By Rupert Howell
Supervisors denied a request to  rescind a letter of recommendation for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks to put a shooting facility on the eastern side of the Charles Ray Nix Wildlife Management Area adjacent to property owned by the Allen family of Sardis during the August 8 Second District meeting in Batesville.
Brothers Richard and Robert Allen, Jr. followed up an August 1 request by the family for the board to reconsider their letter of recommendation approved last May.
Other than a brief discussion, supervisors took no action with Supervisor John Thomas taking the lead stating, “I think it’s a great thing for Panola County. I’m sorry y’all are upset about it.”
Richard Allen responded that his family thought the shooting facility was great thing, too but questioned why with 4,000 acres available, did the facility have to be planned for a location on a narrow secondary road adjacent to their property.
He named two other locations on State-Aid highways, both with the same infrastructure needed for the facility on the property.
“If you came off the highway or State-Aid Road you would eliminate the problem,” Richard Allen told supervisors.
Shooting range coordinator with MDWFP Scottie Jones told supervisors and the Allen brothers that he understood their concerns but felt that the chosen site was the best location for the shooting ranges.
Located south and west of Sardis, west of Highway 51 near Old Panola and Davis Chapel Roads, the proposed range is expected to have a 15 station sporting clay range, two skeet trap ranges, five-stand sporting clay range, two rifle ranges, a pistol range and three dimensional archery range.
Jones said earlier that construction may begin in August but backed away from that prediction slightly telling one supervisor that work would get underway soon.