La Plata County officials plan to meet privately with Durango Gun Club members to push for more public access to the outdoor gun range on La Posta Road (County Road 213).
County commissioners discussed several concerns with the current outdoor range earlier this week, including the club not complying with terms of its lease and a new range at the county location. County Manager Joe Kerby and County Attorney Sheryl Rogers are scheduled to meet with club members Monday.
“I don’t think that what the gun club provides is what the lease calls for,” Commissioner Julie Westendorff said during board discussion time. “Sighting and 4-H and take-your-gun-to-work day or something, whatever that other day is that they open it to the public, I don’t think are consistent with the plain language of this (lease).”
The Durango Gun Club operates two gun ranges, one on property it leases from the city of Durango and one it leases from the county.
The club’s website says both ranges are “private club facilities,” but the buildings are on public property, and both leases with the city and the county require access by the general public.
The club is a private, members-only organization that operates the ranges.
The range in the county is opened to nonmember residents for “sight-in” days, where hunters can adjust their rifles for accuracy and special events. The club also opens the indoor facility on Florida Road (County Road 240) to nonmembers for hunter-education classes.
Durango Gun Club president John Malarsie didn’t directly address the amount of access offered to the public, but said it is a topic club members planned to discuss with county officials.
“We’ll know more after the meeting,” he said.
Club members are scheduled to meet with city officials April 9. The city’s lease with the club has expired, and it’s a likely topic of conversation.
The lease between the club and the county was signed in 1979 for 20 years and then renewed in 1998 for 20 more years. The club pays $1 a year for the use of the land. The contract can be terminated by the Board of County Commissioners, but it has to attempt to move the club to a new space. It can be extremely difficult finding new locations for gun ranges, Rogers said.
“This is a crummy lease, from the county’s perspective,” Westendorff said.
Durango and La Plata County have budgeted $225,000 each to build another range at the La Posta site, which is scheduled to start the first phase of construction this year. However, neither the city nor county has agreed on a specific vision for the new range.
For years, the Durango Gun Club has allowed law enforcement to train at its ranges for free. Malarsie told commissioners in February that added use for officers’ training has strained the facility. County Sheriff Duke Schirard has said the county needs to develop its own facility.
The new gun range planned for construction next to the current outdoor range aims to give law-enforcement officers more space to train. However, it’s unclear whether the public will be allowed to use it as well. It’s also unclear what the gun club’s role will be with the new range or the current range after the lease expires in 2018.
Rogers said she drafted an agreement on cost-sharing for the new range in December 2012 and met with Durango officials in June. She said she hasn’t heard back from the city since those meetings, despite asking City Manager Ron LeBlanc about its status more than once.
LeBlanc said he’s seen a copy of the draft agreement, but was never given a copy by Rogers or Kerby. Rogers said she sent the agreement to LeBlanc, City Attorney David Smith and Kerby by email and retains a copy.
LeBlanc also said he discussed the agreement in two meetings, although he couldn’t specify when.
“I didn’t give a response,” he said. “But I don’t know that I was asked to.”
Westendorff said she thought the county should consider a plan without the city. The county can’t just sit on hold.
“We’ve been waiting a number of months; we’ve seen the emails from last year that looked like there was resistance for whatever reasons,” she said. “I don’t feel like the current state of gun ranges is acceptable.”
smueller@durangoherald.com
