Town arbitrates gun club dispute

CAPE ELIZABETH — For almost two years, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council has tried to play arms-length intermediary with the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club on Sawyer Road and its neighbors in the Cross Hill neighborhood, who have complained about noise and safety concerns.

But come Nov. 6, the council could end up closer to the issue that previous actions indicate it wants to be. That’s because there are three candidates for three open council seats, and one of the probable Election Day victors is Jamie Wager, the attorney for at least one of the Cross Hill residents.

“I would imagine there would have to be some conflict of interest there when dealing with matters of the club,” said Spurwink president Mark Mayon last week. “I’m sure there must be a procedure when there’s a perceived or actual conflict.”

If there is, Town Manager Michael McGovern isn’t saying. McGovern declined to say last week how Wagner’s involvement in the gun club issue might be handled, refusing even to say if any existing ordinance, charter provision or council ethics policy in Cape Elizabeth addresses the apparent conflict of interest.

“I do not comment about council candidates or join in speculation about what should occur if they are elected,” he said. “Further, I do not involve myself in any issue involving any claim of conflict of interest for an elected official. These issues are handled by the town attorney giving advice to the Town Council. The Town Council has not sought advice on the question.” 

Wager would not indicate precisely how he intends to handle the Cross Hill case once elected, saying via email, “I will follow the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct, which dictates ethical standards for attorneys.  

“I will also speak with the current members of the Town Council and the Town Manager with regards to the practice of the Town Council in these types of situations,” wrote Wagner.

Wagner has previously said that he is only actually being paid by a single Cross Hill resident, although he has spoken on behalf the neighborhood collectively at council meetings in April and again Sept. 5.

Mayon said that if Wagner does not recuse himself from the council table on gun club issues after November, “That probably would not sit well with me or our members.

“Personally, I don’t know the ethics the rules are” he said. “Still, I would feel a little bit uneasy with that situation.”

That said, Mayon did acknowledge that the council, even when urged to take some sort of overt action, has preferred to stay aloof on the topic.

“The council has primarily been there to keep the two sides talking," he said. "If we can do the neighborly thing and work it out amongst ourselves and not have to involve the council, it would probably behoove all parties.”

Complaints about noise from the gun club have been increasingly commonplace in Cape Elizabeth for at least 25 years, ever since houses began to spring up in the Cross Hill area surrounding the 57-year-old gun club. In more recent years, allegations have circulated of ammunition rounds found lodged in trees and homes and yards.

The most recent allegation of bullets allegedly escaping the club’s firing range happened in 2009. Although some club members have accused certain resident of “planting” bullets in an attempt to discredit the club, no chances were taken. Since that time, Mayon said, “a considerable amount of effort has been made to enlarge the shooting berms” in front of a “huge hill” that separated the club from nearby homes. The club also spent “thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours” to install security systems to ensure only authorized club members use the firing range,” said Mayon.

Even so, Wagner was retained to seek further measures. After a half-dozen phone calls and two emails went unheeded in a nine-month period in 2010 to early 2011, Wager chose to involve the Town Council, “in hopes of avoiding a costly court battle.” 

Although Wagner said his client cares only for the safe operation of the club, with “no intent to shut it down,” he did raise several red flags, suggesting, for instance, that the town “consider whether there are any negative environmental consequences stemming from the activities of the club.”

He also questioned if the club’s intent to form a junior shooting team and host competitive meets constitutes a change of use that would allow the town to step in and regulate the club in ways not now allowed under state and federal laws.

These side issues, said Mayon, only reinforces the belief of the 300-plus club members that Wagner and his client “have a strong desire to shut down our club.”

Still, Mayon said, “our club is definitely willing to come down in a workshop environment and see what we can come up with.”

Five months later, it did not appear that much had been staked out in the way of common ground, having met only once, in May.

Mayon said the gun club is willing to augment the warning signs it has posted around the perimeter of the club property with an actual fence. However, he openly questioned if that would be “enough to placate the neighbors.”

The fear, he said, is that meeting one demand might only encourage additional requests, essentially pestering the club out of existence. Meanwhile, the club already has plans to install a “no blue sky” system to prevent bullets from escaping the range. The only hold-up, said Mayon, is money.

The council asked both sides to come back at an Oct. 10 workshop with a progress report. Wagner hoped for a review from “a professional in gun range safety.” However, Mayon said there is no standard, not even under the auspices of the National Rifle Association.

“There are as many ideas about how a gun range should look as there are ideas,” he said.

However, the council, while keeping at arm’s length to date on the debate, did intimate that it may be ready to step in at some point.

“You’ve made progress because you’re talking to each other, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to have something significant,” said Councilor Jim Walsh.