The development of a gun range for the Festus Police Department has been paused to allow city officials more time to study the proposal.
At the April 14 Festus City Council meeting, Mayor Sam Richards called for a motion to accept a construction bid for the gun range project, but none of the council members spoke up, so no contract was awarded.
Then, council members voted 6-0 to table the matter for further study. Council members Jim Collier of Ward 1 and Mike Cook of Ward 4 were absent from the meeting.
Some council members said they were reluctant to move forward with the project after residents told them they had concerns about it prior to the meeting. Some residents also spoke during the visitors’ comments section of the meeting about their concerns over the project.
According to plans for the gun range, it would be built off Old Hwy. A about a half mile west of Larry G. Crites Memorial Park.
The three residents who spoke during the meeting said they live in the nearby Blue Ridge Terrace subdivision and worry about the noise a gun range might generate. One of the speakers said she also was concerned about how the gun range could affect property values in the area.
Ward 3 Councilman Bobby Venz said he has “heard from a lot of people worried about noise.”
Police Chief Doug Wendel said the city received eight bids from companies to clear land and construct a berm for the gun range, with Ultra Excavating of Festus submitting the lowest, at $21,950. Wendel then recommended that the council award a contract to Ultra Excavating.
Council members discussed the gun range project at length before the mayor called for a motion, asking Wendel a number of questions about it.
Wendel told council members the proposed location for the gun range is the best place currently owned by the city for the facility.
He said only Festus police officers would use the gun range, and they would only use it from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. about six to eight days a year to practice to meet state-mandated weapons firing requirements.
In addition, Wendel told the council his department had done its own study on gun noise at the proposed gun range site and determined it would not be significant.
Council members asked about the possibility of having a feasibility and environmental study on the location completed, and Wendel said they could ask Ultra Excavating to complete one for an additional fee.
Councilman Kevin Dennis of Ward 3 made the motion to table the vote on land clearing and berm construction for the gun range “for more study.”
After the meeting, City Administrator Greg Camp said the council’s decision to table the vote on the construction contract wasn’t necessarily the end of the project.
“It’s a no, right now,” he said. “We’ll report back to the council. That’s what the chief and I plan to do, report back with more information.”
During the council’s April 28 meeting, several council members brought up the gun range project again, asking Wendel about the status of his research.
“The (noise) study is being done currently,” he said.
Cook floated the idea of the city holding an open house to answer residents’ questions about the gun range, but the council took no action regarding the suggestion.