BELLEVILLE, Ill. — St. Clair County taxpayers already have spent $275,000 in legal and consulting fees in the county’s four-year effort to close a shooting range it argues is too close to Scott Air Force Base.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — St. Clair County taxpayers already have spent $275,000 in legal and consulting fees in the county’s four-year effort to close a shooting range it argues is too close to Scott Air Force Base. And that tab may creep even higher. County leaders have insisted the 32-acre outdoor shooting range that opened in early 2007 may endanger planes landing at Scott in Mascoutah (muh-SKOO’-tuh). The gun club disagrees. Earlier this year, a St. Clair County judge dismissed the county’s push to close the range. The county now is appealing that decision and a court order that it pay the gun club more than $80,000 in legal fees. That could push the county’s legal bills in the case to more than $355,000. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
