The downhill battle the Boy Scouts of America has fought over thousands of sex abuse allegations has come to a resolution.
The 100-year-old organization reached an $850 million settlement July 1 with lawyers representing some 60,000 victims of child sex abuse. The organization had sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020 in an attempt to stop the hundreds of lawsuits by men who claimed they were molested when they were young boys by scout leaders.
As a result of a plan submitted in April to the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Dover, Delaware, the Great Hudson Valley Boy Scouts is among the councils that will put its assets up for sale:
- Camp Bullowa in Rockland County,
- Camp Nooteeming in Dutchess County and
- Durland Scout Reservation in Putnam County.
The three camps represent over 1,900 acres of parkland, lakes and recreational facilities in the heart of the Hudson Valley owned and used by the Greater Hudson Valley Boy Scouts for over half a century. Cushman & Wakefield announced it has been retained as exclusive agent for the properties.
Camp Bullowa is set on 313 acres in the town of Stony Point in northern Rockland County. It has several cabins and a dining room that can seat over 100 people. A separate building that was slated to become the Council Service Center is also on the property. It is zoned recreation residential and allows for public parks and outdoor recreation, as well as one-family detached homes with or without municipal sewer.
Camp Nooteeming, a 272-acre site in Salt Point, Dutchess County, has several buildings that include a year-round visitors center, multiple cabins and a dining facility for 175 people and access to waterfront recreation. Camp Nooteeming has its own artificial turf regulation-sized soccer field, a softball field and a swimming pool. The site is zoned rural agricultural.
Durland Scout Reservation is set on 1,385 acres in Pleasant Valley. The sprawling property has 18 miles of color-coded hiking trails and has dozens of camp sites, several cabins and an event pavilion. Zoned as a preservation district, it allows for municipal buildings and public schools, parks and recreation services.
When Boy Scouts of America filed a second amended Chapter 11 plan in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware two months ago, it upped the contributions to be made from the organization and its local councils and proposed a trust fund for child sex abuse victims.
Claims cover a 50-year period beginning in the 1940s. In its amended proposal, local councils of the Boy Scouts of America will contribute $500 million to the fund for abuse victims, distributing $300 million in cash and the remainder in properties that have a combined appraised value of $200 million.
After learning of the proposed sale, Stony Point Town Supervisor Jim Monaghan started exploring options for the town to buy the Camp Bullowa property.
“I”™ve already reached out to leadership and spoke with Richard Stockton, the CEO of Greater Hudson Valley BSA to see if there is an opportunity for the town to purchase it and use it for recreation. In that regard, we will look to partner with a conservation group. Camp Bullowa is one of the last remaining pieces of property in the area that is in its natural setting.”
Because the case is being heard in Delaware, the town must also get the approval of the New York State Attorney General”™s Office if it moves forward to buy Camp Bullowa once an agreement between the Boy Scouts of America and the plaintiffs is reached.
“The Bullowa family purchased the property in the early 1900s and donated the land specifically for scouting and set up a trust fund that has grown over the years,” Monaghan said. “That money has been used for maintenance and upkeep. We have 47 different camp groups that use Camp Bullowa. It”™s always been a gem.”
In its revised bankruptcy plan, Boy Scouts of America is proposing the issuance of an unsecured promissory note for $80 million for a victims”™ trust fund and to use restricted assets to cover post-bankruptcy expenses. The changes to its original Chapter 11 filing increase the contribution the BSA would make to the trust fund from $120 million under its previous plan to more than double that sum, $250 million.
