STANDISH — A proposed fish and game facility in Standish is not quite on target – yet.

At the Sept. 12 Standish Town Council meeting, residents and council members discussed a proposal to allow the private Standish Fish and Game Club to lease town land off Boundary Road for a price that backers hope would be well below market value – possibly as low as $1 per year over a 25-year lease.

The club would use the land to construct a facility – including a shooting range – and club members envision it providing a wide scope of opportunities for local sportsmen, such as fishing and archery.

While there seemed to be a widespread sense at the meeting that a place for people to safely discharge firearms in Standish would be good for both gun owners and the town, several residents and councilors were hesitant about the Fish and Game Club’s current requirement that their members also join the National Rifle Association and Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

While the council was originally set to vote on a measure that would keep the proposal moving forward, they decided to postpone that vote until an October meeting so the Fish and Game Club can corral more information and present a more complete plan. However, a vote is not likely to be taken this month.

“There should be a concept plan with this order. There’s nothing here,” said Councilor Steven Nesbitt on Sept. 12. “I don’t think we should vote on it without it. It was presented at a workshop, but it needs to be represented here tonight.”

“I’m still very much in favor of the fish and game club,” Nesbitt added. 

Nesbit also asked that Sirpis and Councilor Brian Libby recuse themselves from the vote. Libby is also a member of the Standish Fish and Game Club board.

In speaking in support of the proposal, club president Greg Sirpis, who is also the vice chairman of the Town Council, said,”It’s not the Standish Gun Club, it’s not the Standish Shooting Club, it’s the Standish Fish and Game Club.

“We want to have a family-oriented club. We want to be good neighbors, and we think that this is a really, really good fit.”

Later, the council voted 4-1 (with Sirpis and Libby abstaining) on a motion from Nesbitt to postpone the vote to advance the Fish and Game proposal. Councilor Michael Delcourt was the lone dissenting vote.

Though the plan resulting from the Sept. 12 meeting was for the issue to be brought back up in October, Sirpis said in an interview Tuesday that he and the club won’t be ready to present by next week’s council meeting.

He said he still needs to confer with his members, and that while a club meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 4, it had to be postponed because of interviews Sirpis and other councilors conducted regarding the search for a new town manager.

“I don’t think anything is going to happen this month,” Sirpis said.

During the meeting, residents weighed in on the requirement that members belong to the two sportsmen’s clubs.

“My primary concern is that we will be leasing publicly owned land at an extremely reasonable rate to a private fish and game club that mandates by its bylaws that the participants in the club become members of the NRA and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine,” said resident Maurie Hill.

“I think it’s just wrong to require membership for this facility that is going to be on town-owned land,” said resident Tim Goodwin.

“The simple solution for this private club is to agree to change their membership bylaws. I imagine doing so would make it a more open club for other Standish residents,” Hill continued.

Former Town Councilor John Sargent added some context for the NRA and SAM membership requirement, given his experience as a member of the Androscoggin Fish and Game Association.

“I’ve been a member of another club in central Maine for over 30 years,” Sargent said. “A number of years ago, the cost of insurance got so high that a requirement came to us that we had to be members of the NRA because we got cheaper insurance. And that was the reason for the requirement.”

Falmouth Rod and Gun Club President Tom Leavitt said his club does mandate NRA membership, though that requirement predates his time leading the organization. He said the club does get its insurance through the NRA, along with material for safety courses.

Waterford Fish and Game Club President Peter Pacent, Sr. said that “we have a lot of NRA members” but that “not everyone is an NRA member, and it’s not a requirement for membership at our range.”

Sirpis said this week that along with the insurance consideration, being an NRA member allows the Fish and Game Club to qualify for grants from the organization. He also said that the club generally supports the mission of the NRA.

“Again, it comes down to us supporting an organization that we believe in,” Sirpis said, citing the NRA’s support for youth shooting and safety training. “It was never our intent to make it political.”

SAM Executive Director Trahan, who noted his organization has a “different relationship” with local clubs than the NRA, said he hopes questions about SAM membership don’t become an obstacle to the Standish proposal.

“If they’ve got concerns and it’s causing problems for Standish, we’ll work with them to make it right,” said Trahan, who also said SAM does not require local clubs to make their members join SAM.

Despite the fact that four councilors – Chairwoman Kimberly Pomerleau, Isabel Higgins, Peter Starostecki, and Nesbit – all voted to delay the September vote and wait for more information, each of them also expressed some level of support for the fish and game proposal as a concept.

“I do support this,” said Pomerleau, although she did have concerns about the NRA membership requirements. “I would like to look into that a little more.”

Higgins said she supports the concept, but acknowledged that the plan is a “work in process.”

“Standish needs a gun range. I want to continue the conversation. I think that there’s a few small tweaks in regards to membership that we can work out,” Starostecki said.  

Matt Junker can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @MattJunker.