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04/12/2022 12:00 AMThe local efforts to purchase and preserve the Deer Lake Campground, a 250-plus acre camp owned by the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Scouts BSA, are ongoing ahead of a May 1 deadline, though the council’s apparent acceptance of a private deal ahead of the deadline has raised an additional and costly hurdle.
In October 2021, the Connecticut Yankee Council of the BSA put the property on the market, according to town records. Trust for Public Land made a bid in mid-February for $2.4 million, based on the property’s appraised value. That offer was rejected by the Connecticut Yankee Council, and, according to statements from the council, it had conditionally accepted a bid from Fortitude Capital, LLC, for $4.6 million. The CEO of Fortitude Capital is Margaret Streicker, who is also a member of the Connecticut Yankee Council’s Board of Directors.
An offer by Pathfinders, another non-profit coordinating the efforts to preserve the land, was rejected by last week. According to Pathfinders President Ted Langevin, the group needed $1.8 million more in funding to reach a threshold where the council might conceivably consider its offer, but that amount has now been further increased after new demands from the council’s realtor.
Late last week, the Connecticut Yankee Council Board appeared to have accepted the offer from Streicker in apparent opposition to its statement that it would keep to a May 1 deadline to allow a counter-offer from Pathfinders. The realtor for the sale contacted Langevin and relayed that any offer would have to include penalty monies for the breaking of an agreement with Streicker.
According to Langevin, the council is now requiring that any potential buyer pay legal fees that might be associated with the breaking of the contract with Streicker.
“The council did not say specifically that they had entered into a contract, but they are requiring additional funds to cover a break-up fee on top of their offer that they expect to exceed the developer’s offer of $4.625 million,” Langevin said. “In addition, the council will require the purchase funds to be present in an account before they will accept the offer, according to their real estate agent. Pathfinders is committed to raise this funding. If enough can be raised to present a viable offer to the council, we will do so, but that is uncertain at the moment. Donations can be made through our savedeerlake.com website.”
Killingworth First Selectwoman Nancy Gorski said she is very frustrated with the process, specifically with how the Connecticut Yankee Council has conducted the negotiations.
“The events over the last few days have been mindboggling,” Gorski said. “I’m disappointed in the actions of the Yankee Council, voting to accept the offer of Margaret Streicker before the deadline before the end of the time period when offers can be submitted.”
According to Gorksi, the terms of the sale have become further complicated by this demand from the council realtor that will require payments for legal fees associated with breaking the contract with Streicker.
“We received an email from the realtor for the Yankee Council indicating that if Pathfinders wants to submit an offer, not only that have to be superior to that of Margaret Streicker, it also has to pay for any fees associated with breaking the contract with her,” Gorski said. “So now instead of it being $4.6 million, we have to think about a $5 million offer. At this point, I can’t believe they signed a contract like that—in fact, we’re not sure they even did so. The problem is we can’t FOIA any of these records from them.”
The Freedom of Information Act or FOIA is a mechanism that ensures public access to public records; it does not apply to private agencies like the BSA.
Langevin said he and the Pathfinders Board remain optimistic that a deal can be reached with the council to buy and preserve the property. The Pathfinder’s Board of Directors voted last week to “continue fundraising and other activities in preparation for a possible second offer”, according to a statement. It also announced a new website savedeerlake.com had been activated and is accepting donations to assist in the purchase.
“We are hopeful that we can raise the additional funding needed, about $1.8 million, in the three weeks left before the May 1 deadline,” Langevin said last week before further funding was demanded. “This property is valuable as a recreational resource and as an environmentally important area. The greenway formed by the state parks to the north of this property feed Long Island Sound with clean fresh water. We cannot allow this important resource to be lost to development.”
In Hartford, Attorney General William Tong’s office continues to delve into some of the questions about the legality of the pending sale to a developer, Streicker, who is a board member of the council. Many are speculating as to how and why this particular person is offering to buy the property at an amount that, according to the Trust for Public Land, which have also made an offer on the property that was rejected, is more than double the appraised value of the parcel.
Killingworth town officials have stated that development of the Deer Lake property would be extremely difficult due to zoning regulations and environmental restrictions, further clouding the issue of why a developer so closely associated with the seller would offer to pay double the appraised amount for a property that could have severe building limitations.
“I am hopeful that Pathfinders is ultimately successful in garnering all of the funds needed for the purchase of deer Lake,” Gorski said. “Certainly, I would be happy to take this to the people of Killingworth to see if they would be interested in putting together some dollars to give back to Pathfinders in the way of a conservation easement.”
Gorski said she is still in contact with Tong’s office concerning their investigation into whether the actions by the council, specifically in the details of their board member’s purchase of the property, but did not have an update on that status. According to Gorski, she had a face to face conversation with Streicker the first week of April and that the developer said that she would be developing the property within three years with a focus on affordable housing.
“At this point we still have until May 1, but what bothers me most is why they would have signed this contract. That just boggles my mind,” Gorski said. “We are getting so many calls about this, and we really are frustrated at this point. It’s a bit crazy.”
For more information on the preservation efforts, email Pathfinders at savedeerlakecamp@gmail.com.