It’s official, Otetiana and Finger Lakes Councils voted unanimously to merge.
AS was reported in the Democrat and Chronicle,
The new council will cover Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates counties.
Leaders of the Finger Lakes Council approved the merger at a meeting at its Geneva headquarters. The Otetiana Council approved the merger at a meeting at its Rochester office.The new combined organization will continue to maintain both offices.
Brother Andrew provided the link.
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“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” –James Madison, Federalist No. 51
What pleases me the most is the decision to use both offices. Now, I want to know the fate of Camp Babcock-Hovey.
Brother Andrew,
This might help: http://www.fingerlakescouncil.org/news.html
“In addition, all programs, camps, and activities will operate as planned in 2009 and there are currently no plans to close any Scout camps. This merger will allow Scouts access to three camps, whereas Otetiana has run two and Finger Lakes oversaw one. The three camps are the 3,600-acre Massawepie Scout Camps in the Adirondacks; the 1,300-acre Cutler Scout Reservation located north of Naples in Ontario County; and the 360-acre Camp Babcock-Hovey located on the east side of Seneca Lake in Seneca County. Each camp offers unique opportunities, including canoe treks from Massawepie; the Babcock-Hovey science and technology camp and the fort, castle, long house, and ships of the Cub Scout Adventure Camp at Cutler.”
A major reason for mergers is to realize cost savings from the consolidation of offices, operations and staff. Being the skeptic, even without knowing the financial positions of these councils, I wonder how long the merged council will continue to operate two fully staffed council offices and three camps.
Don’t be surprised if the smaller office sees significant reductions in staffing and service hours. Also don’t be surprised if at least one of the three camps is sold.
John,
You may well be right, although the merger documents showed the various endowment funds and the percentages to be dedicated to each of the three camps.
However at the least one position will be eliminated as the Council Exec position in Finger Lakes was open and had not been filled.
Dear John,
I suspect Geneva will be made a field office. I know that many geographically larger councils have field offices. Greater St. Louis and Yankee Clipper Councils come to mind. I think this will be the case since the quickest way to Rochester is by toll toad.
Like you, John, I wonder what will happen to the camps. Cutler will remain, I am certain. I am not certain about Babcock-Hovey or Massawepie.
All Camps, offices and staff will remain functioning as is with the exception of filling the position of FLC Council Exec. Several duties now preformed by FLC District executives will be re-assigned to Otetiana Staff (Staff that are already covering those duties for Otetiana) so FLC District Execs can focus more on serving their units in the current FLC which hasn’t been happening as it should for a few years now due to up to 3 committee meetings a week and other activities that have taken the majority of their time. You are correct in that FLC office will become more of a field office but all TP/secretarial staff will remain along with current FLC District Excs. I know that many units will not want to travel up to 2 hours to reach the current Otetiana Council Service Center. While Otetiana and FLC have seen our endowments hit hard by the recent economic turmoil both are still sound and provide enough funds to provide sufficient maintenance at all three camps. You will most likely not see any new structures in any of the camps (With a few exceptions) for the next 3-5 years but a focus on maintaining what we currently have.
I foresee Cutler still being run as a cub camp very similar to what it has been run as in the past, with most of FLC cub programs being rolled over to cutler. Mostly likely there will not be a webelos camp at Camp Babcock Hovey and the renting of Camp Dittmer for 2 weeks for Cub Resident Camp for FLC will seize to exist. FLC cub day camps which are run at various schools and organization may still continue. Camp Babcock Hovey’s program is structured toward Boy Scouts age 10-13 and I see this continuing to an even greater extent. Most likely Camp Babcock Hovey’s aging COPE program will seize to exist, at least the High COPE program. Some elements of the low COPE course may still be utilized and basically the rest of the camp will continue to operate as normal. Efforts to add an additional Cub component to Camp Babcock Hovey have all but been dropped from the long terms plans. Some funds have been raised for a new Ranger’s Shop and an OA building/Museum but I am unsure if either is going to go forward. Camp Massawepie will most likely begin to gear it self to entirely running high adventure treks of shorts but I am unsure of the details and don’t wish to speculate. All three camps are valued at between 2 and 4 million dollars each.
The Lodges are meeting next weekend to talk about a new name and how the lodge leadership is going to work out. This in preperation for some joint activities that Ganeodiyo wants to do at NOAC to promote Lodge unity.