Barnstable public range opinions...

Rim Job said:
At the meeting, discussed safety rules that were approved @ previous meeting (nothing specific). All other modifications were put off until feb 19 (need a bigger conference room). Rehashed the letter that the town manager sent out.


When did that happen? I got to the Town Hall at 6:20. At the beginning of the meeting they said they were postponing any discussion until Feb. 19. They started discussing the remaining agenda so I left.
Click to expand...
 
Discussion was only limited to the range closure and not the changes to the regulations. I napped until about 7:30 when they got to the range stuff
 
Yeah, the moderator's comments made it seem like it was totally shelved until February. I am more pissed about that than them not doing anything yet. I would have at least stuck around til then.
 
Two reasons for putting off discussions on regulation changes until Feb:

1) They apparently need the big room for a lot of people expected to show up, and

2) I think they're waiting to find an insurance company to find out what they require to cover the town and how it would affect the regulations
 
Do you think getting a refund will help or hinder the cause? The issue is not the money or time left in the yearly permit after a decision is made. More of a statement of disappointment in their handling of the situation.
 
I don't think it would help or hurt. They (dept of resources) are stuck in a holding pattern waiting to hear back from insurance companies. What could they do? Leave the range open and hope no one gets hurt and sue the town outright? I think people are complaining about the lack of notice. If they had put a sign up at the gate explaining the situation before finding out from the form letter (or online boards), it would have helped. The problem that I see is that you have until Friday to get your refund. Dept will definitely not have everything resolved by then.

With recent events, I think some insurance companies are going to be shying away a little bit making it more expensive for the town to insure the range. Whether that cost gets passed on to us (seeing as the town made approx $30k after expenses) is yet to be seen.
 
I went and turned in my key for a refund today. I really wanted to wait and see what the final word was going to be before doing so, but I also don't want to be out of $50 if the range either never reopens, or reopens far enough away to have to pay again. Too bad as I got key #2 when they got the new batch in.
 
My opinion, I still think the Town Administrator (or whomever is tasked with the insurance issue) is going to make a half-assed attempt to find insurance. They will drag it out as long as possible and then, when they think no one is looking or paying attention, make an announcement closing the range forever.

The range supervisor piece could probably be solved by looking for qualified volunteers. I would gladly offer my services a couple of days each month. They may not be able to open the range every day, but at least operate on the weekends, say Friday thru Sunday.

This really ticks me off. Encourage as many people as you can to go to the February meeting. The only thing town administrators understand is numbers!
 
I turned my key in too. There was a constant stream of us on Friday. I asked the gal how many keys were returned...she said hundreds.

What a drag to have to go all the way to NB now, although their range is much better than Barnstable.

I really feel let down by the town to take this facility away with zero warning, and leaving us out to dry indefinately.
 
Drove by the range today to see what was going on:

the area of trees between the access road and the Service road (from the gate to the shotgun range) has been removed / leveled out/ being prepped for dredging spoils
 
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Made it back today when nobody was working so I could take a couple of pictures and see what's been done...

Area being worked on:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msi...ll=41.705336,-70.404248&spn=0.003304,0.006968

What it looks like coming up the road:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img0009vz.jpg/

Shotgun range being used as what looks like a small staging area:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/img0012wv.jpg/

Looking from the shotgun range back to the big work area:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/img0013ep.jpg/
 
Wow, excellent information. Thank you for posting it. Looks like they are serious about keeping it open. Glad I have kept my key and permit....
 
Gatling77 said:
Is there an ETA on when it might be reopening?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Well, the next meeting to discuss rule changes at the range is Feb 19th. @ the Town Hall / Conservation Commission. They need a new insurance provider, rules in place to satisfy said provider, and I would assume construction to be complete to satisfy the work crew about all the gunfire going off next to them.
 
Hi folks...not sure if I've ever posted on here or not, but I'm trying to get some updated info on the range. I've shot there since before it was gated and before you had to pay and I really don't want to move on to another range. Any updates? Heard anything about rules changes or changes in cost, etc...? Thanks in advance!!!
 
According to this, http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/meetingnotices/CONSERVATION COMMISSION 2-19.pdf , the Conservation Commission will have some sort of update at the 1830 2/19 meeting.

"VI Old and New Business
Proposed additions to the Shooting Range Regulations, Chapter 702 of the Town of Barnstable Code. The proposed additions include future required liability waivers for all users and additional requirements for minors."
 
I went down to the range to see what (if any) progress has been made. No work since blizzard. Didn't see any other foot prints in snow, but it's been a week since snowfall.

From the access road looking towards the range (Service Rd would be on the right):

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Comparison from a month ago:

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Shotgun range still a mess:

http://imageshack.us/f/842/photofeb16112941.jpg/

Panoramic shot (right click, save as...only way to get a good view)

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt267/malbojah/IMG_08021.jpg
 
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I feel like I cant even remember the last time I shot a gun. It better be dam good when they are done. My mosin does not approve of the range being closed for months at a time.
 
I wasn't able to go tonight. I would hope somebody else from here went and can tell us what went down.
 
Maybe someone else can expand and/or correct me on this, but basically:

All they really did was approve the liability waivers they came up with in December. All the insurance companies required that at a minimum. Town Attorney is currently looking into the legalities of minors at the range. The shotgun range is still being worked on, and they are looking at the pistol and rifle ranges to see if they need work. Incendiary ammunition and exploding targets are to be banned at the range.

Other than that (and none of this is finalized or even thought/planned out yet), it looks like a full time RSO is going to be needed. Permit fee's will have to increase so that the range is self-sustaining. There is a chance that the range will shift from public/town operated, to a private company operation.

The council was not aware of any other public ranges in MA (did they mention New Bedford?), so if anyone knows of one, let them know.

Next meeting is March 5.
 
The police range in Harwich, while a pain in the ass to get the key for, and them closing is whenever some moron gets scared of the noises, is public and free.
 
cgm101792 said:
The police range in Harwich, while a pain in the ass to get the key for, and them closing is whenever some moron gets scared of the noises, is public and free.
Click to expand...

Do you have any information about this? Open to citizens from other towns or just Harwich residents? All I could find was a memo regarding noise and LEO training.
 
Almost 3 hours later and 2 things:

1) they haven't gotten to the range yet (last thing on the agenda) and,

2) my phone battery is almost dead from playing games and browsing for 3 hours
 
Okay, the only update is: no exploding targets, and there are now apparently six insurance companies as part of the NRA insurance program that are interested in the range
 

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