LEWISTON — The town will build a higher berm around a Harold Road firing range used by town police and other agencies to address concerns from nearby residents who say they fear the potential of stray bullets from the facility.

Supervisor Steven L. Reiter told residents at a meeting Monday night that the town would work on the earthen berm “immediately” in an effort to alleviate the neighbors’ concerns about safety.

About two-dozen residents met with Reiter, Police Chief Christopher Salada and Sgt. Frank Previte at the Lower River Road senior center to air concerns about safety, noise and the environment from the town-owned outdoor gun range behind the town Highway Department.

“You can’t stop a stray bullet,” Jeff Miller told town officials. “Accidents happen.”

Miller was one of several residents who said their quality of life has deteriorated since area law enforcement agencies started using the firing range more often in recent years.

Reiter told the residents he would also discuss the issue with Salada and the Town Board to see what other steps could be taken to address their concerns. The town has temporarily stopped using the firing range on nights and weekends.

The firing range, which Previte said is certified to be used for law enforcement training, is surrounded on three sides with an earthen berm as high as 20 feet.

Previte said officers who use the firing range only do so during structured training sessions with specific instructions led by range instructors. Safety officers, warning flags and other precautions are taken at the site, he said.

“If there’s any deviation whatsoever from the rules and regs, it’s stopped immediately,” said Previte. “We try to provide the safest environment possible.”

Nearby homes are about seven- tenths of a mile away, but residents said they are afraid that bullets from some weapons used at the facility could travel as far as two miles.

Kent Davis, a Porter Center Road resident, said safety is his main concern.

“Would you want your family, your grandchild, your daughter, your kids out there?” Davis asked.

Previte said the range was built two decades ago and was used initially only by the town police for training three or four times a year. In recent years, however, the town began to allow other agencies to use the facility in exchange for in-kind services or supplies, he said.

That increased use, residents said, is the problem.

“The last three years, as you’ve admitted, there’s been a tremendous escalation,” said George Brown. “It’s become intolerable. A lot of us feel that way.”

Residents also expressed concern about unauthorized use of the firing range by people who drive four-wheelers into the site and shoot guns when police are not there.

Salada said the town has looked into ways to better secure the facility but is unable to monitor the site continuously.

Salada told the residents that town officials would meet with them again in late spring and in the fall to explore ways to address their concerns.

“The last thing we want to do is make your life miserable,” Salada told the residents at the beginning of the meeting.