Union County Gun Club, Blairsville, Georgia
We are an NRA & Board getting updates at September meeting.
Update on Union County Target Range development activities as of December 30, 2020
After three years of wishing and fishing, it seems to many, that have contacted us, that our Target Range time-line is turning into a moving target (no pun intended). But I assure you that things are not standing still---we are making progress. We just completed our third, and hopefully final, Professional Sound Study. This latest Sound Study was extremely detailed and quantified by multiple digital recordings.
Incidentally, we are very appreciative of our local Blairsville Gun and Drug company for donating the necessary “secured” ammunition used in this sound study.
The resulting report recommended a little more sound-baffling at the purposed firing line shelter. The Architect firm’s engineer (hired by the county) is developing an adjustment to his still-developing site-plan to accommodate these new recommendations. Please keep in mind, that there is a steering committee that is responsible for overseeing these recommendations and all final decisions. The steering committee is made up of; our Union County Commissioner and three of his staff-members, The US Forest Service, The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Atlanta-based Architect’s engineer. At this point in the game, the Union County Gun Club is having to wait on the side-line till the steering committee approves the new changes and ultimately the final site-plan (which is a requirement mandated by the US Forest Service for acquiring and utilizing their supervised land off Highway 180 for our Target Range). Once the final site-plan has been approved by the steering committee, then our County Commissioner will advertise for bids to finally do the work. The projected cost for our proposed Target Range is expected to be in the neighborhood of 2 million dollars and most of these dollars will come through the DNR from the Pittman-Robertson Act funding.
The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (“Pittman-Robertson”) authorizes the United States Secretary of Interior to work with the states, Through their respective State fish and game departments (or their equivalents), on a variety of projects related to wildlife. Among these projects are the construction, operation and maintenance of public target ranges.
While our Target Range acquisition project has taken us 3 years to get to this point, we are still years ahead of other counties’ attempts to accomplish similar goals.
Don’t give up hope---we, the Union County Gun Club Board members, feel confident that we are going to have a Union County Target Range that will be the envy of every other Target Range in Georgia.
Hope this update helps to explain the seemingly ongoing-moving-target timeline.
Paul Clark (President of Union County Gun Club) and board members
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Here is a recap of on-going developments with our goal to have a Union County Gun Range:
- The US Forest Service (USFS) has agreed to lease the proposed Highway 180 Gun Range-site property to the Union County Government for the use as a gun range---with caveats (that is, proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations).
- The most important of these provisos is that the USFS is requiring that a site-plan be drawn up that they can endorse and approve of.
- The Union County Government hired an Engineering Firm out of Atlanta to complete this task. This Engineering firm has many successful Georgia Gun Range Site-Plans under their belt and their plans have been approved by the USFS and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the past---so, it should be a good choice.
- About a month ago, the Engineering Firm out of Atlanta was about 50% complete with their site-plan mandate. At that time, the DNR was approached in a 10+page letter by an individual living on top of Jonas mountain.
- Keep in mind that Jonas mountain is a mile away from our proposed Gun Range site.
- This individual presented allegation that the sound-study performed by Nutter and Associates about a year ago was done improperly and therefore invalid.
- He threatened to go to court if the sound-study was not retested by an independent Sound Study team.
- Lawyers for DNR suggested that the Site-Plan task be suspended until this sound-issue could be addressed and resolved. Keep in mind, that the Site-Plan engineers are working “time and expense”---meaning that the government purse-string holders did not want to continue spending money on this site-plan development if something was going to change the outcome.
- DNR has hired (at their expense) an independent Sound professional group out of Gainesville, Florida to assess Nutter and Associates’ original findings and create a new sound-test with sound recording instruments. We are hoping that this will be completed by the end of September.
- The Union County Gun Club board members are keenly-focused on monitoring this situation as it unfolds. Our hopes are…that after a positive sound test results…we will be back on track and moving forward. We will keep you apprised of the situations as they arise.
Thanks for your patience.
Paul Clark (President of Union County Gun Club)