Conservation Commission Discusses Shooting Range

Under acting Chairman Rosemary Smith (Michael Conway and John Teal both being absent for the meeting), the Rochester Conservation Commission opened its November 1 meeting as final board member Daniel Gagne hurried into the room.

Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering was on hand at the meeting for a simple discussion with the commission representing Steve and Sarabeth Morrell, who are interested in a property off of County Road.

“Steve wants to purchase a piece of property, but we’re looking for your guidance,” he explained. “We want to make sure that what he can do is appropriate and approved before he invests too much into this.”

Morrell then stood up and explained his reasoning.

“I’d like to establish a firing range for the property located behind SEMASS,” he said. “I’ve been involved in federal law enforcement for years, and I’ve been a firearms instructor since I was nineteen. I teach everyone from casual shooters to police and military special operations shooters. This has always been a dream that my wife and I have kicked around, and a business that we’d like to run together.

Morrell continued, “It would be a private endeavor with small-scale training for law enforcement and the military. I just don’t want to get too far into this if it isn’t feasible.”

Morrell explained that the property was formerly used as a sand lot, and sand was carted away frequently, degrading the soil and scraping it below the waterline.

“It’s already a degraded property,” he pointed out, “and there’s not much you can do with it. It’s 2.3 acres; it will be small and closed off.”

“How are you going to protect the wetlands with the range there?” asked Kevin Cassidy.

“My plan is to build 20-foot high backstops, using an existing berm which is heavily vegetated already. There will be eight-foot thick barriers made of the same material, which protects soldiers in Iraq from car bombs. It basically creates a nine-foot tall box to shoot out of,” Morrell explained.

Cassidy also questioned Morrell about lead leaching from the ammunition.

“Well, if you’re on top of lead recovery and maintaining soil pH levels, lead never really becomes an issue,” Morrell replied. Cassidy told him that they would expect to see a detailed lead-removal plan for the property when it properly came before the Conservation Commission.

Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon noted, “As more shooting ranges have moved into town, there have been a lot of complaints from neighbors. They’re not conservation-based complaints, just … human-based. I think there is an opportunity here, and if it is done well, with a solid plan, it can be done.”

“I’m not opposed to it. I don’t think any of us are opposed to it, but we’ll need a wetlands plan,” Smith told Morrell, giving him a note of confidence before the meeting was adjourned.

Also during the meeting, Jonathan Alexandre filed a Notice of Intent for property located at 127 Mary’s Pond Road. Alexandre was looking to remove fill placed within the wetland resource area and 25-foot No Disturb Zone and to restore the areas with a conservation wetland seed mix.

He also requested that the removed fill be allowed to remain outside of the 25-foot zone, stabilized by loaming and planting of grass.

Alexandre and his representative, Nick Dufresne, were on hand at the meeting as Dufresne pointed out plans, which had been revised since the last meeting.

“The revisions aren’t very significant,” Dufresne pointed out. “The material within the 25-foot No Disturb Zone will be used as a turtle nesting habitat. There will be a demarcation of the border between the wetland zone and the No Disturb Zone. Currently the property owners are thinking a line of boulders.”

The board, having heard the clarifications, approved the Notice of Intent.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be held on Tuesday, November 15, at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall.

By Andrea Ray

 

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