City extends lease for rifle and pistol club

“I believe it was Pacini Way.”

Thus answered Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club President Mike Pacini when addressing a question from Councilwoman Sherri Jorgensen about what the club intends to name the private drive that leads from Utah Street to the gun club.

The name change came up as part of a pair of actions the council took this week regarding the club.

In the first action, they agreed to extend the club’s lease of the city-owned land for an additional 20 years, with a couple of caveats.

The current lease runs through 2030 and the council had already agreed to extend the lease an additional 10 years, provided that the club, before the end of the current lease term, is able to secure 501(c)(3) non-profit status. The action this week has the same prerequisite but extends the lease period by an additional decade beyond what was already agreed upon.

A 501(c)(3) is a specific type of entity under federal tax law. It allows the organization to receive tax-deductible donations (e.g., membership dues) in exchange for an agreement that no part of the organization’s net revenue can go to any private shareholder or individual. It also limits the political activities of the group. Getting the designation is known to be a somewhat difficult process that involves significant paperwork.

The requirement for non-profit status came about almost two years ago when the majority of the board of the club — none of whom lived in Boulder City — were accused of using club funds for their own benefit. In addition to non-profit status, the agreement with the city following that incident states that board members must reside in Boulder City and sets the membership rate for city residents lower than rates paid by non-residents.

There was actually a second item on the agenda about the club, which hearkens back to the quote from Pacini.

According to city staff, when they were working on the lease extension, they figured out that there was no formal easement agreement in place for members and guests to get in and out of the club. There is a private drive that extends for a couple of miles past the city dump that has been used for decades, but it is on city-owned land and there was no formal easement agreement to ensure access.

When introducing the measure, it was mentioned that the club was asking for permission to name the drive, which brings things back to Pacini’s joking comment.

“I can promise you we are not going to name it anything like “pry it out of my cold, dead hands” Way or anything.” Pacini noted that the board of directors for the club intended to work together to come up with a name and that they would take whatever they came up with to the city manager for approval.

Under the terms of the lease, if the club is able to secure non-profit status, the lease amount is set at $1 per year.