SILVER LAKE: After months of debate and feedback from residents, the village is moving forward with plans to reduce the local deer population.
“Our intent is not to kill all the deer in the village,” Councilwoman Carol Steiner said. “We have too many and we need to manage them better.”
The council is working on legislation that would allow bow hunters to kill deer in the Van Sise Nature Reserve, village-owned property along Kent Road and behind Village Hall.
The culling program, as proposed, would mirror the state archery season, which runs from late September to early February.
Anywhere from 15 to 20 deer could be killed.
The council is expected to continue hashing out the specific details at its meeting Monday.
Village leaders have been discussing the controversial issue — one that they say has divided the small community tucked among Cuyahoga Falls, Stow and Munroe Falls — since Mayor Bernie Hovey proposed a culling program last year.
The mayor and Steiner said they’ve heard many complaints from residents, including concerns about aggressive deer, safety and the animals eating plants and flowers.
“My thought is the vast majority of residents want something done,” Hovey said.
Mary Lou Van Sise, whose father-in-law sold 45 acres to the village in 1964 to create the nature reserve, isn’t one of them.
She lives in a white house at the end of Church Street that abuts the property.
Van Sise and a handful of others, who have been attending council meetings to voice their displeasure, don’t believe the deer are a problem.
They also don’t believe that the majority of residents support a culling program and would rather see the issue placed on the ballot for voters to decide.
“I’m just hoping to save the nature reserve and the deer,” Van Sise, who has lived in the village for 55 years, said this week during a tour with a Beacon Journal reporter and photographer.
It’s unclear how many deer are in Silver Lake.
The fact that the village hasn’t counted the population is part of the problem with the proposal, Van Sise and others said.
Vicky Marimon, who lives on Harriett Road, said she would rather see the village pursue other options, such as sterilizing the deer and making sure residents aren’t feeding them.
Killing the deer is only a temporary solution, opponents said.
“They are just a presence in our community and everybody loves the deer,” said Maureen Haas, who lives on Oak Ridge Drive.
The mayor has said sterilization or catching and relocating deer would be too costly. But Marimon said she or the village could pursue grants to offset the cost.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ArmonrickABJ .