The opening day of gun season seemed appropriate, Mayor Bob Greer said, to ask Police Chief John Walker to bring Council up to speed on the status of the city’s urban deer hunt.

 

As had been slated as the first item on tonight’s agenda, Walker took the podium to deliver that information to members of the city’s governing body.

 

“This year, we have 114 hunters registered and to date we’re at 53 deer harvested with the city,” Walker said. “We’re finding that of the 114 individuals who come in and get their permits, maybe 22 to 23 actually hunt and only six or seven of those get their limit. We do have a few really dedicated hunters, those who even use their state license within the city and are proactive in helping us do what they can to reduce the deer population.”

 

City Manager Kim Haws added that one of the shortfalls of the city’s urban deer hunt program is that there is not enough property designated for the program.

 

“We need individuals who own property which meets the criteria to be willing to come forward to allow the hunt to occur,” he said. “Some communities I am familiar with also shut city parks down during a week, providing substantial terrain in which to harvest deer. So we do have some options to go to the next level to increase coverage area.”

 

Greer next addressed his Council peers with regard to the city’s newest board – the Bridgeport Utility Board. Over the past six months or so, the board has met roughly on a monthly basis.

 

“What have primarily been referred to the utility board are not only certain storm water issues, but there have also been water pressure issues called to our attention,” he said.

 

Those issues include, but are not limited to, those in the Ridgeway Drive area.

“I think I reported after the October meeting that they were exploring three different options at that point in time and had asked the city engineer to flesh those out from a dollar and cents standpoint,” Greer said. “Then at the meeting in November, it led to further discussion about the application of how those proposals might play out.”

 

The best alternative insofar as city administration and the engineers’ office is concerned is the implementation of a cost reimbursement program for those who live in areas of high elevation and other areas where there are excessive water pressure issues, Greer said. Those customers would be reimbursed, in part, for the purchase of individual pressure systems.

 

Those systems, Haws added, would include a reserve tank which would accommodate up to a certain point. If the customer decides to upgrade the equipment, they could do so at their own cost.

 

Customers along Ridgeway Drive and in the South Hills and Briarwood areas would be eligible for the reimbursement program, Greer said.

 

There has also been discussion among utility board members, he said, regarding the possible rerouting of water systems and the addition of compression stations in those areas. In addition to personal water pressure issues, there’s also the issue of water pressure being too low to fight fires in those areas. That issue, Haws said, needs to be addressed separately.

 

“There are fire hydrants outside city limits and in other areas that we are responsible for and I think we need to look at some options in that regard – options that might benefit the Ridgeway area too,” he said.

 

One option, Haws said, is the addition of an underground supply tank with a pressure pump, creating pressure to push water and make it available for fighting fires.

 

“That’s being done in communities across the United States and maybe it’s an option we want to explore in the Ridgeway area for fire suppression.”

 

The final item of business was the swearing in of Bridgeport Police Officer Aaron Lantz. Walker joined Lantz as Greer performed the official swearing in. Walker said the department is very fortunate to have Lantz. Originally from the West Milford area, he has 18 months of experience with the Elkins police force. Already a certified police officer, Lantz has been assigned to the department’s FTO – Field Training Officer – program under the direction of Lt. Doug Betler and thereafter will be assigned to Betler’s shift.

 

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