Griswold Town Attorney Michael Zizka told state officials that the town was prepared to launch legal action against the state if it persists in its plan to build a state police firearms training facility adjacent to Pachaug State Forest.
“You may be facing litigation if you try to ram this project through,” Zizka told members of the State Assembly’s Joint Committee on Public Safety and Security, at a March 6 hearing in the Legislative Office Building.
He testified alongside Griswold First Selectman Todd Babbitt, as a packed house of local residents, many sporting “Save Pachaug Forest” buttons, sat in the gallery.
The hearing was called to address House Bill 5304, which calls on the state Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to conduct a study examining all potential sites for the project. State Rep. Kevin Skulczyck and State Sen. Heather Somers co-sponsored the bill.
Zizka said that the state is violating the spirit of its own law by bypassing the Office of Policy and Management’s statewide long-range facilities plan. That plan requires proposed building projects to pass muster with the state Property Review Board.
But State Solicitor General Jane Rosenberg told the committee that the state facilities plan was an “advisory document” which does not impact projects funded by bonding. The DAS is planning to finance the projected $7 million cost of the project through bonding. The legislature has already approved a bond package which includes the first phase of gun range project, she said.
Both state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Shriro and Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Melody Curry spoke in support of the project, echoing the stance they took during public hearings on the project in Griswold in 2016.
Shriro said that recent mass shootings underscore the need to train state troopers in the use of long rifles and in situations that more closely mimic those they encounter in the field.
“The state police must have a training facility to prepare for these threats. Delays would cost the state more money, and it could cost lives, including those of first responders,” she said.
Opponents of the project said they agreed, but contended that the state is once again using eastern Connecticut as a dumping ground for undesirable projects, bypassing its own watchdog agency and spending money it can ill afford in a tight budget climate.
“The people of Griswold are tired of living in the dark in regards to this project,” said Griswold Board of Finance member Steve Mikutel, a former state representative.
He called for an independent agency to conduct the site assessment, rather than the state agencies.
“I do not believe that the DAS can be objective,” he said.
Several speakers who testified questioned the fiscal logic of building a new gun range in a climate where state grants to towns have been slashed to bolster the state budget. Babbitt said that loss of state grants to the town may spell a two mill tax increase for next year, despite a level-funded budget.
“The state thinks bond money is free money,” Somers told the committee. “Don’t be fooled by what you have been told. If you follow the square footage [on cost estimates], we’re looking at $30 million.”
The committee heard suggestions for several alternative sites for the facility, including Congressman Joe Courtney ‘s proposal to use the existing National Guard firing range in East Haven. State officials countered that the East Haven range was not available for enough training days, and surrounding wetlands preclude expanding it to include shooting scenarios required by state troopers.
Steven Douglas, of Save Pachaug Forest, suggested that the state investigate using virtual reality systems designed for law enforcement as a training tool instead.
“There’s no live ammunition and no gun range accidents,” he said.
After shopping the project around to 11 different towns in eastern Connecticut in 2016, the state settled on property on Lee Road in Griswold as its preferred site for the gun range. The property, a vacant farmstead owned by Lewis Button, Jr., who works for the Secretary of State’s office, is surrounded on three sides by Pachaug State Forest.
Local residents say that the noise, lead pollution, and traffic from the facility will destroy the ambiance of the forest, lower property values, and adversely affect the environment.
The committee has two weeks to act on the bill, after which it could go to the House for consideration and possible vote.