MORGANTOWN – How long will the city of Morgantown continue to invest in the former Defense in Depth shooting range as a training center for the Morgantown Police Department?
The answer to that question is very much in doubt, and under increasing scrutiny.
During Morgantown City Council’s Tuesday committee of the whole session, the body held its first public discussion of a fiscal year 2026-27 budget that would, among other measures, eliminate cost of living wage increases for employees and freeze hiring on open positions due to a continued trend of stagnant revenues and rising costs.
Morgantown City Manager Jamie Miller explained the city is dialing back expenditures strategically in an effort to maximize return on investment and put the city in better financial standing long-term.
Councilor Mark Downs asked if the gun range turned training facility is one of the expenditures in which the city is closely evaluating return on investment.
Miller said it is.
“That is an item that we will continue to evaluate as we look at the revenue amount that is coming in for that facility versus the expense. There is a gap in those,” Miller said. “As we are being mindful and looking at the way we’re spending every dollar, making sure that we are accounting for every piece that matters to that equation so that we can ultimately make a productive decision. But there absolutely is continued evaluation on that facility.”
After weeks of discussion and debate, Morgantown City Council split 4-3 in favor of acquiring the 19,938-square-foot shooting range on Dec. 6, 2022.
It was touted as a first of its kind in terms of a department-operated training facility that promised to help turn around the city’s flagging officer recruitment and retention efforts.
The vote authorized the city to enter an arrangement with Glenmark Holding LLC through which it would pay $500,000 up front and $2.4 million in lease payments over 10 years, or $240,000 annually.
At the time, former City Manager Kim Haws said the city’s calculations indicated the facility would be able to offset that cost to a significant degree through use agreements with other agencies. He said the “all-in” cost to the city’s general fund would likely be between $127,000 and $156,000 annually.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Deputy Mayor Brian Butcher indicated that the entire $240,000 lease payment is included in the city’s general fund expenditures for FY 2027. Further, the proposed budget lists $33,000 in utilities and $61,000 in supplies and materials among other miscellaneous costs.
“It struck me in the budget that we pay more for a police training center in terms of the $240,000 than we do the entire fleet of police vehicles – the entire fleet, in terms of maintenance,” Butcher said, explaining he doesn’t believe the site is working as intended.
“I just don’t know how we continue to justify the cost,” he said. ”I think that there’s a lot of ways this budget has ballooned. I think we can attribute a lot of that to inflation and things of that nature, but I think a lot of it we can attribute to short-sighted decisions. I think that’s one that’s glaring … and it’s one that we need to address sooner than later.”
Among the current members of council, both Butcher and Mayor Danielle Trumble voted against the city’s acquisition of the facility.
On Wednesday, Councilor Jodi Hollingshead told The Dominion Post, “I absolutely do not support continuing our lease for the training center.
“Apart from it being a bad business move based on dollars alone, it’s not fulfilling the intended and promised purposes,” she said. “That is a lot of money that could be reallocated at a time when we’re already making tough decisions …”
