Shooting complex targeted

By Anita Miller
News Editor

January 13, 2009 02:45 pm

— Efforts to establish a Shooting Sports Complex somewhere in Hays County have moved into a higher gear recently, as Commissioners have named five residents to a task force dedicated to making the project happen.
Stephen Marlow and Tomas Mijares, both of San Marcos, J.B. Kolodzey of Buda and Herman Waters and Willy Ribbs, both of Dripping Springs, were named to the task force in December. At their Jan. 20 meeting, each County Commissioner and County Judge Liz Sumter will appoint one additional member.
The last public shooting range in Hays County closed about two years ago; about six months after that, seven-year-old Daniel Galacia of Kyle was killed by a neighbor shooting at targets.
The boy’s death prompted examinations of the county’s lack of regulation on outdoor shooting and at the same time, renewed the call for a place where residents could safely shoot.
Marlow, who has been part of the effort since its onset, told commissioners last month that much of the project could be funded through grants, with a key “anchor” grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife possible if a site can be determined by June.
“That’s a goal,” said Commissioner Pt. 2 Jeff Barton, in whose district the boy’s fatal shooting occurred. “I have a goal of trying to make this happen fairly quickly and to be in progress certainly by the end of the year.”
The complex, as envisioned, would likely take up several hundred acres, Barton said, that would be insulated from surrounding neighborhoods. “It might be somewhere on the side of an industrial site or in an old abandoned quarry,” he said.
Marlow, who has a background with Boy Scouts and 4-H groups, has launched a Web site on the project (www.txssc.org) that details the many activities the complex could house, and the benefits of sports shooting.
“It would not only help citizens of Hays County but economic development as well,” Barton said, referencing shooting clubs from throughout Central Texas which would be drawn to the facility. “I think they’re all looking for something.”