Selectmen kill possible debate on deer hunt

Written by Kate Czaplinski, Press Staff
Saturday, 07 November 2009 06:40

Concerns that a Board of Selectmen agenda item for the Nov. 4 meeting on a neighborhood issue would turn into a debate on the town hunt, First Selectman Rudy Marconi removed a discussion with residents who oppose hunting on the Lynch Brook Lane parcel.

“These residents will be heard, I will speak to them one-on-one, but not in this type of forum where it seems both sides are gearing up to storm a meeting,” Mr. Marconi said Tuesday.

Seven residents who live near the Lynch Brook Lane open space parcel, added to the town bow hunt this year, wrote a letter to the board recently, voicing concerns about child safety and communication problems with the Deer Implementation Committee.

Mr. Marconi added a discussion of the residents’ concerns to the regular agenda last week. On Monday, an e-mail was sent from Ridgefield’s Lyme Disease Task Force, asking supporters to “Join the Discussion” regarding Lyme Disease and Animal Rights Issues. The e-mail also encouraged those who could not attend to send letters supporting the deer hunt to the Board of Selectmen members or The Press.

Mr. Marconi said the e-mail, though stating the issue wasn’t up for a public hearing, made it sound as if the discussion was an overall debate on the town hunt and that it was a public hearing where both sides would be heard — the agenda item was only to be a discussion of those particular resident concerns. He said the agenda item began spiraling out of control, so it was removed.

“When people attend a meeting to speak and they are not allowed to, that’s a formula for an unproductive meeting,” Mr. Marconi said. “Three other members of the board objected to having this item on the agenda, the feeling was we’ve been down this road, everyone voted, and though the town vote was on one or two parcels, those additional parcels are under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission...

“Our job is to work with the police and the Deer Committee to make sure that the hunt is very safe and efficient on the parcels approved by the Conservation Commission.”

Mr. Marconi said the procedure has always been to send letters to abutting residents and post signs on the entire area.

Board member Barbara Manners, who opposes the hunt and considered resigning when the board approved adding the Lynch Brook parcel, said removing the discussion is denying the residents a voice.

“I have never before, in those ten years [on the Board of Selectmen], felt as if a group of people were being stonewalled by a majority of the board. I do now,” Ms. Manners said.

“Because hunting is such a contentious issue they prefer to avoid it altogether, but it is not hunting per se that is the issue here, it is the expansion of the hunt into neighborhoods where residents consider it a safety issue and the opportunity for notice of such a proposed (now actual) expansion and a right to be heard.”

The board approved Lynch Brook pending the Deer Committee contacting abutting residents. Deer Committee Chair Tom Belote produced a list of 21 homes that directly abut the property — on the list only three objected to the hunt. The list included four houses on Lynch Brook Lane and the rest from Eleven Levels, Old Wagon and Old West Mountain. The group argued that unfulfilled promises were made by the Deer Committee and members have spoken to nearby residents who were not contacted about when the hunt would commence.

Selectman Joan Plock said that she and other members of the board have talked to the residents one-on-one and will continue to do so.

The safety issues raised by residents were addressed immediately, Ms. Plock said. The Deer Committee is hunting only the western portion — an area the Deer Committee described as swampy and very rarely used by children or adults. The area mentioned in the letter from residents as frequently used by school children won’t be used, the deer committee has said. The hunters also take a number of precautions and stay farther away from streets and homes than an arrow can travel — they are also aiming downwards.

“We’ve done enough studying and we’ve had enough people involved to know that it’s safe,” Ms. Plock said. “There is no fear of anything happening to the children — all of those things have been addressed, so there will be no safety hazards or accidents.”

“What this agenda item had boiled down to was hunting versus not hunting.”

Selectman Di Masters and Andy Bodner also disagreed with adding Lynch Brook to the agenda. Ms. Masters said that when Ms. Manners wrote her fellow board members a letter Oct. 6 asking them to reopen the town hunt issue for safety and humane reasons, the majority of the board agreed that the time to do that would be in the Spring.

“My understanding of how we resolved the issue was that the majority of the Board of Selectman agreed that the time to take up a town-controlled hunt process would be in the spring when the Deer Committee Chairmen reports back to us,” Ms. Masters said Tuesday.

Ms. Masters said the board wasn’t trying to “stonewall” anyone by removing the agenda item.

“The first selectman’s office made the decision to remove the item based on the flyer that went out with an invitation to speak on the deer subject,” Ms. Masters said.

Mr. Bodner said that when the group of Lynch Brook residents raised concerns, they were immediately investigated by the first selectman.

“If unanswered questions remain, I’m sure Rudy will bring that to the attention of the board,” Mr. Bodner said.