electrician in Tega Cay, SC

TEGA CAY, S.C. — Tega Cay city leaders have decided to move forward with a plan to kill some of the overwhelming deer population in the city.

WCNC Charlotte has been following this story for nearly a year. The city's intention to hire sharpshooters didn’t sit well with a lot of residents. After months of no action on the plan, at the most recent Tega Cay city council meeting, Mayor Chris Gray stated the plan will start in October.

Mary Ickert, who was originally fearful of the plan, is now a co-chair of the newly-formed Tega Cay Wildlife Conservation. She said she’s still concerned by the acceleration.

"Many of us were blindsided by that reaction from a city that says we are looking into it, then saying it’s going to happen fast," Ickert said.

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A report by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources shows in the five square miles making up Tega Cay, over 800 deer were spotted. The department said the number for a healthy population is down to just 97.

City Councilman Scott Shirley said the city is moving forward with the sharpshooter plan with one contractor and a team of two to three shooters.

To get down to that goal of 97, the city would have to eliminate around 800 deer. The city has to obtain a permit from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the city to eliminate 80 deer -- that’s for the entire permit, not each individual shooter. They can reapply for another permit the following year.

The cost falls on the city budget, made up of tax-payer dollars; for the first 80 deer on this permit, it could cost roughly $16,000.

A decade ago, the city of Tega Cay made a similar move with coyotes -- the natural predator for deer.

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Ickert’s co-chair of the Conservation, Ruthie Smith, calls the current plan unsafe and inhumane.

"We’ve talked with several agencies and cities that have been successful in non-lethal deep removal," Smith said.

Shirley said realistically the shooting will start in January, leaving Ickert and Smith hopeful for a different solution.

A new report on the deer population is expected this month. If it shows a population decline, city leaders said the city won’t use the sharpshooters.

TEGA CAY, S.C. — A South Carolina city is being dominated by deer and neighbors are now debating how to handle the dilemma.

Tega Cay says right now they have about 349 deer per square mile in the community of about 10,000 people along Lake Wylie.

Channel 9′s Tina Terry spoke with residents divided by the deer.

ALSO READ: Deer found seriously hurt in south Charlotte neighborhood expected to recover, NC Wildlife says

Usually you’d expect to see deer in the woods and maybe the occasional sighting in the suburbs, but some people told us they see deer at all hours of the day and it is now a nuisance.

“We have probably a dozen to two dozen deer coming through our property each day,” Scott Peters told Channel 9. “My wife is a huge gardener and they eat everything you plant out there and they defecate everywhere, that’s pretty disgusting.”

Neighbors sent us photo after photo, even videos, showing deer making themselves at home all over the area.

“All they do is they eat any plants,” neighbor Millie Riley said.

Tonight, the city will hold a meeting where leaders could decide what to do about the deer debate.

After complaints from neighbors, Tega Cay City Council conducted a study in 2015 showing 67 deer per square mile. Now the number is nearly 350 deer per square mile.

Four options are on the table to handle the deer: do nothing, hire an expert marksman to cull the herd, sterilization or relocation, which could be the most unethical and inhumane option, according to officials.

Peters wants something to be done.

“I think it’s mainly destroying the landscaping that’s the big issue,” he said.

Others are hoping leaders won’t eliminate the deer.

“I really, really, really hope that they don’t,” Riley said.

(WATCH BELOW: York County and sheriff sue city of Rock Hill, Tega Cay over money to detain inmates)

TEGA CAY, S.C. — Even after recent efforts to stop them, hundreds of deer are still roaming through the streets of Tega Cay.

Channel 9 reported months ago when the city passed a new ordinance asking neighbors to stop feeding the deer. City officials had hoped that would reduce the population.

“They’re going to have to remove some deer,” said Michael Plummer. “They’re gonna seriously have to remove some deer.”

RELATED: SC city dealing with debate over intrusive neighbors

Tuesday, neighbors tell Channel 9′s Tina Terry that the plan isn’t working.

We saw it ourselves, capturing video of a herd of deer searching for food in a neighbor’s yard. They weren’t even intimidated by our camera.

Plummer says the new ordinance aimed at stopping feeding hasn’t had an effect.

“I know a few people who were feeding them that aren’t feeding them anymore, and it hasn’t made any major change,” Plummer said. “There’s just too many deer.”

The city’s deputy manager explained in an email to Channel 9 that, “The thought behind it is by reducing the food sources, the deer would naturally reproduce at a lower level to fit within the available food resources.”

Another neighbor, Coleen Caravello, says she’s stopped feeding the deer in her yard.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the deer who are used to the food and still looking for it,” Caravello said. “I’m following the rules, but I don’t think they’re right.”

The city says it plans to conduct studies in the spring and fall to determine if the ordinance has impacted the deer population. If not, the council could look at other options to cut the numbers.

With the city of Tega Cay laying at just over three square miles, the last study found there are just shy of 350 deer per square mile.

(WATCH BELOW: Deer dilemma: SC city dealing with debate over intrusive neighbors)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tega Cay native Mia Angelina Ridley competed in the Miss Earth USA National Pageant and won the title of Little Miss Earth USA.

During the Miss Earth USA pageant, many contestants competed for the title, in events such as a “Still She Rose” scholarship gala, a floral theme welcome reception, a butterfly wear and runway show, and other competition areas of fun fashion and evening gown wear.

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The 9-year-old Ridley not only won the title of Little Miss Earth USA, but also walked away with 'Overall Junior Division Photogenic', 'Cover Girl', and some environmental awards.

Ridley will be representing the National Title for the next year, as she will be making appearances, contributing to community groups, fundraising initiatives, and working toward environmental preservation.

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She also has the opportunity to promote and educate individuals on her platform of “Mia’s Magic” and other organizations like "Beauties for a Cause" to support environmental preservation while empowering women and young girls.

Ridley hopes to uphold her title to create “crown opportunities” and encourage their titleholders to become positive forces in their communities and across the United States.

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It’s been more than 15 years in the making, but now Catawba Park is ready for generations to come.

The 62-acre park in Tega Cay with brand new baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, playground and outdoor gathering space has its ribbon cutting Thursday morning. In recent weeks the city began rec league play there. Mayor Chris Gray said Monday night when Tega Cay City Council met that the city has always wanted a park the size of Catawba Park, and Thursday morning would be a joyous occasion.

“Just getting feedback from everyone, everyone is enjoying playing out there and it is a fantastic facility that we all should be proud of,” Gray said.

For anyone who can’t make the grand opening on Thursday, and even larger event looms.

“Catawba Fest, formerly our Fall Festival, will be our first big-scale event at Catawba Park,” said city manager Charlie Funderburk.

The Oct. 29 event will run 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The city expects a crowd. A typical fall festival might have 75 vendors. This year there are about twice that many. The city has overflow parking plans at the Gold Hill Middle School lot.

“We’ll have shuttles running throughout the entire event,” Funderburk said.

City officials say the impact at Catawba Park is vast, for families throughout the area.

“This gives us much more space to be able to get them on baseball fields, softball fields, and then soccer as well,” said Dustin Overton, city parks and recreation director. “It’s a game changer for the city.”

This fall, Tega Cay has more than 2,000 participants in its youth sports program. That number has grown steadily in recent years. The city has more than twice as many people as it did two decades ago, the last time a large active sports park opened.

“We haven’t had new facilities since Turner Field was built,” Overton said. “This creates a massive opportunity for our recreation program just to have more field space, to allow us to expand to more teams, and then also have community events.”

The new space also allows for new sports trends that may come. Several years back, for instance, Tega Cay dropped tackle football and saw flag football surge. Catawba Park has space for whatever may come next.

“This facility really gives us a chance to really expand on the things that we do, and make them better than they were before,” Overton said.

Tega Cay families who use Catawba Park fields for recreation, or travel programs that schedule weekend play there starting in the spring, should have more dependable scheduling at Catawba Park compared to other venues. The soccer or multipurpose fields are entirely artificial turf. The baseball or softball fields have artificial infields.

Grass maintenance and time treating, dragging and lining fields after rain aren’t nearly the concern they would be on all natural fields.

“It’s a massive difference,” Overton said. “With this turf it’s supposed to drain within 10, 20 minutes of rain. And you can literally brush off any standing water, and you can play again.”

In Tega Cay, there’s often a pull between the historic peninsula area where the city started and the expanded area along Stonecrest Boulevard, Hubert Graham Way, toward Windhaven or other areas where it’s grown since. Catawba Park is big enough, and central enough, to serve all of the city.

“It’s a balance, because we do have our older parks in historic Tega Cay,” Overton said. “Runde and Turner Field, which we still plan to use whether it’s our concerts or recreation program, events, things like that. But this gives us just another opportunity to expand, to encompass a little bit of everything.”

As its name suggests, Catawba Park has connection to the Catawba River. An aerial view of the park show the river just below the dam, just south of Lake Wylie. Passive recreation areas — non-sports — will come closer to the water.

“That’s a future phase,” Overton said. “That will be in addition to where our river access is. The plans are to expand that with some more trails, some more passive recreation, picnic shelters, things like that.”

The ribbon cutting at Catawba Park is at 9 a.m. Thursday, at 2351 New Gray Rock Road in Tega Cay. Catawba Fest will be held there 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 29. For more information, visit tegacaysc.org.