Shelly Levine, speaking during citizens communication at the June 2 Victoria County Commissioners Court meeting, appealed to the court to help preserve access to the Keaton Trap Club range used by Victoria-area 4-H shooting teams.

"I'm Shelly Levine, and I'm with the Victoria 4 h shotgun club," Levine told the court, saying the club has 65 members and that "about a 150 kids" use the range for practice, including youths who travel from other counties. Levine said the lease for the range is nearing its end and that without a local facility many members would have to travel to the Corpus Christi area to practice.

Levine described several achievements and community contributions by club members: one current shooter has made a state team and will participate in a national shoot in Nebraska and has earned about $40,000 in scholarships, another former member shoots on the Texas A&M team, and a middle-school shooter already has about $6,000 in scholarship money. The club also runs a large two-day invited shoot that brings about 150 visiting shooters to the county in spring, and Levine said the event has previously been awarded hotel occupancy tax funding.

Levine asked the court to "think long and hard and really try to come to a agreement" with the trap-club membership and said the group is preparing for the lease's end in roughly two years. She urged commissioners to help negotiate a lease that will allow youth practices and events to continue in Victoria.

The remarks were taken during the public-comment portion of the meeting; the court did not take formal action on the lease during the June 2 session. Court members thanked Levine and encouraged continued discussion; no date for further action or staff follow-up was recorded in the minutes.

The 4-H club manager invited commissioners and the public to observe an upcoming practice to hear directly from the youth who use the facility.