The Salisbury Township consulting engineering firm is drawing up plans for a Salisbury Township Police Department shooting range in Franko Farm Park.

Plans are preliminary, Salisbury Township officials said at the March 24 board of commissioners meeting when three persons, including two township residents and one Bethlehem resident, questioned officials about a township police practice range in Franko.

Township officials said if a proposal for a police shooting range in Franko Farm Park is devised, it would need to be presented for review by the township zoning hearing board and planning commission.

Township officials said Franko Farm Park is one of the locations under consideration for a police target-practice range.

A new township police department shooting range was first mentioned in public meetings in fall and winter 2021 during discussions for the 2022 township budget.

“We’re in the design phase right now. Keystone is drawing up plans,” Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich told a reporter for The Press before the March 24 commissioners’ meeting.

“When we have the plans, we’re going to bring them to a workshop for discussion with commissioners and the public,” Bonaskiewich said.

“The project would be the same as any development would be,” Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers told a reporter for The Press before the March 24 commissioners’ meeting.

“It would be reviewed by the zoners, planners and commissioners,” Tettemer said.

“We’re just coming up with the plans. It’s very preliminary,” Tettemer said.

The township would need to make the application to its own zoners and planners for the shooting range.

A firearms shooting facility is needed for practice and annual certification of township police officers, Salisbury Township Chief of Police Kevin Soberick told a reporter for The Press before the March 24 commissioners’ meeting.

Township police have practiced firearms shooting at Unami Fish & Game Protective Association, Inc., 75 Chestnut Hill Road, Emmaus. Unami has six ranges, according to its website.

Township officers cannot use the Allentown Police Department shooting range in Lehigh Parkway.

During the courtesy of the floor portion of the March 24 meeting, board of commissioners’ President Debra Brinton said to those in attendance who inquired about plans for a police shooting range in Franko, “We will have a workshop about this and that will be the time when you can air your concerns.”

One of the concerned citizens said brush was cleared in a portion of Franko.

“We removed some brush. The brush was removed so that the surveyor could get in and draw up plans,” Salisbury Township Director of Public Works Jim Levernier said.

“I live on the mountain. It’s 10 degrees cooler. It’s quiet,” Bruce Burchard, a former member of the township environmental advisory council said.

Burchard said he wanted to make sure he would know when the shooting range plan for Franko will be discussed at township meetings.

Township Commissioner Heather Lipkin said, “I’ll make sure that you know when it’s time to come up.”

“Let’s not confuse a police target range with a public shooting range,” Brinton said.

“It’s definitely for our own police,” Bonaskiewich said.

“We certainly aren’t looking for our police department to be bad neighbors,” Soberick said, adding, “But we have to do our due diligence.

“A public range is not a sustainable place for police to train,” Soberick said.

“We certainly will not let anyone else than us there,” Soberick said, adding, referring to Franko, “That’s not the only place we’re looking at.”

The Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners is next scheduled to meet 7 p.m. April 14, in the meeting room of the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.