The Local Independent

By Patrick Brodrick

            As the Clinton Board of Selectmen debated the merits of entering the town into what will surely be a costly lawsuit regarding the Brandli Property on South Meadow Road, local firearm enthusiast Bill Connolly Jr. sat among the spectators with his arms crossed with the look of a card shark in a high-stakes game of Hold ‘em knowing full well he has three aces up his sleeve.

            After Chairman Robert Pasquale Jr. read a letter from Police Chief Mark Laverdure urging the board to support fighting to allow firing weapons on the property, Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr. said it was the town’s obligation to support the department.

            “It’s going to cost us more to send members of our Police Department out of town to get their firearm training and certifications than it will to pay for a lawyer,” said Notaro, one of Connolly’s metaphorical aces up his sleeve.

            By a 3-to-2 vote, the board voted to enter into a lawsuit to “protect the town’s property rights” and fight a cease and desist order issued by the town of Lancaster that prohibits the discharging of firearms at the Brandli Property, essentially creating a socialized defense fund for the Clinton Fish & Game’s efforts to prove weapons have been continuously discharged at the property.

The 12-acre parcel is owned by Clinton, but is located within Lancaster’s borders. The land had been used as a rifle range for years, and the Clinton Fish & Game, which now holds a lease on the property, is arguing for it’s right to continue shooting at the property. Opponents of allowing shooting at the range because of the close proximity of schools, homes, a cemetery and sports fields, said shooting was outlawed when the South Meadow Pond and Wildlife Association held the lease on the land. And therefore, opponents argue, shooting is no longer a grandfathered use, and the parcel should fall under Lancaster’s Zoning Bylaws, which prohibits the discharging of weapons in residential areas; a stance the Lancaster Zoning Board of Appeals recently agreed with.

Now the Clinton Fish & Game is fighting to try and overturn a cease-and-desist order issued by Lancaster in an attempt to protect what it feels is it’s right to fire weapons on the property.

While the board may have debated the issue, the outcome was already a forgone conclusion, so I took a minute to take a shot, pun intended, at Connolly.

“Well, you’re welcome,” I said to Connolly, shaking my head.

“What? You’re not a journalist anymore. You didn’t have anything to do with this,” he fired back.

“You’re welcome because now my tax dollars will be paying for your lawsuit. Should I just start sending my tax bill payments down to you, or do you just want me to give you the money out of my pocket right now?” I replied, only half joking, which caused Connolly and the sportsman sitting next to him to burst into hearty laughter.

However, the decision to enter into the lawsuit raises an interesting question.

While the issue of whether or not firing weapons should be allowed at the Branldi Property only affects a few dozen people, why should every Clinton taxpayer, many who will never set foot on the property, have to fund what has essentially become Connolly’s and the Fish & Game’s personal crusade?

Connolly, who called selectmen’s decision a “small moral victory,” said the decision to enter into the lawsuit protects the town’s property rights and supports Clinton’s public safety officers.

“The BOS voted to defend the rights of the town, specifically the rights of the Clinton PD [Police Department] to do what they have every right to do on their own property,” Connolly said. “I agree that money spent on lawyers could be better spent. If this was a town-owned ball field or recreational facility and the neighbors were trying to close it down I’d feel the same way.”

However, with the town facing an uncertain fiscal future, which is almost certainly going to become dire in the coming years with the real estate bubble bursting, drastically cutting the town’s revenue, how can Connolly, a sitting member of the Finance Committee, justify spending much-needed tax dollars fighting for something that will affect so few?

“I can’t justify it any more than I can justify spending club money on this,” Connolly said. “I’d rather be investing in projects that make it a better, safer & quieter facility.”

When asked about a stipulation in the lease that requires the Fish & Game to assume the costs of paying for any legal battles over the land, Connolly said it doesn’t exist.

“Where exactly does the lease state that?” Connolly asked. “We have an obligation under the lease to conform with all laws & regulations; we will do that. Why should the F&G pay to defend the Towns interest in this? The Town is still the owner of the property.”

To the people that will never use the range but will be forced to pay for it, Connolly shifts the blame for incurring the costs of a lawsuit away from the Fish & Game and points at Lancaster as the real culprit.

“To the people who never use the range I’d say: Do they want certified & trained police responding to calls? Are they willing to pay for the privilege? What dollar value do you put on the lives of our officers? It’s a small price to pay if being trained saves the life of one of our public safety officers. I think it’s foolish that the issue has come to this, but how did we get here?” Connolly said. “…I’ll take that contribution to the rifle range in cash.”