SOLON, Ohio -- Solon's solution to managing its deer population has been to hire sharpshooters to kill many of the animals, a solution that has sparked a great deal of controversy.

Solon's program started quietly last week, and sharpshooters continue to pick off the deer one by one.

But Wednesday night, yet another showdown will take place between City Hall and residents against the deer killings.

The protest will occur at the city's first City Council meeting since the killing program began.

The group of angry residents calls itself the Peaceful Deer Alliance of Solon, and is led by Belinda Geiger. Many of them fed the deer, and do not want to see them killed.

Solon is the first city in Ohio to employ this controversial method of deer management.

But Mayor Kevin Patton says the city has been plagued by deer car collisions, and the police chief agrees with him that thinning the population is important.

"I do not want to be the person to go to a resident's house and say, 'A deer went through the windshield of your husband or wife's car and she's no longer with us,'" said Chief Wayne Godzich.

The city hopes to cut the population of 1,200 deer in half. The team of sharpshooters has already killed 184 of them.

About 6,000 pounds of deer meat have already been processed and will be distributed to Cleveland's homeless.