EAGLE, Idaho — A major portion of Eagle's Willow Creek Shooting Sports Park remains on hold as the city's contractor, TRS Range Services, has taken the city to court over unresolved disputes.
The multi-phase shooting sports park was originally envisioned to include static archery, 3D archery, rifle, shotgun, and law enforcement training ranges. Currently, only the archery portion is complete and open to the public.
The archery range has quickly become popular with residents, including hunters preparing for the upcoming season.
"There's plenty of room for everyone to have a good time. It's clean, it's beautiful, it's outdoors. And just look around, you know, foothills," said Josh LeMaster, an Eagle resident who uses the facility.
A lawsuit filed by TRS Range Services against the City of Eagle centers on construction payment disputes and unfinished phases of the park.
Hear from TRS Range Services owner about the lawsuit —
The City of Eagle declined to comment on the suit due to ongoing litigation.
Kerry O'Neal, owner of TRS Range Services, described the scope of what was planned for the shooting sports park.
"This encompasses 3 archery ranges, 2 that are going to be 3D, 1 static, 12 public ranges that will consist of rifle and pistol shooting, 3 shotgun ranges, and 3 law enforcement ranges themselves, and this is gonna be one of its only kind in the Northwest," O'Neal said.
The facility was designed to include interactive targets and span approximately one mile in length of shooting ranges.
O'Neal said the project began several years ago when former mayor Jason Pierce reached out about designing and building a shooting range for Eagle.
Pierce helped secure donations for the project, and TRS Range Services was awarded the design-build contract. The company has been based in Eagle since 2002.
"This has been an exciting project for us because here we finally, building ranges for the last 20 plus years, now have a project that's in the city that we live in and our business is in," O'Neal said.
Kerry O'Neal, owner of TRS Range Services, said his company was hired to design and build the entire facility, but progress has come to a halt.
"We're getting excited about this, and traction was moving forward, and then it all come to a stalemate," O'Neal said.
O'Neal said his company completed 70% of the construction drawings for the entire site, but has not been paid for that work.
The initial phases were funded with $500,000, which later increased to $750,000 before that additional money was redirected to another project.
While the project remains stalled over unresolved disputes, O'Neal expressed surprise that the city is considering a $250,000 donation to a different facility — the privately-run Crowfoot Range.
"It's kind of an oxymoron to me to think that they would donate money to a private entity that wouldn't be owned by the people or the city of Eagle," O'Neal said.
One of the most significant components on hold is the planned law enforcement training range, which O'Neal says would serve multiple agencies in the area.
"I know the police departments in this area need a place to train, and all the residents in this area desperately need a place to shoot," O'Neal said.
The original plan also included separate bays for recreational shooters, designed to help reduce illegal or unsafe shooting in other locations throughout the community.
"This range design was to be much more intimate and basically, people would have their own bay to be able to shoot in and make it as safe as possible. I think that people are getting shorted," O'Neal said.
O'Neal regularly receives calls from community members asking about the project's status.
"The people call here regularly wanting to know what the progression has been at the current site with us, and we tell them right now everything has been put on hold and a lawsuit has been filed," O'Neal said.
Eagle residents like LeMaster are eager to see the project completed, viewing it as a positive opportunity.
"If we had a shooting range, another opportunity for families to get together and enjoy these outdoor, you know, sports events, and it'd just be fantastic. So, any opportunity to make this even better, we should take it," Lemaster said.
As an Eagle resident since 2003, O'Neal said the project held special significance for him and his company.
"It was exciting to hear about this project here in the city, and we knew that it was needed for a long time, and then it's just disheartening to hear that it's been paused," O'Neal said.
He expressed concern about the growing population and decreasing shooting opportunities.
"This valley needs it. The more people are moving here and there's less places to shoot, and I think you're gonna see more trash being dumped in our public lands and people getting hurt if something's not done about it," O'Neal said.
The dispute between TRS Range Services and the City of Eagle is scheduled for trial next spring, with the project's biggest phases remaining on hold until the legal issues are resolved.
Despite the legal battle, O'Neal remains hopeful about completing the project.
"And we would love to see it come to fruition," O'Neal said.
"I hope it gets worked out. I hope that people get their shooting ranges and our law enforcement gets trained properly in the area," O'Neal said.
The ongoing legal battle leaves the community with access to only the archery portion of what was intended to be a comprehensive shooting sports facility, while questions remain about the city's potential funding of an alternative private facility.
