PLEASANT VALLEY – Negotiations between the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, Camp Nooteeming Boy Scout Camp, and Dutchess County, to relocate the law enforcement shooting range to the camp is being met with opposition from residents and the Pleasant Valley Town Board.
Tonight (Wednesday) the town board will vote on a resolution that denounces the county plan. The resolution says in part “The relocation of the shooting range to Camp Nooteeming is not in the best interests of the citizens of the town of Pleasant Valley and hereby notifies the County of Dutchess that it does not agree with the plan for relocation of the shooting range to Camp Nooteeming.”
Deputy Town Supervisor Frank Mazella said, “Countless residents have reached out to myself and others on the board and while I understand the need for law enforcement training, I don’t feel that the location is a good fit for the residents in Pleasant Valley and Salt Point as it aims to disturb their daily lives.”
Residents surrounding the camp have circulated a petition asking for the range to be located elsewhere. One neighbor who lives adjacent to the camp said “The Boy Scouts have been good neighbors, and I cannot understand why they would want to destroy the peace and quiet of our town and imperil the sense of community that they have cultivated with the residents of Salt Point.
Last month Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver told Mid-Hudson News that other options exist. “It’s one of the spots being considered. We also have two ranges in Pine Plains willing to host the DCSO. Other options include building an indoor range at the DCSO campus or using other indoor ranges in the area. No decisions have been made, and none will until all options have been explored.”
When told of the petition being circulated by residents surrounding the camp, Undersheriff Kirk Imperati acknowledged their concerns. “We do not want to open a range in a township that would cause issues with the residents such as the issues we have in Hyde Park.” The current Hyde Park range has triggered neighbors to complain about excessive noise during both day and night training exercises. “The county and the Sheriff’s Office will select an area which will not be intrusive to the residents in that township,” added Imperati who also said “We will continue to be a good neighbor and courteous to peoples’ concerns.”
