City has sights set on site for shooting range
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

In a deal that city and Waste Management Inc. officials say has no connection to the landfill's plans for expansion, the two sides are close to reaching a land-lease agreement on a piece of W.M. property that the city intends as the site of the police department's long-proposed firearms training facility.

City Manager Mike Sedell told the Simi Valley Acorn on Tuesday that although "nothing is signed," the two sides had agreed on a piece of property located somewhere within the landfill's 500-acre buffer zone for its proposed expansion.

Waste Management currently owns more than 3,000 acres northwest of Simi Valley.

"We've got the land we want. We know this (project) is important to keeping a safe community, and they're willing to offer the land at little or no cost," Sedell said, adding that the proposal would eventually have to go before the City Council for review and to the county for a permit.

"Everything is going to be done out in the open," the city manager said.

Though Sedell would not reveal the exact location of the proposed site for safety reasons, he did say the city had been interested in the land ever since it was purchased by the landfill in October 2004 from Unocal, which has since merged with Chevon Corp.

"We needed land just as they did, that has a buffer around it," Sedell said. "Because of the noise element (of the facility) we needed a place where it wouldn't disturb residents living nearby. . . . There aren't too many places like that left in the city. You don't want people hearing guns going off and becoming alarmed."

So the city approached Waste Management employee and ardent police foundation supporter Mike Smith about the possibility of acquiring a piece of property. According to Mike Williams, the company's director of projects, the two sides soon discovered the idea benefitted both parties.

"We have a buffer area as part of our expansion project, and that area had to be left clean of any impact zones," Williams said. "Once we figured this idea would help the city and it wouldn't impact our project, we said we'd consider it."

When both sides saw they had mutual interests, Sedell said, the process of deciding which was the best plot of land on the huge property began.

"They were very agreeable," he said. "They knew we had been looking for land for that type of facility for some time, and they immediately stepped up to the plate and said 'we're willing to work with you.'"

According to Capt. Ron Chambers of the Simi Valley Police Department, constructing a local facility will save the department's 127 officers from making multiple out-of-town trips in order to get their shooting certification, and will save the department rent money.

"Police officers are required to maintain their firearm capabilities throughout their career," Chambers said. "Most officers will go and qualify every month.

"Currently our core training facility is in Angeles Crest. We have a one-year lease with them and we've utilized them for the last four or five years," he said. "We pay depending on the number of days we lease it."

Chambers could not give an exact figure on how much the city pays each month.

At some point, city officials decided that having a shooting training facility within Simi would be more cost-effective.

"We would prefer to have our officers remain in town for their training," said Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller. "Obviously that's less expensive, and (the taxpayers) don't have to pay as much over time."

Chambers said a local shooting range will allow city and county law enforcement officers to hone their shooting skills even more frequently than they do now. And in police work, he said, an officer can never be too skilled with his standard-issue weapon- be it a handgun, shotgun or AR15 semiautomatic assault rifle.

"Obviously it's a critical skill set. Lives are on the line. We want (our officers) to be operating at as high a level of proficiency as possible," Chambers said. "So the goal is to provide them with as many opportunities as possible to get additional training."

Miller, a 12-veteran of the Simi police force, said operation of a firearm is like any technical craft- it needs to be used to stay sharp.

"It's like practicing anything else- playing golf, playing baseball- it requires physical dexterity, hand-eye coordination . . . it has to be practiced on a regular basis."

Though the cost to construct the shooting range is still undetermined, the city did approve $75,000 last year for conceptual needs dealing with the project, according to assistant city manager Dan Paranick.

With recent news that part of the landfill's plans for expansion dealing with sewer lines requires council approval, the timing of the city's dealings with Waste Management on the site for the training facility may seem like an act of appeasement by the garbage disposal company, which has been under intense scrutiny from the public.

Sedell, citing the fact that the city had been in discussion with Waste Management about the property long before the disposal company's expansion application was submitted to the county, said that's just not true.

"This is not contingent- in any way, shape or form- on the landfill expansion," Sedell said. "The two have nothing to do with one another."