By Frank Mustac, Contributor
Hunters taking part in the Township’s annual deer management program to reduce the white-tailed deer population will now have to pay an extra five dollars for the application fee.
The Hopewell Township Committee recently increased the fee from $100 to $105, at the recommendation of the chief of police, as well as from the Township’s finance advisory committee.
Voting for the fee hike on Sept. 26 were Township Committeemen John Hart and Todd Brant and Deputy Mayor Vanessa Sandom. Committeewoman Julie Blake and Mayor Kevin Kuchinski voted no on the matter.
There is an “over-abundance of deer” in the township, according to the mayor, with an estimated 19-to-20 deer per acre, instead of the “natural level” of one or two deer per acre.
The Township Committee was originally scheduled to vote on the deer management fee back in July, but postponed the vote to give Mr. Brant more time to work with local insurance agents to see if they have any “marketing resources to help offset this charge.”
However, Mr. Brant said on Sept. 26 that no insurers were willing to contribute.
Back in July, the committeeman said he was “exploring local insurance organizations around the area because one of the goals from the deer management program is to reduce car accidents by 75 percent by 2019.”
Such a move would not only “be a benefit to all the residents,” but could also lower auto insurance rates, Mr. Brant opined at the time.
During the Sept. 26 meeting, Ms. Blake explained why she would not vote for the fee increase.
“I really appreciate what Mr. Brant has said and I really value what the finance advisory committee has done,” she said, “I do feel that I want to support, as much as possible, the hunters in the deer management program, so I’m going to unhesitatingly (vote no) on this one. I really want to do everything I can to support more (hunters) going out.”
There are about 70 hunters already signed up for the 2016-17 program, according to Mr. Hart.
Back in July, Ms. Sandom explained why she was in favor of the fee increase.
“Five dollars won’t reduce the interest of our hunters in hunting,” Ms. Sandom said. “I know that is an increase that is not going to stop the demand or reduce the interest.”
“Generally the concept of who should be paying for the cost of the service, I think it should be the users who should pay for that service, and in this case, I think we should think about it in those terms,” she said. “We’re not talking about a doubling of the fee. We’re talking about $5.”
At that time, Ms. Blake countered that method of thinking by stating that all Pennington residents receive a “benefit of that service”
“I see it as we all are benefiting from the deer management program,” she said. “That’s just my perspective.”
