Wildwood committee narrows archery-hunting rules, adds drone-cost estimate to deer-management survey

The Wildwood Administration & Public Works Committee voted June 2 to adopt a set of edits to a proposed archery-hunting and deer-management survey that will go to the full council for final consideration.

City Administrator Lee told the committee the survey was designed to gather resident input on whether to reduce the minimum parcel size for archery hunting from three acres to one and whether to gather new deer-population counts using thermal drones. "The city of Wildwood does not have a property tax," Lee said during his briefing, then explained the city relies heavily on sales tax and utility gross-receipts taxes to fund operations — context he said was important to understand potential consequences of changes to hunting rules.

Public commenters and council members pressed staff on technical details. Tom Mitchell, a resident who reviewed the draft, urged clearer cost information: "The city will spend roughly 600,000 over the next 3 years," he said, calling for the survey to show future budget impacts so respondents know what they are being asked to support. Trent Bowden recommended the Missouri Deer Management Assistance Program as a low‑cost tool that "provides liability insurance for the participants," a feature the committee said staff would note when summarizing program options for residents.

A major point of debate was how to count deer. Some council members and commenters favored a full thermal-drone survey to get a comprehensive count before any broad policy change; others argued that established distance-sampling and spotlight methods are scientifically valid and far less expensive. After discussion, the committee agreed to include a short, approximate cost range in the survey. Staff will note that a full drone survey covering all six study areas could cost approximately $50,000–$60,000, and that the 2025 targeted survey had cost about $10,000 for a smaller area.

On specific survey language, the committee approved an aggregate set of changes: remove the option that would have allowed parcel aggregation to meet a reduced one-acre threshold; add a clear map showing parcel sizes (under-1-acre, 1–3 acres, and over-3-acre parcels); add an option to require notification of surrounding property owners as part of registration; and add an introductory disclaimer stating that amending the code to allow archery hunting on smaller parcels would not create a direct cost to the city. City staff said the map and those clarifications will be incorporated into the version the council receives.

The motion to adopt the suggested changes carried in committee. The committee chair said the revised survey would go to the council work session next week; additional resident suggestions received after the meeting can still be proposed when the council formally considers the survey.