Concerned residents of Selph Road were in attendance at the weekly Wednesday meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners to discuss recreational shooting in the neighborhood.

Doug Chaney, one of those concerned citizens and a neighbor of Jeff Robertson, the man allegedly doing the recreational shooting, said it started “quite a few years ago.” He said Robertson sets off Tannerite that blows up and has also seen “cases” of ammunition stacked up with the guns in a pile and lined down a fence ready to shoot.

Chaney also said there will sometimes be multiple people on the property to shoot at the same time and they’d line up and shoot about 1,000 rounds in 30 minutes. Also, he said the shooting could take place at any time of the day including 9:30 to 10 p.m. at night.

Charlie Wise, the other concerned citizen at the meeting, said he and Chaney have tried to talk to Robertson about it for years but he basically said, “I can do it. I’m gonna do it.”

Chaney said that the bottom line for him is that the shooting is unsafe. He said the shooting is happening on his front door because he lives behind Robertson.

“I ain’t taking anymore,” he said. “This is the end of the line right here … A blind man could see it’s unsafe.”

Chaney also said that he’s asking for a building to be built by the city for the shooting done by the police at Liberty Park, because it is unsafe and someone could get hurt with the shooting taking place outside.

He said that he got a signed petition from neighbors, with most of them being gun carriers, saying that the shooting by Robertson as well as the police outside should be stopped.

He also said that he has been in contact with Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera about the incidents and has given the sheriff his phone number for when he comes to see the property, but Barrera has not come to inspect the issue.

Commissioner Terry Britton said that the board would talk to its people and get back to Chaney and Wise following Wednesday’s dialogue.

In other news, the board of commissioners approved the 2023 general and non-general budget. Britton said the general budget for the year would be $13.2 million and the total non-general would be $50.88 million.

“I just want to say thanks to Nicole (Oberrecht) and Mary (Remsing) and Ashleigh (Willey) for working on this thing,” Britton said. “I know Nicole and Mary’s put in a ton of hours in this budget process. You know, you’re dealing with a lot of taxpayers’ money, and we want to make sure that we do our due diligence with this.”

The commissioners planned to open bids for snow removal services for the 2022-23 winter season, but no bids were received.

In other news, there were 18 resolutions approved by the board:

* Res. No. 22-202 is authorization for a budget modification within the Chore budget in the amount of $300.

* Res. No. 22-203 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the SCORJDC budget.

* Res. No. 22-204 is authorization for a budget modification within the commissioners budget in the amount of $4,000.

* Res. No. 22-205 is a request from the Highland County Common Pleas Court for a budget modification within its budget in the amount of $661.80.

* Res. No. 22-206 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds to County – Transfers Out in the amount of $4.4 million.

* Res. No. 22-207 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the auditor’s budget in the amount of $3,844.57.

* Res. No. 22-208 is authorization for a transfer from Transfers Out to Child Emergency in the amount of $200,000.

* Res. No. 22-209 is authorization for a transfer from Transfers Out to 2235 to Workforce Development in the amount of $10,000.

* Res. No. 22-210 is authorization for a transfer from Transfers Out to IT Upgrades in the amount of $20,000.

* Res. No. 22-211 is authorization for a transfer from Transfers Out to Dog and Kennel in the amount of $50,000.

* Res. No. 22-212 is authorization for a budget modification within the general fund budget in the amount of $10,000.

* Res. No. 22-213 is authorization for the establishment of two new line items within Chore Services.

* Res. No. 22-214 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the Rocky Fork Lake budget in the amount of $17,825.

* Res. No. 22-215 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the Jobs and Family Services budget in the amount of $150,000.

* Res. No. 22-216 is a request from the Highland County Law Library for a budget modification in the amount of $498.

* Res. No. 22-217 is authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the block grant budget in the amount of $1,171.72.

* Res. No. 22-218 is a request from juvenile court for a budget modification in the amount of $4,000.

* Res. No. 22-219 is authorization for the 2023 general and non-general budget.

There was also one contract approved by the board:

* Contract 96 is between the board of commissioners, the Highland County recorder and Montgomery County microfilming for the Records Center and Archives 2023 renewal.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.