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Jamestown City Council Continues Deer Management Discussion

P-J file photo by Eric Tichy

How to manage the deer population in the city continues to be discussed by the Jamestown City Council.

On Monday, Andrew Liuzzo, At-Large city councilman, talked about the state Department of Environmental Conservation deer management permits, which allows for people to apply for additional tags to hunt antlerless deer. He said hunters could receive up to four additional antlerless deer tags if they apply. He added the hunting would occur outside of the city.

Liuzzo said the deadline to apply for the additional antlerless deer tags is July 31. He said people interested in the permits can contact him on his Facebook page — Friends of Andrew Liuzzo. He added that landowners in the area known as 9-J can submit an application to receive additional permits, which then can be assigned to hunters.

“Extra tags outside the city limits could be a start for better deer management,” Liuzzo said. “It is a start.”

Tom Nelson, Ward 6 councilman, said he receives more calls about deer management than any other issue. He agreed the deer management permits is a good place to start with possibly managing the population of deer in the city.

The discussion Monday was the third time in recent months the council talked about deer management in the city. In May, a representative from the state Department of Environmental Conservation presented a report to the Jamestown City Council on deer management.

In other business, the council also discussed city constables responsible for evicting tenants for landlords. Liuzzo said he had been contacted by the Jamestown Landlord Association about the troubles they have evicting tenants from apartments. He said the landlords are willing to pay constables to evict unwanted tenants.

Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said the city currently has one constable, but they can have up to three. However, he said no candidates have submitted applications for the two open constable positions. He said there have been a few inquiries by people, but they didn’t apply for the position. He added it could have been possible they didn’t apply because of some of the guidelines associated with being a constable, like paying for insurance coverage.

Teresi said there is nothing for the council to do as far as constables until people apply for the two empty positions.

Harry Snellings, Jamestown Police Department chief and city public safety director, said the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office has their own separate department to handle evictions in the county. Liuzzo said the evictions handled by the Sheriff’s Office don’t always happen in a timely manner because of how busy they are throughout the county. Teresi added that city tax payers are already paying for the Sheriff’s Department to handle eviction situations.

The mayor also talked about how Jamestown Board of Public Utilities officials are working to possibly apply to be a Climate Smart Community. Members of the state DEC Climate Smart Communities program are engaged in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resilience. The program provides guidance to local governments on best practices for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The Climate Smart Communities program provides local governments with a framework to guide climate action and enables high-performing communities to achieve recognition for their leadership.

Teresi said he believes the city is a good candidate for the program because of the positive environmental programs they have already implemented. He said the BPU has stopped burning coal and is in the process of a $20 million project to dismantle coal burning capabilities; the city has implemented several electric vehicle charging stations; and they have made several changes to improve energy efficiency in city-owned buildings.

“We have a good record here,” Teresi said.

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