The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘You can’t make the sound go away’
Residents near gun training center to air concerns on noise
MIDDLETOWN — For at least a decade, residents who live in the Westfield area have complained about excessive noise coming from the firearms training facility used by city police and the FBI.
They argue the range, at 260 Meriden Road, on the Middletown/Middlefield line, interferes with their quality of life. Those who live nearby are also concerned that lead bullets used by officers have contaminated the grounds near the Mt. Higby Reservoir.
In 2014, Brooks Acoustics compiled a 58-page report, which included testing results.
The council approved $750,000 initially for sound barriers, but Jennifer Mahr, chairwoman of the Westfield Residents Association and a member of the Firing Range Building Committee, isn’t satisfied with how city leaders chose to fund changes.
“It seems backward. It’s not like someone came with a formulated plan and said, ‘here’s the study, here’s what we can do, and here’s how much it costs so the problem is solved,’” Mahr said.
The Dingwall/Horan Joint Firearms Training Facility is used by the members of the Middletown Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portland police officers, all members of Middletown’s SWAT team.
Areas of concern include Tynan Park, Higby Road and Sisk Street, Pleasant View Drive, Northview Drive and Plumb Road, Country Club Road and North Stantack Road.
“Based on studies we’ve seen, the actual gunshots are lower than buses or trucks traveling by on the road as far as decibel level. Just because it’s a gunshot, it’s unnerving. I think that’s why it really sticks out in people’s heads that it’s an issue,” said Public Works Deputy Director Chris Holden, who serves as staff on the building committee.
Tests lasting 30 minutes were conducted in June and October 2014.
“At most of the neighborhood locations, the sound of gunshots from the firing range was faint or inaudible. At some locations, the gunshots were more noticeable,” the study concluded.
“Engineering design simulations show that sound level reductions of 15 decibles, or about 75 percent, may be achieved by the proposed earth berm and wall. This amount of attenuation will reduce the sound of gunshots to below ambient background levels at most locations,” Brooks Acoustics wrote.
Sound levels at the firing range were measured at between 88 and 122 decibels, depending on the type of firearm being used.
At a community meeting in June 2013, city residents and officials seemed to agree that the firing range noise increased markedly in 2009, when the facility underwent renovation, although the exact cause is as yet unknown.
Three solutions were proposed: rotating the facility 90 degrees counterclockwise, the installation of earth berms as sound barriers, or berms with the addition of a 10-foot wall as a sound barrier.
“You can really suppress that noise, but if they have a course where they’re running and hiding behind things, you can’t build a sound barrier big enough to cover all that,” Mahr said.
The council also appropriated another $750,000 for environmental cleanup and lead abatement.
The building committee has now asked for a second study, which would outline specific solutions.
“What he was proposing, we couldn’t guarantee that was going to take the majority of the noise away,” Mahr said. “They had a ballpark figure and so they appropriated the money, but there wasn’t ‘here’s what we’re paying for.’”
A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Middletown High School, during which the consultant will provide a review and critique of previous noise studies. Residents will be invited to air their opinions and concerns, as well as questions during the session.
The new study is being conducted by Erich Thalheimer, who has more than 30 years experience as a professional acoustic engineer as well as a competitive shooter.
Thalheimer suggested he perform a number of tests, a noise prediction model, ambient noise monitoring, live fire acoustical measurements, an evaluation of the results and offer options for mitigating noise coming from the facility.
The cost of his services is $29,923.
Common Councilman Thomas Serra, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, has been outspoken about the issue as well. He lives on Sisk Street and can hear the gunfire.
In 2016, he said gunshots have been disturbing residents for at least eight years.
“There are some residents who want no noise whatsoever and that can’t happen unless you build an inside range at the cost of several million dollars. You can’t make the sound go away,” said Mahr, who noted varying levels of sound depend on how the range is used.
“Middletown police use the range differently than the FBI does, especially when the snipers are practicing. Their sniper course is different than standing at the 25-yard line and shooting at the target,” she said.
During the August 2016 council meeting, resident Eleanor Kelsey, who has been outspoken on the issue, said the bullet retrieval was premature and the remediation should be done right away, according to the common council minutes. She lives near Tynan Park.
Kelsey, who could not be reached by press time, listed a number of unanswered questions she had at the time.
“How can a former council appropriate money for a firing range when this was previously designated as watershed,” she asked, adding taxpayer dollars were used and to redesign the facility would “take away taxpayers’ rights.”
Meanwhile, Holden is hopeful a resolution can be agreed upon.
“Once they get the concerns, they will be designing their monitoring plan so they’ll have locations around that area where they’ll have sound devices,” he said. “They’ll essentially calibrate computer models based on the data they see at those locations so they can determine how sound travels in the area.
“That way they can better design solutions,” he added.