City council approves amendment to allow permit
Aurora City Council members voted unanimously Feb. 14 to approve an amendment to a zoning ordinance to allow shooting ranges within the city’s agricultural and residential zoning districts as a conditional use.
The vote was in response to a request from Hamilton County 4-H Shooting Sports for construction of a range at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.
At a public hearing held before the vote, Christi Aycock, 4-H shooting instructor and coordinator for Hamilton County, discussed the organization’s plan to build a berm in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds near the RC car racing track for the .22 pistol and .22 rifle disciplines to have a more local option for the required four practices for Hamilton County Fair competitions.
“So they use the gun club up in Central City, each youth is required to buy a membership,” Aycock explained about the current area for practice. “By having a berm down here, we can have a shooting range that allows them to work closer. It’s not going to be as hard for parents to get off work in time for the practices. It’ll be more centrally located here at the fairgrounds. Plus, then they won’t have to pay a membership fee. Hamilton County has always been really good about not charging the kids to be involved in the program itself.”
The berm, or raised land, will be 40 feet wide, 12 feet high and have five feet long wings angled on either side. This will be to comply with National Rifle Association guidelines and Nebraska statutes.
Aycock reported at the meeting that the range would be locked and gated most times of the year, with practice running from March through July in the evenings, about 6 to 8 p.m.
“We usually try to go every other week, depending on the weather,” she said. “We’re outside so we might have to go once a week at the most.”
The shooting range will have an instructor-to-student ratio of one to eight and parents are required to stay at all practices. The program has many protocols to promote safety, such as a 48-hour training course for instructors to be certified in Nebraska where they are taught to employ safety precautions.
“We bring that information back (from the training course) and each of the kids are then given range instruction,” Aycock explained in a later interview. “They’re taught how to handle their firearms, safety glasses, they have to wear closed-toed shoes, they can’t have drawstrings on their sweatshirts (and) they’re taught how to properly carry their firearm up to the shooting line. Muzzle control is the other aspect that we teach them.”
She later stated that students are taught how to load and unload firearms properly and how to control their firearms while shooting from prone, sitting and standing position.
Aycock cited a statistic that despite having more than 3 million members, 4-H has only had seven reported incidents since beginning shooting programs in 1980.
Since the Hamilton County 4-H Shooting Sports program had a change in leadership at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a priority for the new instructors to develop a shooting range for the nearly two-decade-old local program, she said. The program also offers archery, BB gun, air rifle and hunting skills training in the Hamilton County Fairgrounds Commercial Building.
“It’s been a goal of the new instructors when we had our meeting to say: ‘We need to get the program back up and going. What are some things that we want to see happen?’” Aycock said.
She stated that the organization got the blessing of both Aurora Police Chief Paul Graham and Hamilton County Sheriff Jeromy McCoy, provided that a decibel test was conducted. She also said that the Hamilton County Ag Society, particularly secretary Jeremy Brandt, were supportive of using the fairgrounds. They then worked with the Aurora Planning Commission to conduct a test on Feb. 4.
The test was conducted with Brandt holding a phone with a decibel-measuring app, Aycock recording the results, her son Colt firing the weapon with Planning Commission vice chairman Keith Wasem observing and Jody Griffith listening from her home a mile east of the site.
The results of speaking were 56 decibels with a wind speed of 15 to 20 miles an hour. With Brandt 10 feet away, the decibels for pistol firing were 80 for the .22 rifle and 92 with a .22 pistol; 75 for the rifle and 77 for the pistol at the Mather Building 622 foot away. Decibel readings at a residence on 8th Street 949 feet away from the shooter were 62 for rifle and 64 for pistol. Griffith said the noise wasn’t very loud and did not bother her dogs, according to Aycock.
“These are less noisy than even a firecracker,” Aycock elaborated. “Firecrackers have a higher decibel where they’re located compared to where the berm is.”
Aycock stated at the meeting that 4-H had also sent out about 25 letters to nearby residences with only one phone call asking for more information.
4-H instructor Dana Glass spoke at the meeting saying that he lived near south 8th Street and could comment on what he had heard his neighbors saying.
“As far as I know, nobody in the neighborhood has any problems,” he said.
Before the vote to amend the ordinance to allow a conditional use permit, council member for Ward 3 Wayne Roblee made comment on Aycock’s presentation.
“It looks like it’s been very well thought through,” Roblee said. “I mean, the work that you’ve done, you know, (putting) the facts and figures together.”
Aycock stated that she had applied for the permit the following day and awaits final approval from the Aurora Planning Commission. If approval is granted, construction would start soon after and she said that the range could be used by next year.
“We have some very generous families that are donating both the dirt as well as the equipment and knowledge to build the berm for us,” she said. “We would be building this year, so we’ll still be going to Central City for the season.”
She also stated that the shooting range will be a positive development for Hamilton County youth.
“It teaches responsibility, and it raises those youth to become community members that are also involved,” Aycock concluded. “We’re also very fortunate to have such a wonderful partnership with the Ag Society; they are very supportive. We’re excited for this endeavor because it will provide a lot more opportunities for the youth for many years to come.”
The next Aurora City Council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 28.
In other action, the council:
* voted to approve three ordinances to comply with state statutes: No. 1160, for allowing minutes to be kept in written or electronic form under Open Meetings Act (which was already being done online at https://cityofaurora.org/city-government/city-council-meeting-minutes-agendas/); No. 1161, the time for certification for city clerk to election commissioner or county clerk was revised from “at least 50 days” to “on or before eighth Friday” prior to election for any issue to be submitted to the registered voters at a special election, also an issue can be withdrawn within a timely submission of a resolution to that effect; and No. 1162, notification of recall election cancellation from “at least 24 days” to “ on or before the fourth Thursday” before the election;
* voted to approve a special designated liquor license for Deb Kalkwarf of Grandview Cafe for a fundraiser at The Leadership Center March 25 from 5 to 11 p.m.