Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher told the Chattanooga City Council on Tuesday the Moccasin Bend police firing range needs $300,000 for immediate and necessary repairs.
“Where we stand, as we’ve discussed before, the range’s current iteration needs some basic upkeep to be up to usable standards,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher said he’s asking the city government to pay half the $300,000 total bill and Hamilton County to pay the other half. Fletcher said in September his force “could fail to exist as a police department” if conditions aren’t improved.
On Oct. 1, a committee was announced that will investigate moving the firing range from its current location. The firing range is enclosed on three sides by the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District and the other side by the Tennessee River. A timeline for potentially moving the range hasn’t been established, and Fletcher said Tuesday the first committee meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet.
“We have renewed our commitment to working with the community,” Fletcher said of the committee. “To move forward on a solution for the next generation of firing range and what that would look like.”