Durham City Council Meeting – January 6, 2025

The meeting began at 7:00 PM and adjourned at 8:46 PM. Ceremonial items included the Veganuary 2025 proclamation, recognition of student art and vegan chef challenge winners, and the swearing in of City Manager W. Bowman Ferguson. The consent agenda was approved unanimously, and the main debate centered on proposed revisions to the deer bow hunting ordinance, which ultimately failed.

Consent Calendar

• Item 1: Appointment of Tammie E. Hall to the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority.
• Item 2: Appointment of Shannon M. Jones to the Racial Equity Commission.
• Item 3: Receipt of the HEART Program Performance Audit November 2024.
• Item 4: Receipt of the ADA Title II Governance Performance Audit November 2024.
• Item 6: Contract for property appraisal services with CBIZ, Operations, Inc. (not to exceed $79,000; contingency $12,000; total $91,000).
• Item 7: Construction contract for parking facilities structural maintenance with Carolina Restoration & Waterproofing, Inc. (not to exceed $3,156,979; contingency $789,245; total $3,946,224).
• Item 8: HUD Fair Housing Cooperative Agreement Grant Award FY 2025 for $123,600.
• Item 9: Amendment to U.S. Department of Labor PY 2024-2026 Grant Project Ordinance, increasing grant from $625,311 to $1,214,498.
• Item 10: Professional services contract for dam inspection and maintenance with Schnabel Engineering South, P.C. ($2,065,393; contingency $206,539; total $2,271,932).
• All consent items were approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Catherine Jackson (online, Trayburn resident): Supported the ordinance change, citing an estimated 70–80 deer per square mile (four times the sustainable 15–20 per square mile), frequent vehicle encounters, tick removal from family, and the inability to let children play in the yard. She urged the council to consider a feeding ban or a targeted culling program.
• Kathy Colbs (online, Trayburn resident): Opposed the change, arguing that deer are not confined to Trayburn and that culling would be ineffective due to backfill from surrounding areas. She expressed safety concerns about bow hunting near homes, children, and pets.
• Peter Tauchi (in-person, Trayburn): Opposed, stating that the existing ordinance has never been used in 11 years and that bow hunting in city limits is unsafe. He questioned carcass disposal and potential for stray arrows.
• Ron Allison (in-person, Trayburn): Opposed, noting that many children and pets are present, that HOA covenants prevent fences, and that reducing safety buffers would increase danger. He argued the proposal is driven by a few individuals with an agenda.
• Kevin McElroy (in-person, Trayburn): Opposed, stating that even if all deer were removed, new ones would repopulate quickly, and that bow hunting would leave injured animals in the neighborhood.
• Jean Carlone (in-person, Trayburn): Supported the change, citing exponential deer population growth, vehicle crash risks (40 people killed or injured annually in NC from wildlife collisions), tick-borne diseases, and landscape damage. She noted that the HOA consulted NC Wildlife Resources and NC State University.
• Sally Burke (in-person, Trayburn): Supported, explaining that other methods (trapping, relocation, birth control) are impractical or cost-prohibitive (over $300 per injection). She stated that hunters would be licensed, use tree stands, and hunt only on private properties with permission.
• Ralph Russo (in-person, Trayburn): Supported, noting that bow hunting is limited to hunting season, hunters are certified, and the 10-foot elevation provides safe downward trajectories. He suggested a geographic exception for Trayburn, similar to the downtown social district exception for open containers, and mentioned that deer meat can be donated to food banks.
• Jeffrey Thompson (in-person, Trayburn): Supported, citing his background as a former NC State statistics professor with wildlife biology research. He argued that overpopulation leads to starvation and disease, that bow hunters are highly trained and ethical, and that the state issues free deer tags to manage populations.
• Quincy Hocott (in-person, Trayburn): Supported, listing many U.S. cities with active culling programs (e.g., Chapel Hill, Bloomington, Pittsburgh) and stating that no injuries have been reported in those programs. He emphasized that without the ordinance change, Trayburn has no viable solution.

Discussion Items

• Revisions to Deer Bow Hunting Ordinance (Item 5): Proposed to reduce the minimum lot size from 5 acres to 2 acres and the safety buffer from 250 feet to 60 feet for bow hunting within city limits. The change would apply citywide. Council members expressed concerns about safety, the inability to restrict the ordinance geographically due to state preemption, and the lack of consensus within the Trayburn neighborhood. Councilmember Cook noted that the city cannot add further restrictions (e.g., time limits) because North Carolina law preempts local regulation. Several members suggested referring the matter to the Environmental Affairs Board (EAB) for further study, but no formal motion to refer was made during the vote on the main motion.

Key Outcomes

• Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
• Motion to Adopt Revisions to Deer Bow Hunting Ordinance: Moved by Councilmember Rist, seconded by Councilmember Cook. The motion failed. No vote tally was recorded, but all council members indicated opposition during discussion.
• Next Steps: Council members expressed interest in exploring alternative solutions, including potential feeding restrictions and further study by the Environmental Affairs Board. The existing ordinance remains in effect.