Parks board asks Rod and Gun Club, golf course for concrete options on Canton Lane master plan

The Broadwater County Parks and Recreation Board voted on July 21 to ask the Broadwater Rod and Gun Club and the Broadwater Golf Course to present specific, written options on relocation, safety screening and facility improvements for the Canton Lane property so the board can set priorities for the Canton Lane master plan.

The request follows several meetings of the parks board and presentations from both the Rod and Gun Club and the golf course. Board members said they need concrete proposals—cost estimates, timelines and any requests for county assistance—before deciding whether to prioritize trees and screening, moving trap houses or pursuing baseball fields on the site.

Lindsay, a county staff member who reported the earlier recommendation had been forwarded to commissioners, told the board “We we approved it. So k. Yeah. Everything's approved.” The board interpreted that as the county commissioners having adopted the master-plan recommendation but said no final decisions have been filed on specific development concepts.

Brad Peck, co-president of the Broadwater Rod and Gun Club, described the club's preferred safety options and tradeoffs. Peck said other clubs rely on vegetation for long-term safety and cited a Salt Lake facility that depends on trees instead of ammunition checks: “They don't do the ammunition checks either. It's, it's an integrity thing, on your own kinda thing. But they really rely on the trees.” He also described netting used at some ranges and said tree planting is a lower-cost but long-term strategy.

Scott DeMars, a member of the Broadwater Golf Course board, told the parks board the golf course has seen higher weekend play, is considering a new clubhouse to move off an honor-pay system, and is exploring ways to expand toward a future nine-hole addition. He said the course now sits on about 57 acres and that some master-plan options indicate 30–60 additional acres would be needed for a full nine-hole expansion.

Board members pressed for specific cost and timeline estimates. Club members gave several clarifying figures: turning a trap house in place was estimated at roughly $20,000; relocating a trap house and related entry work was described as a potential ~$25,000 project in one scenario versus a larger $100,000-scale move in another. Club representatives also noted trap houses are 10-by-10-by-8-foot concrete structures with concrete pans and marked yardages behind them, which complicates relocation.

Speakers also discussed utilities and irrigation. Club representatives said the site had a past well problem resolved years earlier by casing and pump work, but current irrigation capacity was not fully known. Lease timelines were a frequent concern: club representatives said their lease runs through 2029 and that some grant programs require multi-year commitments, which could affect eligibility for grants that fund vegetation or structural changes.

The board did not take a formal vote to approve construction or relocate facilities. Instead it assigned follow-up tasks: the Rod and Gun Club was asked to present options to its board and return with prioritized proposals; the golf course board was asked to return with written feedback on preferred expansion and driving-range alternatives; and the parks board said it will consider grant and grant-match strategies (including Tree City USA, state urban community forestry grants, and shooting-organization grants such as NRA or ATA) when proposals include long-term planting or infrastructure costs.

Board members set the next parks board meeting for Aug. 18 and asked for either a written letter of options or a representative at the meeting if possible. The board also flagged the lease length and grant-term requirements as determinative factors in whether outside funding is practicable.

Ending: The parks board said it will place returned proposals on a future agenda so it can assign priorities—trees and screening, trap-house relocation, golf-course improvements or ball-field planning—rather than continue open-ended discussion.