No cash windfall for Boy Scouts

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on December 21, 2007

Generosity from those who buy Christmas trees from the Boy Scouts each year and the publicity surrounding an agreement with the town manager to levy a $1 per tree fee for their use of Kendrick Park will likely help the organization to bring in as much money as last year.

But characterizing the ongoing controversy over whether the fee is fair to the nonprofit organization as leading to a financial windfall for the Boy Scouts would be inaccurate, said Troop 504 Scoutmaster Lyle Denit.

Much public comment

"It has generated a lot of comment among the public who come to the tree sale," Denit said. "We've been very gratified by how many people have taken note and are interested in our situation."

Despite the attention, Denit said he doesn't think sales have been affected. The Scouts typically sell all the trees they bring to the site, last year selling 800 and making a profit of about $8,000, which was divided by troops 504 and 500. This year they expect to sell about 100 fewer trees, as the Sunday snowstorm prevented the Boy Scouts from going back onto Cowls timberland, where they have the option to cut down more trees to sell during the final week before Christmas.

"My estimates is we've sold fewer trees, but are making about $2 more per tree than last year," Denit said. "I'm guessing we will come out about the same in profit."

Knowing that the $1 per tree fee would be charged, the Boy Scouts raised the prices on the trees by $5, selling them for $35 and $40. Of this price increase, Denit said $2 goes to the suppliers, which include both Cowls and a tree farm in northern Vermont, $2 goes to the troops and $1 will be given to the town.

Though the Scouts have staged the tree sale at Kendrick Park since at least the 1950s, the town has only just recently taken ownership of the land from the Kendrick Park Trust.

Representatives from the Boy Scouts met with Town Manager Larry Shaffer to come up with the arrangement for the continued use, with the fees benefiting the Senior Center. Shaffer has maintained that private use of public land should provide some financial benefit to the town, and is concerned about the Boy Scouts' exclusive use of the park from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

This stance has bothered some segments of the community. Denit said a lot of the feedback has been that the fee is not right and that it could lead to the end of the Boy Scouts' Christmas tree sales, which have been a big part of Christmas season for many people.

Department of Public Works employees last week raised at least $630 that was donated to the Scouts, while others have made smaller donations. For instance, some people are paying an extra $1 to $5 for their trees, Denit said.

In addition, local businessmen Barry Roberts and Curt Shumway have agreed to provide the Boy Scouts a donation equalling whatever the amount is they will have to provide the town.

"We'll take over that obligation," Roberts said.

Roberts said Wednesday that he once sold trees at Kendrick Park as a Boy Scout and doesn't think it's fair that they could lose a vital piece of their funding.

Denit said the Scouts are grateful to all those who have made any contribution.

The controversy has not been an issue for the Scouts who volunteer their time there. Denit said the boys are going about their business as they typically do. "We stress being respectful and being courteous in all our dealings," Denit said.

But for the adult volunteers, the amount of attention from the controversy has added to their workload as they field questions from residents.

Use policy

Whether the Boy Scouts will continue to be allowed to sell Christmas trees from Kendrick Park in future years could be determined by a use policy that will be crafted for Amherst's public parks.

Shaffer told the Select Board Monday that it is vital the town develop a policy for who can use the parks, for how long a period of time and what the terms would be.

"I am very much concerned about having a use of property, not defined by town policy or a very public process of how that land would be used," Shaffer said.

Since this fee on the Boy Scouts was made public, Town Hall has received numerous complaints from residents about unfairly targeting the Boy Scouts.

Former Scoutmaster Bill Hart, who has acted as a liaison between the Scouts and the Kendrick Park Trust, urged Shaffer and the Select Board to come to a policy quickly. If the sale can't be held next year at Kendrick, the Scouts want to know this soon.

"Our need is to find a new place to hold our Christmas tree sale," Hart said.

"We completely understand Mr. Shaffer, that there's a need for a policy, and we hope the town will come up with a policy," Denit said.

Denit said he would like to stay at the park because he believes it benefits the northern part of downtown with activity.

"People like the light it gives to that part of town," Denit said. But if the Scouts can no longer use the park, a few private landowners and business owners have already offered space for the sale to continue.

Shaffer said other organizations could petition the town to use the land in the meantime. "We do need a policy for use of Kendrick Park," Shaffer said. "I'm very much afraid other entities will want to use it."

A committee that Shaffer will appoint is expected to study future uses of the park and could do a lot of the work to set guidelines in the coming weeks.

"I think all of these issues warrant public dialogue, public scrutiny," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said he made it clear to the Boy Scouts this year that, as the town took conveyance of the park from the trust, he didn't want the organization to make an agreement with the executors of the trust to continue the sale indefinitely.

"I wanted to make sure the town was not encumbered in any way for use of the property," Shaffer said. "This is a classic example of traditional use versus potential of future use," Shaffer said.

The fee on the Boy Scouts was intentionally imposed to provide some public benefit to the town for use of public land.

"Little did I know this would become the cause celebre going forward," Shaffer said.

Hart said there are passions about it. "It just touched a nerve, and you've seen quite a response," Hart said.

"We have just been gratified by the outpouring of support for our cause," Hart added.

Ed Cutting, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts affiliated with the campus Republicans, told the Select Board that the town could lose federal grants if it discriminated against the Boy Scouts.

Shaffer said he just wants to reach a conclusion.

"I would love to get a resolution to this," Shaffer said. "I'm very much into building a community, not fracturing a community."