Assembly takes no new action on shooting range, vapes

PALMER — Rules for vapes and e-cigs will remain unchanged — for now — and a location for a youth shooting range will remain on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly agenda for at least a few more weeks.

Both recent contentious issues had been on the agenda for the assembly’s Tuesday meeting, though neither saw definitive action taken.

The next regular meeting is Oct. 20.

A potential vapes amendment had been on the agenda as an item amending something previously passed, though Assemblyman Jim Sykes ultimately said he would not move the amendment.

“I wanted to give an opportunity last time to consider, because I think I’m the one that said ‘There’s no point in taxing people if we’re gonna run them out of business,’ and I still feel that way,” he said.

Sykes told about a dozen members of a pro-vaping group that turned out for the meeting that he’d spent a lot of time researching both sides of the vaping issue. Local business owners have said the inclusion of tobacco products in a 55 percent wholesale tax presently levied on non-cigarettes — such as cigars or pipe and chewing tobacco — will kill their businesses. Officials with various local and national health organizations, including the American Lung Association and the Mat-Su Health Foundation, have questioned the merits of vaping as a means to quitting smoking, and said the products serve as a gateway to smoking for children, who increasingly use them.

Sykes had said he would work with the industry to come up with more refined legislation, but would not move it Tuesday.

“I took this very seriously,” he said. “I met with a representative of the vaping merchants. I met with the healthcare representatives and I told each of them that I had met with the others. I was looking for new information, and I didn’t really come up with any real changes.”

People who spoke at the meeting said they understood the need for tax, but that the ordinance was poorly constructed, and would include some mixtures containing no nicotine. Acey Priest works at Fatboy Vapors, a lounge and vaping shop in Wasilla, and testified that her livelihood would potentially be jeopardized.

“I feel strongly that placing a 55 percent tax on the devices … would put most of the vape shops out of business,” she said.

Terry Snyder, who organized the Smoke Free Palmer campaign in 2012, testified in favor of the legislation, saying that although no advocacy groups had definitive evidence of harm, there’s also no evidence that the new products are a safe alternative to smoking.

“No one knows,” she said. “No one is endorsing (e-cigarettes) because we just don’t know.”

In other assembly action, a series of covenants proposed to the less-than-fair-market value sale of 240 acres in the Knik-Fairview area also ended up moving to the Oct. 20 meeting. Officials intend to use the land as a youth-oriented shooting range by the Alaska Scholastic Clay Target Program, a private organization that works with local children to teach gun safety and encourage youth participation in shooting sports.

Opponents of the range say it is too close to a nearby school, and said they worry about the possible contamination of the site by lead shot, and about the loss of nearby trails. Supporters say dozens of young shooters and students currently pay to use private ranges and drive to areas outside the borough, costs borne by local families.

Assemblyman Dan Mayfield introduced a series of covenants, or legal land agreements, designed to bridge the gap between the two sides. Among the restrictions he proposed:

• Keeping a certified range manager on-site during operation

• Adhering to National Rifle Association standards for operation

• Requiring the program to install fencing, gates and signs for the area

• Forbidding alcohol consumption on the property

• Maintaining berms and vegetation already in place to guard sound.

• Requiring a minimum of $2 million insurance and a $1 million environmental bond.

Mayfield attempted to add another series of regulations setting hours of operation, and requiring that only shot — not bullets — be used at the site.

Assemblyman Ron Arvin argued that Mayfield’s efforts had been enough. A site for a shooting range has been under discussion since at least October 2014.

“All of those issues that have been brought forward are addressed in this amendment,” he said.

Other assembly members disagreed. Virtually any community group could apply for land at less than a fair market value and receive a hearing, Sykes said and no committee or board exists to evaluate various requests. Assembly members had also not discussed potential other uses for the land, he said.

“We’ve had half of a discussion, but we certainly haven’t thrashed it out, and we don’t have a process for really nominating a piece of land and having a widespread public discussion about it.”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.