CHARLESTON - The Southeast Correctional Center needs dirt - and lots of it.
SECC officials and Chris Forck, the Missouri Department of Corrections's capitol improvements specialist out of Jefferson City, met with Mississippi County commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday to discuss what kind of help they could get from the county in the construction of a firing range.
Forck said the DOC uses National Rifle Association standards for their shooting ranges. In order to accommodate 30 shooters at a time, the 20-foot-tall barrier behind the targets will have to be around 300 feet long. With the 3-1 slope required to keep the sides from sloughing off and a top of around 10 feet wide, the berm will require a base 60 or 70 feet wide at its foot. To keep it stable, it will be seeded with grass and mowed.
"Just like building a levee," said Commissioner Homer Oliver.
The four barriers running along the sides and dividing the range into three lanes will need to be 10 feet tall and about 30 feet wide at the base. Two of these will be 60 yards long and two will need to be 110 yards long.
"Dirt is our issue," said Forck. He estimated they will need 4,000 truckloads, or about 30,000 cubic yards, of dirt. Forck said he is figuring there may be as much as 20 percent shrinkage once the dirt is compacted.
Using dirt from the prison site is not an option because prison officials do not want to create low areas which would accumulate standing water and make the mosquito problem worse.
SECC officials decided to build the shooting range on the prison's property rather than in Charleston as previously planned to allow for a larger range. They will still share the facility with the sheriff's department and Charleston's Department of Public Safety as originally planned, however, and would still like some help from the county hauling or loading dirt to build the safety berms.
SECC officials hope to start construction in September or October.
Homer Clark, SECC's assistant superintendent, said all corrections officers have to qualify once a year and tactical team members qualify quarterly. Each individual fires around 60-80 rounds during a successful qualification.
Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said commissioners have two concerns about helping with the project. The first is he believes local contractors will want to have a shot at a job that big. The second concern is that it is a bad time of the year for the county to be short on the labor and equipment that would be required for the project and that it could interfere with the county's operations.
Blumenberg said the county can at least assist by loading dirt for the project.
In other Mississippi County commission business:
* Dick Brown and Dorothy Bruce of Charleston and Paul Page of East Prairie were reappointed to three-year terms on the county Industrial Development Authority Board.
* A public hearing for a budget amendment was held. DeLay said the amendment was needed to account for three law enforcement grants.