The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to establish a dedicated training site on vacant property in Deerfield Township through an agreement with the Livingston County Road Commission.

The county’s Board of Commissioners on Monday approved a resolution authorizing concurrence and approval to move forward with negotiations for the transfer of property in Deerfield Township from the Road Commission to the Sheriff’s Office. The vacant property near Faussett and McGuire roads is owned by the Road Commission and has not been in use for the last several years, which prompted the Sheriff’s Office to pursue the site for the purpose of a dedicated training area.

Sheriff Mike Murphy says they’d like to make it a universal site, with a long-term plan that would hopefully allow for shooting practice and then construction of building structures. Short-term, Murphy says they’d like to hold search and rescue, drone, and K-9 training practices there; potentially even allowing other law enforcement departments to use the site. The Sheriff’s Office is constricted in where they can hold training exercises as they can only take place on county or private property. Murphy says because the Sheriff’s Office is restricted to where they can train, it would be nice to have a space they can call their own.

The conceptual agreement calls for the Sheriff’s deputies services in exchange for the transfer of the property. The Sheriff’s Office will assist the Road Commission with Commercial Motor Vehicle enforcement by ensuring heavy trucks are staying within weight limits when frost laws are in effect. A memo to the county’s Board of Commissioners notes that if after further exploration the conceptual idea is not deemed viable, it will be abandoned.

Murphy says the next step in the process is an environmental study to make sure the property’s soil isn’t contaminated. He expects it’ll be about two years before the Sheriff’s Office can even approach Deerfield Township with a proposal for the property’s usage in order to obtain a special land use permit. (DK)