Deer Monitoring Committee

Deer Monitoring & Control Commitee 101 Maple Drive North Hendersonville, TN 37075 Conference Room #2 2/20/24 @ 6:30 PM Members: Jerald Barret (Chairman), Jim Flockencier, Charles Travis, Pam Kerzner, Sylvia Stumpfig, Colin Zimmerman, Mike Forester, Mark Burgdorf (Board Liaison), Emily Tipsord (Staff liaison) I. Call to Order a. Approval of Agenda b. Invoca�on c. Approval of Prior Mee�ng Minutes – 12/19/23 (page 2-3) II. Report of the Commitee Chair a. Welcome new Member Charles Travis b. Chairmans Report for 2023 III. Report of the Board Liaison IV. Recogni�on of the public (5 minute per person max / 10 minutes per mee�ng total) V. Old Business VI. New Business a. Review Commitee Opera�ng Protocol b. Finaliza�on of brochure c. Discussion of ac�on items for 2024 VII. Adjournment 1  Deer Monitoring & Control Commitee Minutes 12/19/2023 The Mee�ng was called to order by the Chairman, Jerold Barret at 6:30pm. Present were Jerold Barret, Mike Rowan, Sylvia Stumpfig, J. Riterbeck, Colin Zimmerman, Pam, Kerzner, Mike Forester, William (Jake) Moore, Steven Rozek, Darlyn Farris. The agenda was approved. Invoca�on given. The Chair reviewed the Sunshine law governing City mee�ngs. This statement was given by Chairman Barret: “Statement from the Chair The mission of The Hendersonville Deer Monitoring and Control Commitee is to gather informa�on and provide recommenda�ons to the City and Residents on how to live in harmony with a healthy deer popula�on. Since this commitee, with its present members, began mee�ng monthly this past May, we have heard from a number of residents with varied perspec�ves, opinions and sugges�ons. We have researched each of these recommenda�ons. Further, this commitee has reviewed numerous studies by universi�es, organiza�ons, municipali�es and deer experts as to the efficacy and viability of different op�ons. We do this and all of our work, without prejudice or a specific agenda, other than our stated mission. We do not set City Policy but provide informa�on to BOMA. This commitee adheres to the Open Mee�ng Act (Sunshine Law). We have a specified period of �me, [10 min of our 60 min mee�ng} which has been approved by the City, at every official mee�ng for public comment. A ci�zen may speak for up to 5 minutes on commitee related business. Outside of this alloted period, it will be appreciated and expected that the work of the commitee will proceed without interrup�on. And, that all should refrain from side conversa�ons and unnecessary interrup�ons. Should �me and the situa�on allow, the chair may allow for specific per�nent ques�ons from the public. We also will accept ques�ons, in wri�ng, that are submited prior to the mee�ngs and will address at an opportune �me. Further, any non-vo�ng working sessions will be posted and the ci�zens welcome. There are no closed door mee�ngs. The commitee also follows Roberts Rules of Order. In this, each commitee member is allowed to speak to the mater at hand, if they wish, before anyone else speaks a second �me. • Each member has a right to know what is going on at all �me • Only urgent maters may interrupt a speaker • Only one topic/mo�on may be discussed at a �me • One must be recognized by the chair in order to speak The USDA survey completed last Spring shows our deer popula�on ranging from near 40 to over 80 deer per square mile, with the two peninsulas near or above 80 deer/square mile. This is approximately 4 �mes the state average. Further, USDA states that a deer herd with an abundance of food and no preda�on will double in size in 3-5 years and a list of op�ons to be considered was provided. The USDA does feel that the number one priority is to eliminate supplemental feeding. We are working closely with 2 TWRA, as they are the stewards of the deer popula�on in Tennessee. The deer are owned the state of TN. We have also received the results of the recent ci�zen survey. In this survey, 73% of respondents feel Hendersonville has too many deer and 70% think the city should do something about it. Also from the survey, 410 people have experienced pet and/or personal atacks from deer, 266 have experienced �ck bite illness, and 27% say people within their neighborhood inten�onally feed deer. Currently we are researching what other communi�es and studies around the country have done when facing similar challenges. There is an abundance of research that clearly believes that supplemental feeding and concentra�on of deer contributes to the spread of CWD. Currently, CWD is verified to have been found on and along the TN/Al border. This disease is spreading at an alarming rate and, once it impacts an area, it can have dire consequences. Our current ini�a�ve is to finalize an ini�al communica�on pamphlet to be distributed to the ci�zens of Hendersonville which includes educa�on as to reasons not to feed the deer. We encourage all residents to refrain from supplemental feeding as this has been proven, by numerous studies, to be harmful to the deer popula�on. It also exacerbates the current situa�on AND it is against the Hendersonville ordinance. Respec�ully submited, Jerald Barret Chairman Hendersonville Deer Commitee” Informa�on from the Police Department on Deer/Vehicle crashes in Hendersonville was passed out to the members. Comments from the public: Darlyn Farris of Hendersonville, commented that with TRWA not allowing Herd culling, this commitee no longer had a purpose. Among other comments she said that this commitee was not a legal en�ty. She also stated that she had discussed this with Mayor Clary. Old Business discussion on the informa�onal document began. A�er several repeated disrup�ons and non-topic comments, the Chair closed the mee�ng. Sta�ng that we would cover the informa�onal document at the January mee�ng. The mee�ng was closed at 6:57pm. 3