The following Letter To The Editor article appeared on Citizen Opinion on April 11, 2006.
Letters to the Editor - 4/11/06
Training Lodge not a good fit
Editor, The Citizen:
I felt compelled to write to you after attending the private informational
meeting presented by William Gifford and Ed Fasold of the North American
Training Lodge Inc. last Thursday at the Groton Town Hall. I went there to be
fair, to listen to the "other side," hoping to learn details of their plans and
designs that would put some of my fears to rest. I wanted to find out if their
claim was true, that the proposed firearms and explosives training facility, the
gentlemen propose to build, would not negatively impact my farm and other
neighbors.
What I learned instead is that they have not done any sound, or engineering
studies at all, and are merely saying that they won't make a lot of noise based
on "government estimated charts for wooded terrain." Previously they have told
the community in print, and at meetings, that they would meet NRA standards.
When a person from the audience asked them if they would follow the NRA's
Standards for Sound Abatement on Shooting Ranges, William Gifford would not
commit to meeting those standards and practices.
In addition, I found that they are planning to hold frequent outdoor night
firearms training and on occasion to hold round-the-clock firearms training.
Although they said there were no current plans to use rockets — RPGs and the
like — neither did they rule it out. I am worried that once they get established
it will evolve, like other ranges have, and expand into a constant source of
noise and reverberation, disturbing the peace and quiet I, and many others, live
in and love Groton for ... essential to my already established equine business,
as well as many other homes and businesses. Mr. Gifford and Mr. Fasold also
described using potentially up to half pound equivalent of C4 explosives in
"forced entry training exercises."
William Gifford said that "occasionally they might have to go to Home Depot or
Lowes to get 50, 80, or 100 doors" to practice explosive breaches. I find it
hard to believe that without extensive sound abatement engineering, the sound
will not echo off the surrounding hillsides and rock faces into our neighboring
homes and backyards. Would you like this in your back yard?
They were also asked if other
clients besides enlisted U.S. military, U.S. law enforcement professionals,
police SWAT teams, Homeland Defense personnel, and college students would be
trained there. Their response was that "this type of facility was not created
around a civilian market", and that while they might let Canadians use the
facility they would not let any "***Edited
deletion please see below***" or "***Edited
deletion please see below***" use the facility. This is not the
kind of business I want in Groton. It is contrary to the rural character of the
community and the existing agricultural and home businesses here ... not to
mention the environmental impact on the wildlife.
William Gifford would not commit to any limits on their future expansion ... now
they state firmly that they are going to acquire at least 1,000 acres for their
facility. He also made it clear that it was his prerogative to shut down
existing snowmobile, hiking, and horseback riding trails on a temporary or
permanent basis for the safety of the public.
At the end of the meeting, after listening to what they had to say, I asked Mr.
Gifford if he would honor his pledge not to site his weapons and explosive
training facility where it was not wanted. I have attended many public meetings
regarding this project and the public reaction is overwhelmingly opposed to
placing this military/ civilian training facility in Groton. I just hope William
Gifford will keep his word.
Patti Demers Bailey
Groton
***Edited deletions***:
It is not the policy of CCFRI to modify or edit any news article or letter to the editor that appeared in a published newspaper, but with Patti Bailey’s permission we have edited the two phrases out of her Letter To The The Editor that appeared in the Citizen Opinion. The phrases that Patti quoted as being said by NATL were also heard by many other people who attended the same meeting. These phrases semantically could be taken offensively by many people and therefore we are deleting them.