Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Seriously, why does it have to be so difficult? UPDATED

My first email went out this morning at 10:03 AM. It wasn't until 7:26 PM tonight, did I get a definitive answer as to when the baiting started.


From:egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To:kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
Cc:commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; repmiller <repmiller@pahouse.net>; egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Subject:Re: Baiting
Date:Tue, Feb 7, 2017 8:23 pm

Keith,

Susan Morgans told the PG in Mt. Lebanon deer reduction enters firearm phase that baiting will be for two weeks, not three and that White Buffalo had not come to town as of February 2. 

Do you see why I am confused?

Elaine


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; Rep. Dan Miller <repmiller@pahouse.net>
Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 7:26 pm
Subject: Re: Baiting

Good evening Elaine,

I believe you are referencing the proposal submitted by White Buffalo that is a part of the Agreement and referenced as Appendix A, that indicates that "Bait should be placed out 3 weeks in advance of removal activities."

The decision as to when removal activities begin will be determined by the contractor in coordination with the Police Department and the Game Commission.

 Baiting began on January 30th.


From:
Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To:egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc:Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; Rep. Dan Miller <repmiller@pahouse.net>
Subject:Re: Baiting
Date:Tue, Feb 7, 2017 7:29 pm

Good evening Elaine,

The contract is a time and materials contract. At the conclusion of the program the municipality will receive an itemized invoice for the actual time spent on each activity. 

Keith

On Tue, Feb 7, 2017 at 6:58 PM, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:
Keith,

Tony DeNicola is charging us for 22 days of baiting, per the contract posted on the MTL website.  http://www.mtlebanon.org/DocumentCenter/View/14736
screen-capture-5.png




-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; repmiller <repmiller@pahouse.net>
Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 6:28 pm
Subject: Re: Baiting

The contract states that there are to be three weeks of baiting. What is the exact date of when the baiting began?
Thanks, Keith.

Elaine


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 6:25 pm
Subject: Re: Baiting

Good evening Elaine,

I am trying to understand why the exact date is relevant. The permit allows baiting to begin January 29th and deer removal to begin February 1st. 

Keith

On Tue, Feb 7, 2017 at 6:20 PM, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:
Why do you ask, Keith? 
Elaine


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 6:10 pm
Subject: Re: Baiting

Good evening Elaine,

What is the relevance of the exact date?

Keith

On Tue, Feb 7, 2017 at 4:44 PM, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:
Thanks, Keith. Would you mind finding out the exact date?
Elaine


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 11:55 am
Subject: Re: Baiting

Good morning Elaine,
Baiting has started. It started sometime after January 29th. I do not have an exact date.
Keith

On Tue, Feb 7, 2017 at 10:03 AM, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:
Hi Keith,

Has the baiting started yet? 

If so, when did it start?

If not, any idea when it will start?

Thanks.

Elaine 
--
Keith McGill, AICP
Municipal Manager
412-343-3684
kmcgill@mtlebanon.org 

Update February 8, 2017 11:35 AM Keith cleared up the confusion. I see the 2017 euphemism for killing is now "removal activities." I have also gone from "Elaine" to "Ms. Gillen."

From:Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To:egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc:Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; Rep. Dan Miller <repmiller@pahouse.net>
Subject:Re: Baiting
Date:Wed, Feb 8, 2017 11:25 am

Good morning Ms. Gillen,
The information provided by Ms. Morgans was based on a conversation that she and I had in which she indicated that Mr. Hayes had called requesting information related to this year's sharpshooting program. During that conversation I provided the dates from the Game Commission permit which allow baiting to begin January 29, 2017 and deer removal to begin February 1, 2017.
I further indicated that the contractor needs at least 2-3 weeks for baiting and that none of the sharpshooters from White Buffalo we in town as of February 2nd to begin removal activities. The except below is what appears in the article.

A Game Commission special permit authorizes that the second year of a rifle sharpshooting phase could have begun Wednesday, but Ms. Morgans said White Buffalo’s professional sharpshooters were not yet in town. Following two weeks of site baiting, the shooters will work from stationary elevated positions vetted by Mt. Lebanon police on private property and several public spaces — McNeilly Park, Robb Hollow Park and the adjacent Public Works yard, the conservation district on Connor Road and the municipal golf course.
Keith 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is the relevance of the exact date? Its none of his business. His job is to answer your questions..not question you.

Anonymous said...

How many MTL residents can say they (or their employer) bill $95 to $110/ hour?

What makes the rate even more absurd is that their are probably a million PA residents that do the same activity for the sport and pay the Game Commission good money for doing so.

Here's an idea! Why don't we pay these sharpshooters a bounty rather than an hourly rate.
They bag a deer they then call PW or some other official to log where it was taken and the ear gets tagged (to prevent them from moving the carcus to another location).
This way we get an accurate survey of where the deer are or where they're coming from and formulate better ways to deal with them!

Lebo Citizens said...

Who are the local reporters, Jason? John Hayes? Ha! No more Trib. The Almanac? It seems that The Almanac is covering less and less of Mt. Lebanon. At least that is what I see when I look on their website.

10:28 AM, You're right. Had I filed a RTK, MTL would not have been permitted to ask why, but I thought it would have been easier for everyone if I just sent the email.
Elaine

Unknown said...

I guess you, and to a lesser extent, I -- will be the local reporters. Pro bono.

Anonymous said...

WAT?!
"A Game Commission special permit authorizes that the second year of a rifle sharpshooting phase could have begun Wednesday, but Ms. Morgans said White Buffalo’s professional sharpshooters were not yet in town. Following two weeks of site baiting, the shooters will work from stationary elevated positions vetted by Mt. Lebanon police on private property and several public spaces —"

A number of questions:

1) If the goal is to reduce the number of vehicle/deer accidents (ADAs), how does it make any sense to bait-- attract deer into Mt. Lebanon? Don't we have an ordinance where a resident could be fined for feeding deer just for the purpose of NOT ATTRACTING deer into the community?
2)if the sharpshooters aren't here yet, who is putting out and checking on the bait? If it's municipal employees or police then McGill knows darn well where the private properties are!

Anonymous said...

12:39 pm raises a good question. If DeNicola's shooters aren't in town yet, who is putting the bait out at the bait sites - municipal employees? If so, are the municipal employees only baiting the parks and public property, or are they also baiting the private properties that signed up for the killing program. Maybe the residents were given bait and are putting bait out themselves. I can't imagine what kind of soulless people these residents must be to bait a tame deer family, a pregnant doe and her fawns, into trusting them so that they can blow their brains out. What kind of people are they? I'd feel sorry for them if they weren't so intent on inhumane slaughter and animal cruelty. Incomprehensible.

Lebo Citizens said...

5:17 AM, Tony has shooters and baiters. We're paying $65/hour for someone to spread "proprietary" bait. See above. Just an FYI, the Allegheny County Health Department is interested in how the bait is being spread, since it is illegal to put anything on the ground. That is another reason why MTL and Tony will not tell me what method is being used to distribute the bait. That too is "proprietary."
Elaine

Anonymous said...

Is that really true $65 an hour to put out bait?

Does anyone find paying deer baiters $65 per hour ludicrous when according to Salary.com the median hourly wage for a Teacher Elementary School is $27, as of January 30, 2017and according to the nursesguide.com the average hourly rate for an RN is $31.25 per hour.

How in the world is there any justification paying someone $65 an hour to bait? Who are they hiring Wolfgang Puck? There are several gardeners "baiting" deer here and we don't pay them anything.

Anonymous said...

Duh, why would you bait on the donated private property?

The private donors hate the deer, already complain about them pooping in their yards, attacking their pets and scaring them so the plan is lets get more on their property and streets.

Some real rocket science going on here.

Anonymous said...

We have soooo many deer that according to the deer haters just pulling out of your driveway puts your life in danger and walking across our lawns is akin to crossing a deer poop mine field, but we have to bait for skilled sharpshooters to have a target..... hmmmm?

Lebo Citizens said...

Nobody complains about the deer anymore. It is all good in the 'hood. Susan Morgans said everyone has moved on. I wish residents would have moved on much earlier and not left me hanging, fighting this issue.

I still maintain that if someone is in the wrong place at the wrong time, it will be deadly. Paying $65 an hour to throw magic beans is a separate issue. Nobody complains about that either. Just here.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

Could it be people have moved on because talking or emailing to a wall is a waste of time?
The only way to affect real change is organizing and electing people