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Boone public-safety staff report 81 deer counted in aerial survey; council to consider code penalty clean-up
Summary
City public-safety officials reported an aerial deer count of 81 in several neighborhoods and told council they will propose ordinance edits to standardize penalties across code sections at a future meeting.
Boone public-safety staff told the council they counted 81 deer during a recent aerial thermal survey of city parks and neighborhoods and said the results will inform possible responses to deer-human conflicts. The council also heard that the public-safety office and city attorneys are preparing a package of ordinance edits to standardize penalties across the municipal code.
A public-safety official described the aerial count and methods, saying the city used drones equipped with thermal imaging and that the count identified 81 heat signatures across surveyed areas including parks and residential backyards. “81 was a total count that we had,” the official said. The official noted that some clustered animals may have been counted as single signatures in places where deer were close together.
Separately, council members discussed a code review effort to harmonize inconsistent penalties and language scattered through the ordinance book. A public-safety official said staff and the city attorney are compiling needed changes and expect to present a draft package at the next council meeting to bring fines and penalties into consistent alignment.
Why it matters: Deer populations in park and residential areas can create traffic, safety and nuisance concerns. Standardizing code language and penalties may make enforcement clearer for officers and more consistent in court proceedings.
Next steps: City staff will return to council with a draft set of ordinance changes aimed at clarifying and unifying penalty language across code sections and will present recommendations informed by the deer survey data.
