Ellisville, Ballwin Teaming Up to Tackle Deer

City hall leaders in Ellisville and Ballwin are vowing to team up in order to try to reduce the area's deer population, an ongoing issue around the two cities that resulted in serious injuries earlier this year for one Ballwin resident.

“It’s just taking advantage of the economy of scales,” Ellisville City Council Member Matt Pirrello said at .

“We have a lot of contiguous land with the City of Ballwin, and so we really want to have uniform codes or processes so that we’re not abutting up to a neighbor that’s allowed to do one thing that the neighbor directly behind them isn’t," Pirrello said. "Because it’s not as though we’re separated by a big giant fence or a mote or anything.”

In January, Ballwin resident Linda Gephardt was injured in the parking lot of an Ellisville auto shop when one of two deer rammed into her, injuries and hospitalization.

http://patch.com/A-s6RwLast month, the Ellisville council discussed allowing at least 3 acres in size. The idea was opposed by two members of the seven-member council, including Clark Compton, who retired from the board this month.

The City of Ellisville also may soon have , a state park managed by the city. Representatives of the Missouri Department of Conservation said hunts managed by the MDC would utilize about five hunters, who would be drawn from a lottery and would undergo a pre-hunt orientation. The orientation would include walking the area's grounds, reviewing boundaries and identifying no-shooting zones near private property.

If that plan moves forward, all hunters also would be required to shoot from tree stands, which force a downward trajectory, thus decreasing the risk of accidents. The hunts likely would take place over two to three days beginning sometime in November.

Pirrello, the former Mayor of Ellisville, said talks with the MDC about state managed hunts at Klamberg will resume soon. In the meantime, Pirrello said he and Ballwin city leaders agreed to have each board discuss deer population proposals prior to a joint council meeting.

Pirrello said collaborations between the cities for select management, parks and commercial issues have occurred often in the last 6 years, beginning with the tenure of former Ballwin Mayor Walt Young.

“So we’ve been working with the City of Ballwin for a long time," Pirrello said.