$150,000 Budgeted for Deer Management in Solon

Solon officials have set aside $150,000 for deer management this year as a placeholder in the until they can develop a comprehensive plan.

During a budget hearing last week, Public Works Commissioner Jim Stanek said Solon will have some form of management program this year to deal with a surging deer population, so he recommended that the finance committee insert a line item in the budget to set some money aside.

Stanek has been tasked to come up with a comprehensive deer management plan by May 1. That plan is supposed to include both lethal and nonlethal methods of controlling deer, but officials have said multiple times during the last few months of discussion that sharpshooting is the most effective form of deer management.

Stanek recommended putting aside $100,000, but the committee members suggested $150,000. Ward 7 Councilman William Russo said he felt more comfortable with that amount in case there are start-up costs to cover in the first year.

Stanek said the city may need more money than $150,000, but it's difficult to say without knowing yet the details of the comprehensive plan.

"You can't do a program without money," he said.

In four years managing deer populations with contracted sharpshooters, Solon spent $207,000, $191,000, $75,000 and $99,000. 

Finance Director Bill Weber said the money for the deer program could come from the anticipated

Solon officials intend to conduct some research into deer management strategies. Stanek is planning on having officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state wildlife officials attend an upcoming council meeting to brief city council on its options.

Stanek is also collecting bids to conduct an , a way of verifying the animal warden's counts. 

Since canceling the , the deer herd ha rebounded. City officials counted nearly 700 deer in 2010 and expect there to be more than 1,000 by the end of this year – even more than before the sharpshooting program began.

As a result, city officials expect about 100 deer-car accidents this year, a nearly 50 percent increase over 2010.