Village peacocks face feisty residents
The usual peacock culling cannot continue as planned.
Longboat Key Village Association President Michael Drake wrote an email to Commissioner Gene Jaleski stating that the home that is traditionally used to deposit the extraneous peafowl into is currently occupied and therefore the garage cannot be used to corral the birds.
Jaleski in turn wrote an email to Town Manager Bruce St. Denis requesting the town come up with an alternate plan for culling the peafowl.
“It seems we now need a ‘plan B’ as Michael Drake will be unable to complete the task of removing the peacocks in the foreseeable future. Perhaps it is now time to hire a professional company and get this nuisance taken care of as fast as possible,” wrote Jaleski.
Drake stated in his email to Jaleski that there are currently about 60 birds, and the town commission and village residents agreed that 12 birds was a reasonable number. In the past, the Village Association has paid to have the flock culled to reduce the number of birds, and the town has reimbursed the association up to $1,200 per year for the expenditure. A local garage that was part of an unoccupied home was previously used to bring the extra birds into, but since that is no longer available, Drake and Jaleski are suggesting the town now hire a company to do the herding and relocating of the birds.
“I do not see why we cannot operate under the existing guidance from the commission to the town to reduce the peacock flock size to twelve of fewer. Nothing new is being suggested except to hire a different agent to remove the birds. The problem remains unchanged. I see no need to spend more time in a workshop on something that has been previously mandated by the commission,” wrote Jaleski to St. Denis.
However, St. Denis maintains that a change from reimbursing the Village Association to hiring a company to remove the birds would require a discussion by the Town Commission.mem
