About nine years ago, residents complained about the same issue — too much noise for a prolonged amount of time. Some say the problem has crept back.
Headgates Road resident Ron Hacker said he cannot open his patio window to enjoy a nice day without constantly hearing weapons discharging.
“It’s frequent and very noisy,” he said. “This noise comes right over my patio. Whenever they’re firing, I might as well forget it.”
Residents also feel the range is being used improperly, where the indoor range is not being used.
Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard St. John said he spoke with Hamilton Chief Neil Ferdelman and other police officials on Monday and Tuesday.
“They acknowledge when the range master leaves at the end of his shift every day, if one of the outside agencies is using the range, their range officer is in charge in overseeing what happens on the range,” St. John said. “If whoever’s on the range is not following Hamilton’s rules, Hamilton doesn’t know about it.”
St. John said it was told to him outside agencies may not be aware of the rules.
The firing range was built in the early 1950s. Hacker moved to Headgates in the 1980s and said he hardly knew the range was there for about 20 years. Then rifles and shotguns began to be fired.
Barney Landry, also of Headgates Road, wants to know if Hamilton is making money off the range.
“We understand the need for training,” Landry said. “It’s the city of Hamilton’s shooting range and it’s not a business for them to be selling it out.”
Five agencies, including Hamilton and Fairfield police departments use it on a regular basis, St. John said. The other include the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Butler County Adult Parole Authority.
The township uses the Butler County Sheriff’s range.
Landry and other residents want the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to inspect the range due to the potential amount of lead from the ammunition. St. John said he was told the department cleans up the range regularly, but residents aren’t trusting it’s completely clean.
“The EPA ought to be on board monitoring this site because it has hazardous operations,” Landry said. “We don’t want them to tell us they’re cleaning it up. That’s like the fox watching the hen house.”
Fairfield Twp. Trustee Steve Morgan said he will contact Hamilton officials to set up a meeting with them and Headgates Road residents.
“We’re going to try to get that worked out,” Morgan said at the Tuesday evening meeting. “We’ll start tomorrow.”
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