MONTVALE—An expert on deer and other wildlife addressed the governing body at the council’s final meeting of the summer, saying in part that “there is no real solution for deer control in Bergen County.”
Carol Tyler, of Paramus-based Tyco Animal Control, said of various methods debated and tried to control deer in the borough, “Montvale can’t do it alone, Saddle River can’t do it alone, Mahwah can’t do it alone. We need the county.”
Tyler is a frequent speaker on the subject. She works closely with police and health officers to protect the health and welfare of the community.
Mayor Michael Ghassali was traveling, and missed the Sept. 14 meeting. Council president Tim Lane led the discussions.
At the same meeting, the governing body passed two ordinances on outdoor lighting, aiming to solve a persistent problem that’s led to residents’ complaints.
Lane introduced a resolution not listed on the agenda: Resolution 143-2021, which declares support for Woodcliff Lake and other Pascack Valley communities in trying to redirect Teterboro Airport’s flight paths away from the area.
Perhaps the most notable of the resolutions was 134-2021, which suppors Party City’s application for the NJ Emerge Tax Credit Program for a corporate location — its national headquarters — in Woodcliff Lake.
On a Facebook post by Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo, describing the push, Ghassali cheered his fellow Republican, saying the addition to Woodcliff Lake would be good for small businesses in Montvale and would be a “win-win for the region and jobs creation.”
Deer here to stay, it seems
Ghassali told Pascack Press after the meeting that deer are a regional problem, so the council invites speakers once in a while to share information and learn if there are any changes or new recommendations to handle it.
In 2019 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection population said that, statewide, the deer population has been decreasing since 2017. The same report also said that deer populations vary geographically in the state.
An overall decrease in state numbers don’t necessarily mean the same thing as a decrease in population for Bergen County or Pascack Valley.
River Vale had been pointedly determined to solve its deer problem for a number of years but late in 2020 said it was not investing in another drone survey to gauge the local deer population and was backing off altogether on its idea to manage that population.
(See “Town loses appetite for deer survey, deer management,” Pascack Press, Jan. 4, 2021.)
Tyler said at the meeting, “30 years ago, I came in here to help you. It was geese and you told me to get rid of them, and we did. Right now, we’re talking about something outside our control, something I don’t even think we can control.”
She said there is no real solution for deer control in Bergen County. “Every answer that has been given to us has failed,” she said. She urged the council to take a look at laws and fines on feeding wildlife and find a way to enforce them in a stricter way.
She said that avoiding feeding the deer doesn’t drive them away; rather, it keeps them healthy. She told stories about people who have called her about sick deer on their property only to learn that the person who called had been feeding the deer.
According to Tyler, food such as corn and apples can make deer sick, and this can be contagious among deer. Indeed, she noted, disease can spread to other wildlife.
And she said spaying and neutering, tranquilizing, and relocating deer “does not work and has not worked” to control the population. A permit for spaying and neutering deer can be obtained only for for individual deer.
She said deer cannot be tranquilized in the same way as dogs and cats. She explained that it takes about four minutes for the tranquilizer’s effects to work. In that time, the deer can run off and cause damage and injury — and so tranquilizing would have to be done in a confined space rather than an open area.
Relocation is impractical for the same reason as tranquilizing the wild animals. And, she said, “Nobody wants them.”
She said Bergen County, where they are native, is a good place for wildlife and the environment has improved for wildlife in recent years.
She said moving a deer herd wouldn’t help to control the population because of the birth rate “and because you’re just relocating part of the population elsewhere. Typically, deer give birth to three kids and only one survives. But that’s not what’s happening. All three of them are surviving and then going on to have their own kids.”
Tyler also brought up the controversial solution of culling, or selective hunting, of the deer population. She said that it could be a solution, but one that would be met by protest from townspeople and neighboring communities.
She said that you would also have to fight Bergen County, which opposes such measures. The practice does work, she said, then added the borough would need to garner support from other towns and appeal to the county in order to have a county culling.
Councilman Dieter Koelling thanked Tyler and said hers was “one of the most sensible responses I’ve ever heard.”
Councilman Douglas Arendacs expressed a similar sentiment, then asked if development projects the Pascack Valley have led to the problem of deer, as in traffic and on people’s property.
“Is it something where they’re coming up from complexes and developments?” he asked.
Lane asked a similar question about whether the increasing population is a result of shrinking habitat or the environment in Bergen County being a desirable place to live.
According to Tyler, the deer population problem has nothing to do with construction, but rather mostly has to do with the conditions of the environment. She gave the example of Park Ridge and its mixed-use redevelopment project The James.
She said that the deer herds aren’t going to move to the next town because of the construction; they stay where they are and look for food, water, and shelter where they can.
Ordinances in the spotlight
Ordinance 2021-1510 regulates outdoor lighting for new developments. It stipulates what information on the outdoor lighting should be in formal development plans.
Ordinance 2021-1511 adds a chapter on lighting to the Borough Code, listing the standards that outdoor lighting must follow.
According to the agenda for the meeting, both ordinances were introduced to “to prevent misdirected or excessive artificial light, caused by inappropriate or misaligned light fixtures that produce glare, light trespass (nuisance light) and/or unnecessary sky glow.”
The reason, officials said, was due to nuisance-causing lighting in residential areas and the rise in lighting complaints during the start of the pandemic, when everyone was stuck inside for lockdown.
The council also approved Resolutions 134-2021 through 142-2021.
Public works, OEM, and storm response
Each of the council members reported on their committees and liaison units. The most notable comments came from Arendacs, liaison to the Department of Public Works, and member Chris Roche, representing the Montvale Environmental Commission.
Arendacs discussed the pre-storm work of the DPW and how ably crews responded to the challenges of Tropical Storm Ida. He said work already was under way to prepare for winter storms.
Roche discussed the damage Ida caused to Pascack Brook and Huff Pond. He said that the Environmental Commission and Frank DiPalma, the coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management, are working on the cleanup.
In his engineer’s report, Andrew Hiploit said that he walked the Pascack Brook and other local waterways to assess the situation.
He shared that professionals are waiting for approval to clear and desnag the sites. He said more about the costs and process will be shared at the next meeting.
OEM Coordinator Frank DiPalma attended the meeting and also spoke about the storm, the OEM’s swift efforts working with the Montvale Police Department to close Grand Avenue bridge, and how he is hoping that FEMA will assign a representative soon.
Charity seeks space for donation trucks
The council also discussed a request from GreenDrop to lease five spaces for their donation pickup trucks. GreenDrop is a for-profit charity that collects donations of household items such as clothing, radios, televisions, and sporting equipment.
GreenDrop was invited to come back and present with more particulars on the proposal.