Three Subgroups Created and Site Exploration Subgroup Meets

One of the decisions of the March 12^th meeting of the new Jefferson County 2014 Public Shooting Range Working Group was the creation of three Subgroups: 1) the Site Exploration Subgroup; 2) the Financial Subgroup and 3) the Design & Operations Subgroup.  A subset of the Working Group members were chosen for each Subgroup, and each was assigned to meet prior to the next full Working Group meeting scheduled for April 9^th.  The use of subcommittees (or “subgroups” as these subcommittees have been titled) is a way for a large public advisory committee like this Working Group to make the most efficient use of a limited number of plenary sessions by exploring major topics of concern in depth during subgroup meetings (and then reviewing summaries in plenary sessions).

Each of the three co-facilitators of the Working Group agreed to also facilitate one of the Subgroups.  I facilitated the first meeting of the Site Exploration Subgroup this last Tuesday, March 25^th.  It met for about three hours and agreed upon two recommendations to make available to the other two Subgroups (scheduled to meet next week) and to then take back to the full Working Group for its consideration on April 9^th.  The first area of agreement was on a draft facility scope (minimum needs plus some “nice to have” added facilities if a potential site would permit them) and a list of general site evaluation criteria (both as opportunities and constraints).  No actual sites were considered by the Subgroup at its meeting.  These were ideas that were designed to be general enough to be applied to any site considered at a later date.

The work of the Subgroups should continue in parallel with the work of the full Working Group, as the needs of that full Group may dictate.  My co-facilitators and I will facilitate those Subgroups when they meet, and we will all be present to help, as facilitators, to integrate the work of the Subgroups into the full Working Group meeting on April 9^th.  As with any appointed advisory group, the County staff will continue to offer logistical support, and the facilitation team will continue to manage the group’s deliberation process, but the ultimate recommendations to be offered to Jefferson County will be those arrived at through the consensus of the Working Group members, themselves.

This is my second report of my facilitation work with the Jefferson County 2014 Public Shooting Range Working Group. You can read my first report on the Jefferson County Shooting Range Working Group here. I will report again after the next plenary session on April 9, 2014.

Post Photo by Glen Martin