While it is early in the process, the Western Council of Governments (WestCOG) — a municipal support agency located in Sandy Hook — is looking into developing a regional law enforcement gun training facility. With details still unclear and agreements “not ready for prime time,” according to First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, Newtown has been identified as one of two possible locations, along with Wilton.

At a June 19 Board of Selectmen meeting, Rosenthal asked fellow selectmen for early impressions about the idea of Newtown hosting the range on the new Police Department property at 191 South Main Street, as there is a buffer zone of 11 acres of land surrounding the building.

WestCOG has spent the last nine months doing a study on the best locations for a firing range, using the locations of where most police officers in the 36 town group live. WestCog stretches from Newtown to Weston, and from New Milford down to Greenwich.

Newtown has come up as one of the most viable locations for the range along with Wilton.

One issue local police departments are facing is that firearms training requirements have gone up; it has become difficult for officers to schedule time at available firing ranges. A shared firing range could help solve that problem.

The state is offering a grant that will pay for half the project, projected to cost $3 or $4 million, with member towns footing the other half of the bill, spending an estimated $100,000 each up front and then estimated yearly dues of $5,000 per year.

If Newtown wants to participate, and possibly host the firing range, it would require approvals by both the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council. The process isn’t quite there yet. Rosenthal said he is making sure that “no one is viscerally opposed” to the project, especially in regards to being potentially located in Newtown.

Long-Range Planning

Once WestCOG determines how many towns are interested and potentially willing to contribute, a more formal plan will be worked out, including details of final costs, who would manage the construction, who would be in charge of administrating and maintaining the building, and other details.

Rosenthal said he imagined that the land would not be given to WestCOG but leased out with some sort of arrangement. He also said that it was likely a third party would administer the firing range.

“This is all preliminary,” said Rosenthal. “The idea has merit, but the details need to be worked out. We don’t know the agreement details. The devil could be in the details.”

The idea for the range is that it will be indoors with sound dampening and tucked away on town-owned land.

“Most people won’t even know it’s there,” said Rosenthal.

The town is making no commitments at this point, merely expressing whether it is interested or not.

“Nothing is committed other than saying it’s worth keeping the conversation going. We’re mostly saying this is far enough along that we’re ready to accept the grant,” said Rosenthal. “If this doesn’t materialize, we have to give the grant back.”

Nothing is known on where the project stands until Newtown and the other member towns express whether or not they are interested. Selectman Ed Schierloh said he would “need a lot more detail to be sold on this.”

“This isn’t ready for prime time,” said Rosenthal.

No Immediate Opposition

It is expected the matter will also be considered by the Legislative Council. The BOS did not take any vote on the matter, but no selectmen expressed being opposed to it prior to seeing the final agreement.

In other BOS news, Deputy Director of Land Use Steve Maguire came before the selectmen asking if they would endorse the Highland Conservation Act, which the selectmen approved unanimously.

Newtown’s participation in the act previously received the endorsement of the Conservation Commission and Newtown Forest Association.

The Highland Conservation Act was an act of the US Congress approved in 2004; it is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

It covers an area “similar to the Appalachian Mountain Range,” said Maguire, ranging from Pennsylvania through northern New Jersey, southern New York, and the top corner of Connecticut along with the majority of Litchfield County.

“They recognized the area for preserving drinking water quality for New England’s cities, and preserving the land for agricultural significance,” said Maguire.

In 2004, the boundary only included a few towns in Connecticut, with Brookfield being the closest town. In 2022, the act was reauthorized and allowed for more towns to be included in the area. This allows the town to petition the US Fish and Wildlife Service to be included.

If granted, the town would be part of the region, which opens up a lot of federal funding sources for grants. It is an overlay that allows the town to pull from a greater pool of grants for conservation and other projects.

“There are no requirements and no strings attached,” said Maguire. “This is a win/win for the town, with no downside.”

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.