Complaints by West Gloucester residents living within earshot of the Police Department's firing range are catching the attention of the City Council.
At a meeting of the Ordinance and Administration Committee last week, the department was plainly on the defense, as councilors seemed surprised to hear that the range, near the Haskell Reservoir south of Essex Avenue, is being used by the Coast Guard as well as the Police Academy.
"The range is being used 10 months out of the year, it's become a nuisance to neighbors," Councilor Phil Devlin told the committee.
"We need to find a way to move away from there," said council President Bruce Tobey.
"We wouldn't be here as a neighborhood if this range wasn't being abused," said Nubar Alexanian of 11 Sumner St. He and Jean Grobe of 17 Lincoln St. led a small delegation of residents to protest the expansion of shooting in terms of time and loudness.
"When we call with complaints," said Alexanian, "they (police headquarters) don't even know who is down there shooting."
"Almost the entire Coast Guard is training there," said Grobe.
"It's escalated, it's absolutely unbearable," she said.
The police and Coast Guard met with Devlin and neighbors to discuss the problem in the weeks before the Ordinance and Administration Committee session.
There, police Chief John Beaudette said the state requires the city to allow the Coast Guard to shoot at the local range. The range is used by Coast Guard members all along the coast from Boston to the New Hampshire line, according to Sgt. William Leanos, who supervises marksmanship for the force.
"There are no restrictions on the range and no signs are (permanently) posted to warn people in the woods that a range was nearby," said Devlin. "We are trying to get some environmental restrictions, signage posted and dates set for use."
Councilor John "Gus" Foote said he was surprised to learn that the city has no ordinance governing the use or even creation of a shooting range, and suggested that Mayor Carolyn Kirk have one written.
Leanos and Beaudette both said they were unable to say how often the range was in use or who was using it. Leanos said he believed records were available to produce a report.
The committee recessed without taking action but directed the Health Department and the Conservation Commission to attend a meeting later this summer to hash out a policy for managing the range.
Tobey asked Beaudette why the force needed its own range when there was the Sportsman's Club off Cherry Street, in the Dogtown woods.
"Years ago we used to shoot there," Beaudette said, "but we were asked to leave."
Richard Gaines can be reached at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com
