A Georgia-based gun safety expert, whose recent evaluation of the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club outdoor shooting range on Sawyer Road led to the suspension of live gunfire on the property, defended his report at the Cape Elizabeth Town Council meeting Monday.

Along with giving several other recommendations, Rick LaRosa, of R Design Works in Kennesaw, Ga., advised the council to delay approval to reopen the club to live fire until the findings in his report – which pointed to a lack of barriers to prevent stray bullets – are addressed.

“(Due to) a number of issues on the existing range, I recommended they suspend fire,” he told councilors, “but I do not think there is anything there that can’t be corrected.”

“Gunfire should not leave the property, and it certainly should not leave containment of the range,” LaRosa said. “The design they were proposing was not as is recommended by the NRA (National Rifle Association). They need some bigger elements in terms of overhead containment.”

LaRosa’s report has come under fire by members of the gun club and others, who say that his report is unreasonable and doesn’t take into consideration 60-plus years of no injuries related to stray gunfire. Members, who have spent $60,000 on safety improvements since last year, also say his call to erect an overhead baffle is especially expensive and will require significant funding.

LaRosa said the club could develop a plan to start installing baffles at the 25-meter range, then on the 50- and 100-meter ranges, in time for a Sept. 14 Town Council public hearing on the gun club license. He estimated that the baffle system for the 25-meter range could be installed within a month. Complete buildout could take about six months, said LaRosa, and could cost up to $1 million.

Since the mid-1990s, the shooting range has been the focus of noise and safety complaints from nearby residents, about a dozen of whom showed up at Monday’s meeting. In the wake of the concerns, the town adopted its first shooting range ordinance in March 2014 and, this past spring, as part of the newly required licensing process, it hired LaRosa to perform an inspection.

LaRosa acknowledged the tension between the club members and some nearby residents at Monday’s meeting, saying he felt like he was “hero” to half of the residents – namely, those who live in the nearby Cross Hill Road development – and an “enemy” to the other half, including club members.

LaRosa visited the shooting range in May, where he said he found several safety deficiencies. He also determined that security measures on the property do not prevent non-gun club members from entering the range.

According to LaRosa, in the last nine years, his architectural firm has completed 25 evaluations of various kinds of shooting ranges nationwide, some of which resulted in safety improvements, and some of which forced ranges to relocate.

Referring to suspending live fire at the Cape Elizabeth club, he said, “The first call I got was from the National Rifle Association, saying, hey, you know we are not in the closing-gun-range business, right?”

He’s aware, he said – and his report remained neutral.

“This is a situation where I think it calls for us to take a step back,” LaRosa said. “It’s in absolutely everybody’s best interest to have a safe range.”

Gun club members have spent the last several months making safety upgrades to its facility as part of a No Blue Sky bullet containment project, including the erection of 8-foot shot-containment walls that form shooting corridors along the length of the range, and installation of rubber backstop berms at the far end of the range.

Constructing a set of engineered baffles above the shooting range to contain stray bullets, as well as a new 35-by-14-foot shooting shed, has also been on the club’s to-do list in order to bring the range into compliance with LaRosa’s report, according to members. Further efforts, including items not listed in LaRosa’s report, are under way.

On July 24, the town’s police chief ordered the suspension of live fire on the property. According to the club president, Tammy Walter, on July 31, the club was notified it had received a $10,000 grant from the Friends of the NRA for safety improvements. The club also remains open for meetings, archery and fishing activities.

Walter said the grant will pay for the construction of an additional shot containment wall, and to add more ballistic sand and vegetative cover to the range. In addition, the club has raised nearly $2,000 toward an $80,000 online fundraising campaign for upgrades.

“I want to thank the community for its outpouring of support during this difficult time,” Walter said. “It is extremely touching to have people not connected to our club or shooting sports offer words of kindness and encouragement. This setback has only made us stronger.

“Our intention is, and always has been, to have a facility that remains safe and that all of us can be proud of,” she added.

In his July 23 report to councilors, LaRosa wrote, “While the existing range is in the process of implementing a plan of improvements, a more comprehensive approach to containment and sustainability needs to be considered, designed, funded and implemented to provide a safe environment for users and contiguous property owners.”

Among other items, he also recommends the town and club work with a range designer “to determine the exact requirements for shot containment.” He also suggested that some of the club’s high-caliber firearms no longer be used on the range.

One Cross Hill Road resident, Eric Stephanus – the only one to speak during the public comment period Monday – said that it was “extremely refreshing to hear a fact-based analysis from a professional evaluator.”

He also commended the council “for having the foresight to insist upon a professional evaluation before going ahead to review the (license) application.”

According to Town Manager Michael McGovern, “in order to have the license and the (club) operating, the conditions need to be in place to support” LaRosa’s findings.

“Although I am sympathetic to the fact (the club) has been suspended,” said Stephanus, “I think they ought to be very thankful that a fact-based analysis has been carried out. I think this all gives us a great deal of comfort.”

Former Spurwink Rod & Gun Club president Mark Mayone volunteers his time last week to construct a safer stairway leading to the shooting range on Sawyer Road. Staff photo by Kayla J. Collins Rick LaRosa, a Georgia-based gun range safety expert, gives the Cape Elizabeth Town Council on Monday a summary of a 17-page safety evaluation of the shooting range on Sawyer Road in May.Staff photo by Kayla J. Collins