City taking aim at growing nuisance deer problem

At a meeting of the committee of the whole at City Hall in Medford on Monday, August 25, the committee voted unanimously to send to Common Council a request to allow nuisance deer tags in the city limits.

“This spring we had quite a few calls about overpopulation of deer in the city limits, I spoke with the DNR deer biologist, he said we could get nuisance tags,” said city coordinator Joe Harris. He went on to state that the tags are crop damage tags but will still apply in the city and only during archery season.

“What happens if you shoot a deer and it goes on other people’s property?” asked committee member Laura Holmes.

“You have to ask permission,” said Harris of the need to request approval from a property owner to remove a downed deer from their land.

“The tags will be for anywhere in the city,” he stated. The city plans on adopting most of the ordinances based upon a similar arrangement in Marshfield, ordinances that will have some requirements for citizens to acquire a tag.

City residents interested in an archery tag for nuisance deer will need to reach out to City Hall once the ordinances have been adopted. The committee voted unanimously, with members Mike Bub and Ken Coyer absent, to send the decision to Common Council when they gather again in two weeks.

In other business, the committee:

• Voted unanimously to send to common council an ordinance to amend the compensation for members of the police and fire commission. Currently, the members are paid $35 per meeting and the request was to increase that amount to $50 per meeting. The commission has not seen an increase since 1993.

• Heard that the city pool closed for the season on Saturday, August 23.

The city council convened prior to the committee of the whole meeting. The council, again with members Mike Bub and Ken Coyer absent, unanimously approved the sale of a city-owned lot at the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and State St. to Karrie Kasperek in the amount of $2,500.

In addition, the council discussed the lots on the Johnson property which are larger, roughly a half an acre compared to the lots on the Simek plat that are one quarter to one third of an acre. The Medford School District is currently building a house on lot 27 of the Johnson property as part of the project that gives students hands-on construction experience. Harris stated that the driveway for the school’s lot would come off Pep’s Dr. which means the city will not be required to build a road. Harris also stated that lot 22 or 23 will likely become a retention pond in the future. The council voted to send the decision to the planning commission.

In other action, the council:

• Agreed to create a resolution establishing the 2026 residential solid waste and residential recycling collection service fees. In 2026, city residents will pay $12.30 for solid waste collection and $4.45 for recycling collection totaling $16.75, while residents over the age of 62 (with not more than one waste container per week) will pay $11.50 in solid waste collection and $4.25 for recycling collection totaling $15.75.

• Voted to create a resolution establishing a nonlapsing account for City Hall office replacement funds.

• Adopted the 2026 enterprise and special revenue fund budgets which includes the room tax fund budget, landfill budget, community development authority board fund budget, water utility enterprise fund budget, refuse/ recycling enterprise fund budget, wastewater utility enterprise fund budget, and electric utility enterprise fund budget.