New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Pathfinders makes offer on Deer Lake before deadline
KILLINGWORTH — The third bid could be the charm for conservationists who want to prevent Deer Lake Scout Reservation from being sold to a developer.
Less than one day before a May 1 deadline, Pathfinders submitted its third offer Saturday to buy Deer Lake Scout Reservation from the Boy Scouts Connecticut Yankee Council.
The Council was asking for $5 million for the parcel, which included a $400,000 kill fee; they had agreed earlier to sell to a developer for $4.6 million. The fee is to break that contract.
Pathfinders president Ted Langevin would not say how much the offer was.
“I can say we made the offer — that’s all I’m going to say,” he said.
“The Pathfinders made a solid offer, it’s in the hands of the Yankee Council to accept that in keeping with the spirit of conservationism and move forward,” Killingworth First Selectman Nancy Gorski said.
“I am hoping that the Yankee Council stops putting hurdles in the way of Pathfinders acquiring this property,” Gorski said. “I hope they will accept the offer.”
According to Gorski, who has worked closely with the nonprofit Pathfinders and other interested parties, the group had submitted its second offer on Friday, but it was rejected.
“I do know another offer was made yesterday and was rejected,” she said.
“They adjusted their offer to meet the demands of Yankee Council and I am at my wit’s end with Yankee Council right now,” Gorski said.
“The Yankee Council is putting up stipulations around how the offer will be put together, so I am hoping they accept it,” she said.
Gorski said she does not know the final number Pathfinders offered.
To keep Deer Lake as open space for recreation, volunteers have worked for weeks seeking donations from conservation groups, residents and former Scouts. They have received funds from donors in 25 states, Canada and Denmark.
Conservation groups, state and local officials and Sen. Richard Blumenthal D-Conn. have been working with Pathfinders as well.
This latest bid is actually the fourth made on the property since January by those who want to keep it as open space. The Trust for Public Land was the first to make an offer on the property in February for $2.4 million, which was rejected.
This land deal has taken many twists and turns since the parcel was put up for sale last fall.
Separate from sale of the camp, a Madison man filed a lawsuit last week against the Boy Scouts, saying the sale to a developer would harm the natural resources and wildlife and noted it was a protected bird sanctuary.
The Richard English Bird Sanctuary is located on the site and is considered a charitable trust, according to the attorney who filed the lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court.
The Boy Scouts Connecticut
Yankee Council agreed to postpone its earlier deadline to May 1 to accept another offer, after it accepted the $4.6 million bid made by private developer Margaret Streicker, who is a member of the board.
The Council had said it would consider a “superior offer.”
This time around, Pathfinders had to not only beat the $4.6 million on the table but pay an additional $400,000 fee for the developer to null their contract or letter of intent.
The Council rejected Pathfinders’ first bid, which was made hours before a March 31 deadline, when the state Attorney General’s office stepped in.
Attorney General William Tong is reviewing legal questions
raised regarding the sale of the camp. The attorney general is looking into whether it’s possible to sell the land to a private developer and possible conflict of interest.
Tong said in a written statement about the scale of the investigation, “Our review includes the Council’s compliance with the nonstock corporation act, which includes prohibitions against, and safe harbors for, directors’ conflicting interest transactions . ... We also enforce the Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act, at the behest of the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, and the fiduciary obligations of trustees over charitable trusts.”
Pathfinders, former campers, conservationists, state and local officials have worked to help keep the campground as open space for recreation and preservation for several months since the Council announced its sale last fall.
The Boy Scouts decided to sell Deer Lake because of declining enrollment, Scout officials have said. The Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy in 2021, and in March offered $2.7 billion to settle a claim with tens of thousands of sex abuse survivors, according to Reuters.
The Connecticut Yankee Council paid a portion with a combination of land and cash from its endowment to fulfill its share of the national organization’s settlement, according to Scouting officials.