BY STACI WILSON

Montrose is looking into ways to handle the increased deer population in the borough.

At the Monday, April 6 meeting, council heard deer management options from Pennsylvania Game Commission WCOs Michael Webb and Benjamin Rebuck, as well as PGC biologist Kevin Wenner.

The group presented council with options on how to handle what some on council view to be a growing problem.

According to Wenner, the deer population has increased in Susquehanna County after changes were made to the rifle season about eight years ago.

And, he said, the Game Commission directors who set the number of tags that are issued each year, are hearing there “aren’t enough deer out there.”

The PGC representatives advised council members to read the Community Guide to Deer Management, available on the PGC website.

And before any steps are taken, they said the community should come to an agreement that there actually is a deer problem in the borough. Webb said the general public should be kept apprised of each step of the process.

“Residents who do feed (the deer) are exacerbating the problem,” Webb said. But taking away the artificial feed, he noted, makes the deer revert to its natural behavior.

Webb said a feeding ban would be difficult to enforce, with Wenner adding that it would be the borough’s codes officer or police handling the enforcement.
Council also asked about hunting as a management option.

With areas with sufficient space limited in the borough limits, the use of firearms would not be permitted. Safety zones for bow hunting could be identified.

The PGC representatives also said some property owners with farm and forest land surrounding their borough properties could apply to take part in the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP).

More than three dozen Susquehanna County farms currently participate in DMAP, and that number is growing, Wenner said.

The representatives advised council to contact the District Game Commissioner noting their concern about the deer population.

Council President Tom LaMont said that before the borough move forward, they first needed to identify that there is a problem with deer in the borough.

In other business:
*A bid specification package will be drawn up for a natural gas generator for the borough building;
*Leatherstocking will begin restoration work within the next three weeks, including redoing work from last year that some residents expressed concerns about;
*Representatives from the Montrose Municipal Authority will be invited to attend the May borough meeting. Some of the discussion may involve litigation and council said that could be done in an executive session;
*Ellen O’Malley was appointed as Deputy Tax Collector for the borough;
*The request to hold the annual Memorial Day parade in Montrose was approved;
*Council recognized Craig Reimel who was selected as the Montrose Area Chamber of Commerce 2015 Citizen of the Year.
Council also discussed the possibility of having the police handle some of the code issues that come up each year – such as lawn maintenance – in order to expedite a resolution to problems.