City allows variance for Izaak Walton rifle range

Posted

HURON — A variance to allow the Beadle County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League to reconfigure the existing rifle range at 715 Lawnridge Ave. N.E. in order to, in part, make it safer has been approved by the City Commission.
League president Lanny Thomas said the organization has been asked by the 4-H shooting sports club to make use of the range. There are about 90 to 100 young people in the club.
The proposal is to remove the south berm of the range, add a north-south berm inside the range to divide the range into 200-yard and 100-yard ranges. A berm will be added for the 100-yard range and a firing line shelter will be constructed on the south end of the range.
Reconfiguring it will make it safer for shooters and enable easier supervision of those using the range. Adding a shelter over the firing line will help with noise control.
The existing rifle range is grandfathered in, where code doesn’t allow a rifle range as a permitted use in an area zoned one-family residential in the city and one-family residential in the joint jurisdictional area.
While the clubhouse is in city limits, the shooting range is not.
Meanwhile, commissioners approved an engineering department recommendation that will reduce the paving contract for 24th Street Southeast in the Southtown development by $12,546.

City Engineer Brett Runge said the unit price for hot mix of $89.26 per ton is being reduced to $78.50 per ton.
In exchange, the city will be responsible for repairing the gravel grade prior to paving, if necessary, and the contract completion date will be extended from July 15 to Aug. 1 to resolve scheduling conflicts.
The contractor on the job is Asphalt Paving & Materials Co. of Huron.
In other action, commissioners:
• Adopted a resolution transferring a five-acre parcel in the Southtown development to Greater Huron Development Corporation, which is purchasing the land for $400,000. GHDC has a buyer for the commercial property.
•Accepted the retirement resignation of Detective Sgt. Gene Miller after more than 41 years of service to the police department.
• Accepted the resignation of Shirley Apley from the Employee Safety Committee and appointed Douglas Pietz to fill the remainder of the term.
• Proclaimed April 22-28 as Arbor Week in Huron.
• Approved the regular full-time status of Tony Grace as 911 telecommunicator after completion of his probationary period.
• Authorized the police department to apply for a South Dakota Highway Safety Grant for seatbelt and speed enforcement overtime. If the funds are awarded, 80 percent would be from the federal government. The 20 percent city match can be done by using normal patrol hours that the department already pays for, said Capt. Dan Kight.
• Heard Commissioner Bryan Smith publicly thank the street department for working through the weekend to make city streets passable after the blizzard. He also acknowledged the efforts of the police and fire departments.
• Heard a report from librarian Shirley Apley regarding a leak discovered in the roof in the newer portion of the library. The work is still under warranty and the subcontractor will be sending a crew to Huron to make repairs.