E. Hampton Village votes to OK deer sharpshooters

East Hampton Village's town board voted Friday to join in a plan to use federal sharpshooters to kill as many as 3,000 deer on eastern Long Island this winter.

Following a public hearing in which several people objected to the hunt, East Hampton Village's board voted to spend up to $15,000 and authorize Mayor Paul Rickenbach Jr. to sign the agreement.

The cull, planned over 40 nights starting in February, would be carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program as part of a joint agreement with the Long Island Farm Bureau, which is coordinating a hunt on the North and South forks.

Rickenbach said the village was suffering "an epidemic" of deer problems, ranging from accidents to health problems caused by the ticks that are carried by deer. "We thought long and hard about this," he said.

Each town and village on the East End where the cull would take place has to approve its part in the hunt, which is being coordinated by the farm bureau.

Sagaponack has passed a resolution to spend $15,000 on the cull, contingent on Southampton and East Hampton towns, which surround the village, also participating.

Southold has budgeted $25,000 for the cull, and Brookhaven has set aside $5,000, pending review of the final plan. East Hampton Town has committed $15,000 for the program. Shelter Island Supervisor James Dougherty said his town is considering the plan.

The total cost of the cull is about $300,000, according to Joe Gergela, executive director of the farm bureau.

Last week, Riverhead's town board passed a home rule message asking the state legislature to give it the authority to hold a future vote which would authorize the special hunt. Earlier this month, Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said the town would like to participate in the federal sharpshooter program but doesn't have the money.

With David M. Schwartz