October - November Presidents Report

Here is some general information about the South Bay Rod & Gun Club

1. The current membership is hovering around 4,000 members.

2. We have the largest range complex in San Diego County.

3. We are a Non-Profit Corporation and self-supporting, we have no loans, just our standard monthly expenses, Power, phone etc...

4. We own over 600 acres as a buffer zone around the Range Complex. This includes open space as well as areas we refer to as either the Ranch, or the Airport properties.
   

5. We are not restricted by our neighbors being too close or the noise being too loud at the property line like local Airports where they have encroachment and noise issues.

   1. We have some neighbors that are anti-gun who like causing disturbances

6. We are always looking to Expand our resources

7. We have a good rapport with respect to the Federal and State regulators.

8. Overall, we are in good standing

There will be a General Membership Meeting on November 26, 2024 at the VFW Hall in Lemon Grove (VFW Post 2082, 2885 Lemon Grove Ave, Lemon Grove, CA 91945). During the meeting we will be hosting a Table Top sale for members and the nominations will close for the upcoming election for members of the SBRGC Board of Directors.

• If you plan on selling items at the tabletop, please contact the Treasurer (619-987-9096) to reserve your table(s).

With the final quarter of the year upon us, one must wonder, “Where has the year gone?” If you made a list of the things that must get done and what should get done, and then compared it to what actually got done.... oh, never mind. Nothing to be gained by going down that path.

Actually, a lot of good has happened at our club in the past 10 months of the year. Primarily, lots and lots of people have had a safe and enjoyable time shooting at our range complex, which is a fulfillment of our most basic mission. It is pretty easy to plan a day at the range, and take for granted all that must be in place for us to have that safe and enjoyable time. A short list of some of the things that must be done might include recruiting, training, and staffing over 200 volunteer range safety officers to mind the firing lines; organizing work parties every month (first Saturdays) to maintain everything you see and use at the range; people to organize and produce many different matches and training programs; keeping the lights on, the water running, and the Coke machine full; our roads and ranges smoothly graded, weeds under control; One could go on for a long time.

What I am getting to is this: It is takes a good group of civic-minded folks to run this club, and I would like to urge you to consider helping. Each year, our club has elections to provide for the leadership that will guide the club. Five officers, (Pres., V.P., Treasurer, Secretary and Sgt. at Arms) are every two years and three Board of Directors positions are chosen every year. Would you consider running for one of these positions? The easiest starting point would be to run for a director’s spot, but most positions are up for selection. Through the monthly meetings, you would learn how the club operates and makes decisions, and be able to offer your insights and opinions on how best to manage the club and its resources.

The club has formed a nominating committee, and they are seeking individuals who would be willing to join the leadership team. Please consider running for one of these positions, and submitting your name for consideration. If you would email your name to the President at president@sbrgc.org, he would be glad to forward your name to the committee.

Our club could be a much better place with your help. How about it?

The work party members have some questions for the membership that could help with what you want to see or do at the Range Complex.

1. Which is your favorite range on our complex?

2. Why do you like it?

3. What could be done to make it better?

4. If we had a special day of fixing up, cleaning up, or other improvements, would you be willing to join with a group of guys and gals to get the work accomplished in a short amount of time, followed by opening that range for shooting thereafter?

Let me know at President@SBRGC.ORG

We have numerous projects from Range Maintenance to Improvements for the Range Complex. Here are some that are in the works. Our biggest controlling party is the weather. When the rain comes it causes weeds to grow and those have to be sprayed or mowed depending on how quickly we can get ahead of them.

Keep in mind that we want to make a 5 STAR facility that promotes the shooting sports.

• Ranch Improvements:

  • Club House refurbishment (in progress). Once we get this building finished then the Club plans on having summer get-togethers for members.

  • Fencing along the west side of the ranch behind the caretakers’ residences. This is to separate the property and provide backyards for the caretakers.

  • Fencing the property

  • Grading the airport for RV Storage for members

  • Establishing a Ranch Office (Title 25)

    • The old check-in building located just inside the main gate to the Range will be moved to the Ranch and Established as a Ranch Office (This is a CA Title 25 Requirement)

• Range Improvements

  • Maintenance yard Improvements

    • Work area extension (Overhead Cover), This project is a 10’x10’ extension of the work zone where the target stands are manufactured.

    • Automatic Gate (Installed), just a little clean up and some paint required.

    • Level the ground for a building and material staging area.

      • This area once leveled will be the new location for the Quonset Hut, and other equipment required to maintain the Range Complex

    • Install a Hand washing station and sink so the people in the maintenance yard can clean up after the work.

• Water to the upper ranges (in progress)

• Removal of the Quonset Hut. Once this is done then there is nothing remaining on the R6 parking lot.

• Lower the parking lot of Range 6. This is being done for the following reasons. R6 is scheduled to expand from a 30-point firing line to a 50 point firing line. This will increase the required parking for R6. The material from the removal of 18’ of the top of the hill will be used on the road.

• Raising the entrance road / new culvert. Material from the R6 parking lot will be used to raise the road and install a culvert under the road.

Club Issues

• Water System at the Range. High Nitrates, signs posted in the restrooms and on line at SBRGC.ORG.

  • ISSUE: The well at the Range has developed high Nitrates in the water, when measured it fluctuates from 8 to 14 MCL depending on the time of the year and the California Department of Water Resources has a max of 10 MCL. We have submitted a plan which contains filters to remove the nitrate but we are waiting on the Department of Water Resources to approve the installation. This is only a temporary fix for a maximum duration of 3 years. The state wants a permanent fix.

  • FIX #1 – Rejected (See last months Presidents Column for description)

  • FIX #2 was Selected: (Main Option – In Progress) We made a proposal with the State Water Board about connecting the well at the Ranch with the water system at the Range. This requires the following:

    1. Refurbish the well at the ranch.

       1. This was done at the end of Jun 2024 costing over $100,000.

       2. We just found out that reworking the well at the Ranch will increase our property taxes.

    2. Conduct extensive testing on flow rate during Aug, Sep & Oct. This is only months the state water board will allow testing due to water tables being at their lowest level.

       1. Just completed this phase

    3. Submit numerous water samples to the laboratory with the results sent to the state. This is to determine the chemical analysis of the water over a specific period.

       1. In progress

    4. Hire a water services engineer to design the water system which includes the well house, distribution building, tanks, location of lines, types and sizes of lines, and how to connect the existing system to the new system. The engineer must submit designs to the water board and if approved then we can start the process of connecting the two water systems together.

    5. We will not know the extent of this project because you must complete each phase before we can determine how to do the next phase.

  • FIX #3: (Future Plan) Drill a new well. We have hired a Hydrologist to do a survey based on the new rules from the State of California with respect to Ephemeral Flow. In essence we cannot have a well within 500 feet of an Ephemeral Flow (Definition: A stream that flows only briefly during and following a period of rainfall in the immediate locality).

• Range 4, Range 5 Construction: On hold pending – Budget Item

  • This requires closing R5, cleaning up R5 (Lead), moving the building off the range, hiring an engineering firm, getting a grading permit, blasting permit and extensive material movement.

    • This must be done under the same grading permit.

    • The final phase of this project is to configure the widths of Range 5 (Trap-100’), Range 4 (Skeet-150’) and Range 3 (Skeet-150’) with below ground level trap machines, and high/low skeet houses on Range 3 and Range 4.

    • Ranges will be configuring as general-purpose ranges where you can shoot a rifle, pistol or shotgun event depending on the requirements of the club.

    • Shotgun structures (Trap house, High House, low house, and concrete shooting positions will be added once each range is at proper width, starting with Range 5.

KEEP IN MIND, ITS YOUR CLUB, BECOME PART OF IT.

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