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County doubles funding for shooting range
By Polly Keary, Editor
The push to create a shooting range in the Sultan area just got an unexpected boost when the county council turned what could have been a $100,000 funding loss into a $200,000 gain.
For years, the members of the Citizens for Responsible Environment and Shooting Trust, or CREST, have been working to create a shooting range and multi-sport facility on Sultan Basin Road.
There has been steady progress. In August the Dept. of Natural Resources turned a 187-acre piece of land near Lake Bronson over to Snohomish County for the purposes of making a range.
The range would address a lot of needs at once. It would replace illegal and dangerous, not to mention terribly polluted, shooting ranges along Olney Creek. It would make the area safer for hikers and others in the area. It would stimulate the local economy. And it would provide recreation, not only for gun enthusiasts, but for archers, mounted shooters, orienteers and potentially others.
But it will likely take at least a couple of million dollars to make the dream a reality.
The county council had planned to put $100,000 in the 2013 budget to help pay to get the project underway.
But at the last minute, CREST organizer and Sultan City Councilman Steve Slawson got word from Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers, who represents the Sky Valley region, that the budget item might get removed.
The money for the range was to come from real estate excise taxes, and one council member had raised concerns about the money going to a shooting range.
Brain Sullivan, the council member in question, supported the park, but wanted to set the money aside until they could make sure the money was going for a correct use.
Concerned, many supporters of the range besieged the council with hundreds of emails and calls.
In the meantime, the city’s legal staff cleared the expenditure, and the council, in a 5-0 vote, decided to double the amount budgeted for the park.
“It’s quite an amazing thing, them doubling the amount of money,” said Slawson.
The money will go toward planning and design, he said.
Jason
November 29, 2012 at 4:43 pm
I just wanted to say this is welcome news. I’ve lived in the Monroe area for 5 years now and a designated place to go shooting is something I’ve been missing.
Dennis O'Neil
December 1, 2012 at 11:40 pm
OK, so $200,000 of our property taxes go to a shooting range and we still can’t afford a city police force. Sweet! Washington State’s own studies list “specialty use” as the lowest value for public land use and shooting ranges as the lowest value for “specialty use” applications. Boy, do we have smart representatives. Has anyone thought about how Sultan will fund the millions to build this? Will the shooters really pay to go to that range when they legally can shoot for free now?
Dennis
Pingback: Public shooting range to open in Sultan Basin
Richard Allis
December 7, 2012 at 12:51 am
Build it…And they will come. I know I’ll go. Because I enjoy being able to shoot.
The world has changed so much in the shooters arena. It wasn’t that long ago you just threw the guns in the back of your truck and drove out of town five or six miles and had at er’.Disrespectful IDIOTS changed that.
Having a range would be very beneficial to the local economy. With any adventure there will be bumps in the road, but, with the right influences it can be ever so less bumpy.
The steps are progressing. Don’t let this opportunity get away from us this time. Safe and secure firearms training and much much more are in the future. It has to start though. Talk isn’t cheap when you’re dealing with talking heads that expect to get PAID!