The following article appeared in the BackTalk section of the Valley News on Sunday, April 30th 2006.

In response to the commentary last week by William E. Gifford (“The Guns of Groton: A Shooting Range, Not a Military Camp,” BackTalk, April 23), I would like to shed some light on his statement, “Many labels have been applied to NATL -- most of them inaccurate.”

The Dorchester selectboard believes that the North American Training Lodge (NATL) is a problem to which the citizens of Groton must respond in an appropriate and assertive manner. Our community has offered to help Groton with land-use ordinances and zoning and is willing to help in the future if Groton's planning board and selectmen request such assistance.

Nevertheless, NATL appears to be ignoring its impact beyond the town line of Groton. Dorchester's northeast quadrant, for example, borders most of Groton and would be affected by any ballistic activity from the firearms training facility. At a February meeting in Groton, I approached Gifford, president of NATL, and suggested that NATL has a professional responsibility to provide hearings in all abutting communities to keep the public informed of this highly sensitive issue. My wife, Patricia, a Dorchester planning board member, and I were given an answer intimating that NATL cannot really be concerned about other communities.

In short, we gave NATL an opportunity to come out of “hiding” and be straight with the public. NATL touts patriotism and the American way. In our estimation, a rebuff of an offer to provide information to the public in Dorchester is a direct contradiction to the democratic process that NATL so vociferously advocates and promotes.
 

Albert J. Franz

The writer is chairman of the Dorchester Board of Selectmen.