Little Compton town councilor Gary Mataronas wants the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust to do more due diligence when it leases trust-owend land in residential areas to farmers, and he also wants the trust to pick up at least some of the costs associated with keeping crops safe from birds.

His comments at the most recent council meeting come as the town continues to study the use of "crop cannons," propane-fired devices that emit loud blasts designed to keep birds off corn during the growing season. Cannons were big news last summer, after residents complained that the cannons' incessant blasts degrade their quality of life.

Mataronas and other town officials have been trying to come up with a plan to address the use of cannons and other devices since the summer, and hope to come up with formal plans on how to resolve the near-yearly issue before this coming summer's season.

“When corn was growing on Windmill Hill, it was right next to a thickly settled residential area, and I think that’s what caused the most problems ... I asked that they [trustees] please work with the town on this.”

Mataronas said he also recommends that the trust consider absorbing the cost of devices that can be used by farmers in place of crop cannons, such as lasers. Though they can cost up to $20,000, proponents say lasers would be far less disruptive to neighbors than propane cannons.

Promising he would not drop the issue, Mataronas said conversations with state and local officials will likely start up again in March, since “we can’t have bombs going off next to residents for two months a year.”