Deer Lake lawsuits dropped; negotiations continue
KILLINGWORTH — A lawsuit aiming to protect a bird sanctuary at Deer Lake Scout Reservation, which is for sale, and a countersuit from the Boy Scouts both have been dropped.
Robert Brown, spokesman for the Connecticut Yankee Council, confirmed both parties had withdrawn their respective suits.
“We did sign the release from the lawsuit late yesterday [Aug. 8], yes, and are happy we can continue to move forward with discussions with the interested parties,” Brown said.
Since Deer Lake was put on the market in September 2021, the sale has become controversial. Environmental groups, conservationists, former Scouts, residents and local and state officials have wanted to preserve the 255-acre property, which has been described as a “precious and pristine treasure” by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn.
The end of the lawsuits will help with negotiations, according to Ted Langevin, head of the Pathfinders group. He would not comment further.
Brown said, “We're still in discussion with both interested parties and haven't ruled anything out yet.”
When asked whether the Yankee Council was close to a decision on the sale, Brown said, “Not yet, we're still in discussion with both parties to structure the best deal for Scouting.”
Brown said the council is in negotiations with both Fortitude Capital, a real estate development firm, and Pathfinders, a local scouting group that runs the camp.
Margaret Streicker, CEO of
Fortitude Capital LLC, sits on the board of the Yankee Council, but had recused herself, she has said.
Pathfinders met a May 1 deadline with a “competitive” offer, after a weekslong fundraising blitz. The Yankee Council was seeking $5 million, including a $400,000 kill fee. Fortitude Capital had submitted a letter of intent for $4.6 million.
Pathfinder's latest offer was the fourth bid on the land; Langevin would not disclose the amount.
The suit filed on behalf of David Stephenson of Madison, an avid birder who wants to preserve the Richard English Bird Sanctuary, was filed in Middletown Superior Court in late April. It sought a conservation easement to protect the bird sanctuary to run with the land.
The late Richard English of New Haven, an active member in
the New Haven Bird Club, had bequeathed a sizable amount of his estate to Deer Lake, and a bird sanctuary was dedicated to him on the property, which was published in “The Scouter,” a Boy Scout magazine, according to attorney Keith Ainsworth.
That attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of the Yankee Council in July, however, claimed that there never was any bird sanctuary on the property and said Stephenson's lawsuit was stalling any sale and could cause financial damages to the Boy Scouts.
“Mr. Stephenson knows, or reasonably should have known, of the chilling effect of this lawsuit, as well as the increased cost to CYC, but continues to prevent the sale of the Deer Lake property,” the countersuit stated.
The Council does not recognize any bird sanctuary, according to court documents.
“CYC admits that the Richard L. English fund makes annual charitable donations to CYC, but DENIES the remaining allegations contained in Paragraph 10 of the Complaint,” wrote attorney David X. Sullivan, who represents the Yankee Council.
In paragraph 10, Ainsworth wrote, “Following the public announcement of Defendant's dedication of the Richard English Bird sanctuary the public accepted this dedication through annual public visits by avid birders and interested members of the public who make the trip to Killingworth to observe the many species of birds that inhabit the bird sanctuary at Deer Lake.”
Ainsworth noted that the Richard English Foundation had donated $100,000 annually to Deer Lake since English's death in 2011.
Yankee Council spokesperson Bob Brown explained the Yankee Council's assertion that there is no bird sanctuary on the property: “My understanding — we have no record of it ever being a bird sanctuary.”
“We've never known that property to be a bird sanctuary,” Brown said. “That's never been in any of our records. We can't find anything that says, that supports the claim that it is a sanctuary.”
“That is why we don't agree with it. We've pushed back on the assertion,” Brown said. “We don't have any record of it being a bird sanctuary and we certainly never used it as such in practice.”
“We never marketed it as such. Nor were we aware that people were coming there with the intent to visit a bird sanctuary,” Brown said.
“We know that there's a plaque on the property,” he said. “I think the kiosk provided information on the birds that lived or habituated on the property.”
Ainsworth said his client, Stephenson, wanted to withdraw the suit because that was the best decision for him personally and he was concerned over a potential financial loss.
“My client went out on a limb and no one followed him there,” Ainsworth said. “A lot of people were making noise, ‘save Deer Lake, save Deer Lake, bird sanctuary.'”
“The AG didn't step in and neither did any of the environmental groups who were all going before the cameras, in the papers and on Facebook,” Ainsworth said.
A spokesperson for Attorney General William Tong disagreed with Ainsworth's statement.
“The assertion that the Office of the Attorney General ‘did not step in' is offensive and inaccurate,” Elizabeth Benton, a spokesperson from his office, said in a written statement. “Attorney General Tong personally engaged in efforts to save Deer Lake.”
“The Office of the Attorney General has been and remains involved, and is confident that all sides will be able to work together to reach a positive resolution for the preservation of this important property,” the statement said. “Attorney General Tong previously requested that the Yankee Council postpone consideration of proposals for the purchase of Deer Lake while the Office reviewed the Council's compliance with charities law.”
“We continue to work with the Yankee Council to ensure the proper handling of any potential transfer of charitably restricted land,” the statement read.