TMCnet News
For the moment, sale of Camp Kitty canceled: Girl Scout council says task group will assess options, ramifications(Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 25--The Richmond-area Girl Scout council has temporarily canceled the sale of a Northern Neck camp while its reconstituted board of directors re-examines the plan. Preservationists and Girl Scout leaders who rallied against the sale of Camp Kittamaqund hailed the news yesterday. The Girl Scout Commonwealth Council last year proposed selling the Northumberland County waterfront property for $16 million, prompting a storm of criticism from some Scout leaders and former Scouts who had gone to the camp. A change in county zoning restrictions in February put the sale in doubt and a council election in April installed a slate of directors opposed to the sale who called themselves the Evergreens. "I'm thrilled," said Tracy Hamm, a Duke University graduate student who led efforts to save Camp Kitty. "This new board gives a lot of people a lot of hope. I'm really optimistic for the future of our outdoor programs, knowing the people that are in there now." The council revealed Wednesday it had tabled the sale of the 387-acre camp beside the Great Wicomico River "until such time as a study of the options can be made." "A task group will be formed to look at several options and the aspects and ramifications of each" and then share its information with Scout members before the board makes any other decisions, the announcement said. The Camp Kitty controversy sparked a candlelight vigil outside the council's Mechanicsville headquarters in January and paved the way for the Evergreen ticket to win 17 of 18 seats in a council board election in late April. The new members outnumber the 14 board members with unexpired terms who had been on the board that approved the camp sale in November. The council has owned the heavily wooded property since 1964 and used it for tent camping, sailing, swimming and other water sports. When it authorized the sale last year, the council said declining camp attendance and the cost of storm cleanup was making the camp too expensive to maintain. Board members contacted yesterday declined to comment on the record. Contact staff writer Lawrence Latane III at [email protected] or (804) 333-3461. Copyright (c) 2007, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |