bow hunting of deer .

Instead, they opted to revisit the ordinance during their next Council meeting Sept. 4.

During a work session before the meeting, Ward One Councilman Robert Shiner asked why the city would legalize hunting before it had established a deer culling program.

Shiner said just legalizing deer hunting was "an incomplete system."

"We have not discussed anything about city parks, Metroparks or anywhere else the deer are at," he said.

Mentor City Manager Kenneth Filipiak noted that the city has been pursuing a , since February.

Filipiak added that it takes time to get a Deer Management Plan approved and that he hoped to have the bow hunting legalized in time for this year's deer season, which begins in September.

He said that the city parks would be targeted once a culling program was approved by the ODNR.

"It's probably best to reserve those areas for a culling program," Filipiak said. "There's some concern that letting hunters in at this stage could disrupt the culling process before it begins."

Rick Tyler, who oversaw the Cleveland Metroparks' deer culling program before he retired, was also at the work session.

Tyler said, in his personal opinion, it was preferable to have a culling program in place before they approved private hunting, if only because a hunting mishap would make it almost impossible to launch a culling program.

When Ward Two Councilwoman Carolyn Bucey asked if private hunters made a dent in the overall deer population, Tyler replied, "Not really, it doesn't. It does satisfy the want for public inclusion and it does provide the opportunity to get into parcels that the sharpshooters cannot."

During the work session, Bucey expressed concerns that "problem hunters" would be allowed to hunt in Mentor.

Filipiak said that anyone who hunts in Mentor under the proposed ordinance would need a state license, as well as the approval of the Mentor police chief.

Police Chief Daniel Llewellyn said they would keep a database of people who hunt in Mentor and that the department would not be giving hunting privileges to persistent troublemakers.

"We are certainly aware of who our frequent flyers are in the city," Llewellyn added.

Though Council did not vote on the deer-hunting ordinance Tuesday night, two Mentor residents gave their opinions during the Council meeting.

"We can't walk to our neighbor's house without stepping deer feces," David Passerallo said. "There's no sense in landscaping."

Meanwhile, Ron Parks said the deer had eaten all the foliage around his house.

"I'm begging Council, please do something with these animals," he said.

Also at Tuesday's City Council meeting:

• .
• The city welcomed back Matt Schweikert, .
• the city amended STERIS's .

According to its 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 did not change. The grant was only amended to reflect .

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