PALMER -- The latest bid by the Alaska Scholastic Clay Target Program to acquire below-market-value land for a new shooting range failed Tuesday night when the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly defeated the deal with a 4-3 vote.
The nonprofit program serves a growing corps of Mat-Su students who drive to Chugiak to practice due to the lack of low-cost clay target ranges in the Valley, backers say. If successful, the group's bid would have led to the creation of a range on 240 acres off Knik-Goose Bay Road near the new Joe Redington Sr. junior and senior high schools.
The Knik parcel was the third location sought by the clay target group. Other spots in Meadow Lakes and Big Lake were rejected following public opposition.
Assembly members on Tuesday objected to the below-cost sale of the land. Public concerns during the run-up to this week's decision included the future range's proximity to schools and a planned housing development.