RINGGOLD, Ga. -- If terrorists invade North Georgia, Troy Potter has done his part.
Potter, a general contractor, gave the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office $1,000 last year when it asked him to help build a firing range. He said it was a sound investment in public safety: The range will sharpen Catoosa County deputies, preparing them for whatever evil lurks.
"When the Taliban hit, by God, I want to make sure we can kick them in the [expletive] and push them back overseas," he said. "I don't want to be throwing rocks" at members of a group he described with further multiple expletives.
Donors
Private donors to the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office * Modern Woodmen of America: $10,000 * Cornerstone Bank: $2,000 * ABC Bonding: $1,100 * AAAA Bonding: $1,000 * Capital Bank: $1,000 * Cochran's Truck Stop: $1,000 * Community Bank: $1,000 * Dream Tech Homes/Ted Moss: $1,000 * EMJ Construction: $1,000 * EPB: $1,000 * ERMC: $1,000 * First Volunteer Bank: $1,000 * Potter Enterprise: $1,000 * Remco Equipment Sales: $1,000 * Ringgold Telephone Company: $1,000 * Scott and Wes Smith: $1,000 * Stagg Law Firm: $1,000 * Swami Stores: $1,000 * T&T Produce: $1,000 * Whitmore Construction: $1,000 * CTF Realty: $500 * Dr. Dave's Service: $500 * Jeff Mullis: $500 * Junior's Building Materials: $500 * Mashburn Tree Service: $500 * Mike Frost Trucking: $500 * Remco Business Center: $500 * Rockbridge Advisors: $500 * Trinity Services: $500 * Robin Taylor: $475 * Ann Coker: $400 * Randy Bohanon: $400 * Larry Sartin: $350 * Mary Carpenter: $325 * City of Chickamauga: $200 * Darlene Cutler: $100 * Ray Fugate: $100 * Thad Hunt: $100 * Killian Clark: $50 Source: Catoosa County Sheriff's Office
Potter's donation was among 39 gifts totaling $37,000 that the sheriff's office received in November for the firing range, which will be used for law enforcement training and will not be open to the public.
The group includes bankers, bondsmen, builders and lawyers. It also includes a state senator, the wife of a Catoosa County commissioner and the "city of Chickamauga," according to a list of donors.
Of those who responded to the Times Free Press' request for comment, all said this was their way to show they trust Sheriff Gary Sisk. No one other than Potter mentioned terrorists.
Rather than use county taxpayer money, Sisk solicited donations for the project and dipped into his civil forfeitures fund, the money his department gets when it seizes property that investigators believe was tied to a crime.
The donors
On Nov. 21, local residents gathered for a buffet and concert at the Renaissance Center, a Rossville venue owned by Emerson Russell, the millionaire founder of a building management company. Russell's business also donated $1,000 to the sheriff's office and auctioned a Glock 42 for $475 -- that money going to the firing range as well.
Russell said Sisk told him a couple of weeks earlier that he wanted the firing range so his officers could train more often. He helped the sheriff recruit donors.
"Everybody was pretty much in agreement that this was a good thing for the community," he said. "We got a lot of participation."
The largest donor was Modern Woodmen of America, a financial organization that offers investments and insurance. The group gave the sheriff's office $10,000. Managing Partner Shane Catlett did not return calls seeking comment.
The next-largest donation came from Cornerstone Bank, which gave $2,000. President and CEO Frank Hughes donated money for the project because, "You want firearms handled properly."
Charles White and Eddie Hullander, owners of two local bonding companies, gave a combined $2,100. Both businesses rely on arrests.
Other donors include state Sen. Jeff Mullis, Sheriff's Staff Sgt. Robin Taylor, and Darlene Cutler, a former member of the library board and the wife of Commissioner Jim Cutler.
The sheriff's office also received $200 from "the city of Chickamauga." It is unclear if this money came from taxpayer funds. City Manager Micheal Haney could not be reached for comment.
Quieting controversy
Though the department can use ranges for free at the Army National Guard training site in Ringgold and the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office, Sisk wants his own range because his officers will practice shooting more often, he said. Several agencies use those other ranges, and he said his deputies sometimes can't shoot there because other officers need to practice.
Plus, they'd have to drive 20 minutes each way to get to Whitfield County.
"If I had more leeway on the scheduling," Sisk said during a commission meeting in January, "then I wouldn't be having to pay extra time for people to be out there on the range, taking care of business."
Located on county property off Ridgeway Circle, about halfway between Ringgold and Chickamauga, the outdoor range will be 50 yards wide and 250 yards long. Sisk wanted the range to open this fall, but he said rain slowed construction.
He is now aiming for an early 2016 opening.
"But Mother Nature is really the driving force," he said.
A group of residents who live near the future firing range criticized the sheriff's office in December, saying they didn't know the county was building anything until they found bulldozers behind their homes.
They believe the sounds of bullets exploding from guns will echo through their living rooms. They think those echoes will drive down property values. If nothing else, they believe the county should have at least warned them before it began construction.
Commission Chairman Keith Greene said in December that a county official should have told the neighbors a firing range is on the way. But the elected officials didn't have to vote on the project in a public meeting because Sisk is using private donations.
The sheriff said he has not heard from the neighbors since January. Vaughn Crane, the most vocal critic of the firing range's location, said most people on his street are not discussing the project as much as they were four months ago.
One neighbor, Eric Geissinger, agreed: "Most of the people around there have accepted it, I guess."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.