Following months of public hearings, Tremont residents on Monday voted to allow a deer hunting season within town limits, reversing a nearly 100-year ban.
Deer hunting has not been allowed on the island since 1931, though special permits have been issued for nuisance deer.
314 residents voted in favor of the plan and 227 voted against the proposal in a secret ballot. Four voters left the question blank.
The hunt is intended to manage the town’s — and island’s — deer overpopulation, which has contributed to more vehicle collisions with the animals, concern over Lyme disease and complaints of residential property damage. Deer-related incidents have climbed over the past decade, according to the town’s proposed deer management plan.
The hunt will need final approval from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, though the state has said it has “no issues with the plan,” according to a town info sheet about the ballot question.
The state will host a public hearing and comment period before issuing final authorization, a state official previously said.
The town’s plan will only allow hunting by archery or shotgun of antlerless deer, which the state defines as deer with antlers measuring less than 3 inches in length. All hunting will be done from a ground or elevated stand, and only landowners and Tremont residents will be permitted to hunt.
Hunters will be required to register with the town office to receive a permission slip to be used during the hunt and at the designated tagging station, which will either be Gott’s Store in Southwest Harbor or Hansen’s Outpost in Tremont, according to the plan.
If the proposal receives final state approval, the hunt would occur each November for a trial period of three years, beginning this fall.
The town’s deer management plan followed a state bill introduced last year by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, which would have legalized deer hunting on Mount Desert Island. That bill later failed in the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Tremont residents on Monday also voted in support of a new public safety building that would be located on Harbor Drive. The project will be funded through an $8 million federal grant that requires the town to match a quarter of the cost. Residents at a future date will vote to authorize a $2 million general obligation bond to fund the project.
The local fire department currently splits its engines between Bass Harbor and Seal Cove, and only has three bays that are large enough to accommodate modern fire engines. The proposed building would be able to house a new engine.
Residents also voted Monday to elect two Select Board members, two school committee members and one MDI school district trustee.
Three candidates were running for the town’s five-member Select Board. McKenzie Jewett, who spent 15 years as the town clerk and now serves as the Select Board’s vice chair, was re-elected.
Ben Harper, a member of the town’s planning board, was elected for his first term, beating Mike Reynolds, a retired social studies teacher residing in Seal Cove.
Monday’s secret ballot election will be followed by Tremont’s annual town meeting Tuesday evening.
