The Range Task Force passed an interim plan for the Carson Rifle and Pistol Range that now goes to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
The plan calls to open the range to clubs, commercial entities, and law enforcement Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., by reservation.
Each group would have to provide range safety officers while using the range. Individuals shooting with clubs and commercial entities would need to sign waivers accepting liability.
All would be allowed to use live ammunition. If the landfill reports any problems or a user self reports shooting bullets that went outside the range, it would be at the discretion of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space director to take action, which could include closing the range or prohibiting a user.
For the general public, the range will continue its current hours of operations: Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with range officers provided by the Carson Rifle and Pistol Club, and on Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30-7:45 p.m. with officers provided by Carson City Parks and Rec.
The range would be closed on Mondays for general maintenance.
The plan will likely be on the supervisors’ May 16 agenda. If approved, it could go into effect immediately.
The task force also wants to institute a fee schedule at the range, but pushed that to its meeting on June 5. A fee schedule would need to be approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission at its meeting June 17 and then approved by the supervisors on June 20.
The fees would be earmarked for improvements at the range.
Jennifer Budge, Parks and Rec director, said Lumos & Associates delivered the preliminary designs for the work needed to make the range safe. The city has until Friday to review and comment and then the engineering consultant has three weeks to move the design to 60 percent completion, when the city could seek bids for work on the shooting bays and get that part of the project construction underway. In June, when the design is complete, the rest of the project could go out to bid.
A full-time range officer and $250,000 for matching funds for grants to pay for the safety improvements at the range were approved two weeks ago by the Board of Supervisors when it passed the tentative 2020 fiscal year budget.
