Lawmakers in Syracuse have agreed to a plan to reduce the city's deer population.

The Common Council has been working with the Department of Environmental Conservation on a plan to hire professional snipers to cull deer.

The plan comes after the city's deer population exploded, leading to an increase in car accidents and cases of Lyme disease.

Right now studies estimate there's 50 deer per square mile.

The plan says food will be used to attract deer, who will then be killed by a silent sniper at night. After the deer are killed, they would be taken to a meat processing service, which has agreed to donate all of the meat to homeless shelters at no cost to the city.

Syracuse Common Councilor Joe Driscoll says it will make the deer population more manageable in a safe and quick way.

"Rest assured we are keeping public safety at the forefront." Driscoll said. "These USDA sharpshooters are very proficient they have extreme prototypical of safety measures they have to follow. Everything we've done has been with the public good in mind."

Culling is expected to being by January.