Council votes to swap camp
Armed with all the necessary board approvals after months of discussions and public meetings, the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts will begin negotiating the details of a land swap with a luxury developer, a scout official confirmed Thursday.
The INC foundation board voted late Wednesday in favor of creating a committee to create a purchase option agreement with Discovery Land Company. The document will detail how the Boy Scouts’ historic Camp Easton property would be swapped for a new camp built by Discovery.
That was the second board approval, after last week’s executive board vote, required to kick off negotiations.
“I think both boards as a whole have spoken clearly that they see great promise to the potential of developing a new Boy Scout camp
on Lake Coeur d’Alene,” said scout Executive Tim McCandless.
The agreement, which could take between 30 to 90 days to complete, will require approval again by both boards, McCandless said.
If it is not approved, the INC will stick with Camp Easton at its current location on Gotham Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
“Both boards would like to see what type of agreement (the committee) can come up with so they can have something concrete to see,” McCandless said, adding that real estate and development experts will be on the committee creating the agreement.
The INC will also investigate the developer’s financial ability to fulfill its proposal, McCandless said.
“They will have to demonstrate to us in a satisfactory way that they have everything in place to do construction and to fund the endowment,” he said.
Andy Holloran, vice president of development with Discovery Land Company, stated that he and other company spokesman have no comments to make at this point.
Discovery Land Company has proposed purchasing property at Sunup Bay, south of the current Camp Easton site, where it would build a new camp to the scouts’ specific design. If the INC approves the new camp, the council would transfer ownership of the Camp Easton property to Discovery.
The developer would also provide a $2.5 million endowment fund for the maintenance and improvement of Boy Scout camps.
Although a survey of Boy Scout constituents gauged 60 percent approval of the proposal, many have been vocal in opposition of sacrificing the nearly 90-year-old camp.
Some opponents have formed nonprofit Camp Easton Forever, Inc., which filed a lawsuit against the INC claiming the land swap violates a condition of land donated for the current camp.
The INC has pointed out that the current camp site is in need of more than $1 million in immediate improvements, including the construction of a pedestrian tunnel below Highway 97 that divides the camp. It would need an injection of several more millions to equal the proposed camp’s design, which includes an educational center, winterized facilities and premiere aquatics program.
McCandless said the INC is grateful for all the input from volunteers and scouting associates.
“The great news is, whatever we do, we’ll still have a great camp for boys on Lake Coeur d’Alene,” he said.