Neighbors and range owner clash in public comments over noise and operations

During public comment at the Dec. 2 Alamance County meeting, business owner Ralph Cortassy Jr. and resident Richard Clark clashed with earlier speakers over complaints about a local gun range.

Ralph Cortassy Jr., who identified himself as owner of Rad Industries and Rad Range, said previous testimony contained ‘‘misinformation, false statements, and outright dishonest comments’’ about his business. Cortassy told commissioners he has register data and camera footage showing the range’s activity and that posted hours indicate the range closes at noon on Sundays; he also cited FlightAware data to allege a critic flew circles in a Cessna over the range. Cortassy said the register and credit-card receipts are verifiable county tax records and offered to show data to commissioners: "This is facts. It's not subjective."

Richard Clark, who said he has been a member and neighbor of the range for more than 20 years and has studied acoustics, disputed what he called ‘‘incredible exaggerations’’ from prior meetings. Clark said he has not observed shattered windows or serious injuries from the range and urged tolerance among residents. He also criticized some previous speakers' motives.

Other public commenters included Henry Vines, who welcomed the new commissioners and urged the board to keep taxpayers in mind. The board did not take action during the public comment period; comments were limited to three minutes per speaker, per the chair's announced rules.

No formal county action or new enforcement directive on the range was announced at the meeting.