By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

The state police are seeking a final decision on a proposal to build a shooting range and training facility in Powhatan County.
Meanwhile, a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Congressman J. Randy Forbes seemingly calls into question a major funding source for the project.

Hundreds of Powhatan residents gathered at a public meeting in June to voice their opposition to the proposal, and both the Powhatan and Goochland County Boards of Supervisors have signed resolutions opposing the plan. 

Despite the public outcry, state police capital outlay director Ronald Rice has asked the Department of Environmental Quality to proceed with its evaluation and forward its recommendation to state Secretary of Administration Lisa Hicks-Thomas for a final decision.

Bill Hayden, a spokesman for the DEQ, confirmed last week that the review had resumed and would be completed in late August, at which time a recommendation would be passed along to Hicks-Thomas.

The project made its way into the state budget as a $1.9 million capital outlay amendment, but now nobody is able to account for it. 

“No one seems to know how [that] $2 million got in the budget,” said Supervisor Carson Tucker. “It blows my mind that our government doesn’t know how it got in the budget. There’s so much fuzz and nobody to turn to [for] definitive answers.”

Sen. John Watkins, who serves on the senate finance committee, said he “can’t get an answer on this” either.

“The process by which the amendment” got into the budget “is concerning,” said Del R. Lee Ware. But he said that issue is secondary to finding an appropriate location for the facility.

Ware said that in conversations last week with Secretary of Public Safety Marla Graff Decker, he was told that other options are still being considered. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic” that an alternative location can be found, Ware said.

Tucker and other residents of Old River Trail aren’t taking any chances. Tucker confirmed that residents have hired a lawyer and are prepared to fight the project, if the state approves it, in court.
He said legal opposition to the facility will likely hinge on noise and safety concerns.

A state capital outlay document indicates that the FBI will contribute $1.3 million of the total $1.9 million in project costs. According to that document, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will contribute $400,000 and the state police will contribute $300,000 in the form of Federal Asset Forfeiture Funds.

But a letter from FBI Assistant Director of Training Janet L. Kamerman dated July 12 states that “No contract has been signed by the FBI, nor has funding been identified.”

According to Kamerman’s letter, “A memorandum of understanding exists between the state agencies involved and the FBI.”

Ware said the letter “Appears on its face contradictory,” in that the FBI represents no federal money for the project.

Tucker said the letter seems to be an attempt by the FBI to distance itself from an “unpleasant situation.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” said Tucker, “I couldn’t get clarity.”

“The state police brought us the funding resource list,” Watkins said, adding that he has not seen the letter from Kamerman. “That’s what we have.”

Wesley Hester contributed to this report