Eagle1993

USC has a $5B endowment. They can pay this without bankruptcy or selling buildings and firing anyone. I think that is the big difference. BSA has made large payouts in the past $19.9M to a single victim. I think the current situation has more to do with the mass claims and limited assets instead of who the actual victims are.

I think the $300M comes down to ... restricted vs non restricted assets and which councils are contributing. In terms of restricted vs non restricted ... I would think the mediator should be able to help. Are the assets councils consider "restricted" truly restricted. For example, Three Fires Council indicated ~$3M of restricted assets. Does the TCC in their review agree and if not, that should go to mediation. Now multiply by 200 - 300 councils. The few councils I have heard from, are indicating they are providing nearly all of their "unrestricted assets". So the other question I would have is ... which councils are not participating. There could be a fair number that are not and if their assets are high, that could end up scuttling the settlement. I have no idea of $300M is far off anymore. My initial hunch was it seemed very low ... but now that I see a great camp being sold just to meet the $300M commitment I begin to wonder. I also know BSA has been selling camps for a decade plus and have seen major donors drop off. Perhaps each council is in financial stress and all that is left is a bunch of camps, already mortgaged and or donor restricted that are left.

I wonder if the tides turn on this as Boy Scout camps are sold and then clear cut. Local news interviewing young scouts about their sold camp, followed by loggers clear cutting old growth pine forests make an emotional appeal and will be grabbed quickly by Republicans as an example of “cancel culture” stopping legislation. I don’t know which way this goes... is the story Larry Nasser/organizational negligence or loss of current youth activities over generation old claims and tort big business. It could go either way. The question is if LCs from closed states are willing to take a bet.

Very little is being shared; however, my understanding is that there are a very low number of individuals in each council under NDA who know the plans. I doubt LCs would pull in their COs. Perhaps National is in talks with larger COs, I doubt this is occurring at the LC level.

To add an example from one council.

There seems to be three big questions that must be answered in the March mediation. What will be the National, LC and CO contributions to the fund. I think the insurance aspect cannot be covered until the estimates are complete for District Court. In terms of National, it’s pretty simple. Are the four HA based restricted assets. To me, it should simple be a matter of law. Are there clear deed/donor restrictions, does the JP Morgan debt take precedent on the claim and is Arrow WV separate. I expect the mediator should be able to help here and by simple I mean relative to the next to. LCs ... while very little is shared, due to NDAs, from digging through Facebook, a council presentation and Reddit comments it appears the $300M is nearly all the unrestricted assets from many councils. The questions I have... is that all councils or just councils at risk to further litigation. Also, how valid are the restrictions. This will be tougher to move as it involves either pulling in councils that might not be at risk of much litigation (for example from limited SOL states) or restricted assets. The Ad Hoc committee better be ready with a final number. At a certain point they may be better off walking away and allowing individual lawsuits. COs.... dead silence. I don’t see CO protection as part of the settlement. I just don’t see any COs feeling much risk. Just a hunch but we haven’t seen anything from them so far so I’d be surprised if we see movement. They may be better off not contributing and simply saying this is a BSA issue. I guess I don’t have much hope for mediation outside National BSA’s contribution. You might see some minor movements in LCs. I was surprised the $300M was so low, but for the council that I am close to it meant selling their best camp property. If it is already coming to that at $300M I would be shocked there is a ton of unrestricted assets out there. This might just be a council by council legal fight going forward. We will see...

Send other reps from the TCC. I hope the judge denies the motion. I’m ok if they meet somewhere else, but it should be in person.

Based on what I am hearing, the $300M of LC assets are nearly 100% of unrestricted assets at LCs. Payment is expected from LCs this year so watch for a surge of camp sales.

Offer was made and accepted for CFL - $2.0M. Property will be leased back for 2021 summer camp.

Perhaps, but I would say 90% of the 5th grade scouts started as 1st graders. We advertise to every grade each year and rarely get new 2nd - 5th grade scouts. Like I said, there is a chance this could work. On the other hand, starting at Wolf might mean you have a lot of 2nd graders who will never be scouts that would have been scouts if you had a K5 or 1st grade program. It may be a good idea for BSA to encourage at some Packs who have shown a history of attrition either within the Cub program or greater than expected between Cub/Scouts BSA. Also, since I know they will never completely end Lions or Tigers it may be interesting to see if they look at the UK structure where they break up the younger scouts a bit more.

Parents these days seem to select programs early. If BSA doesn’t have an offering for K5 and 1st graders they may never sign up. There is a lot more competition between youth programs now. That said, burn out is real. I wonder if there is a different solution. Perhaps Lions and Tigers are not part of a pack. They are stand alone programs between the District and parents. Low key, low cost and a way for the Pack to get a list of names and parents for the Wolf Scout Den. Tough decision as I see both sides of the coin on this one.

“has had an unforeseen and pronounced negative effect on the Debtors’ operations, including an 81% membership recruitment decline in 2020 attributable to school closures and social distancing measures.”

We are avoiding any communication to our parents yet, other than telling scouts this will be the last year to go to CFL for summer camp. I think I may know more by late April. If that hearing goes south and it looks dire, I'll probably raise the alarm with my life scouts. More like a ... hey, just in case ... you probably want to finish off your 6 Eagle Required partial merit badges you have been sitting on and go ahead and get that project we have been discussing approved.

My father-in-law went through mediation on a real estate sale. Yes, much, much smaller .. but still. Similar experience. After mediation closed, the mediator basically told the other side ... you will lose if this goes to trail. They closed on an agreement quickly after that. Mediators can tell either side when they are over the rails. I think if BSA & TCC walk out of the room with a deal, the councils & claimants will fall into line. Councils will be told that if the deal falls through, National will liquidate and essentially councils funds will all go to legal fees. They won't have a choice. TCC will recommend approval. Even if 55% approval, the judge can simply say she approves the deal. She doesn't need 66% approval from the claimants. If she sees TCC on board AND the majority of claimants and only 1 or two lawyers are crowing ... I expect she approves. Get the TCC & BSA in a room. Perhaps it is a week with a strong mediator. Work it out. Burning $10M in cash a month doesn't help anyone.

Key will be October/November numbers. Can Cub Scouting rebound post Covid? I think it will.

They lowered the age limit for many power tools. I’ll give a thumbs up as I see this as a move in the right direction!

My one frustration is that the judge doesn’t seem to make many rulings. For example on discovery, she seemed to like the idea but deferred to District Court and that process. When will she officially decide on the HA based or councils as separate entities. Outside of a stern message, what legal pressure is on the groups to reach a settlement? What can she do to force a tight timeline and is she doing it?

Yes. Regions and areas would be replaced.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/local-boy-scouts-councils-agree-to-cooperate-on-abuse-victims-probe-11616017053 "Under a pact approved Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., lawsuits can be filed against the local councils that hold the bulk of the Boy Scouts wealth, but the litigation won’t progress until mid-July. The trade off is that survivors’ lawyers will receive detailed roster data needed to identify local councils and other organizations that chartered individual troops where the sexual abuse took place."

Any surveyor stakes?

Not sure if this has been sent out previously. Looks like just a proposal. 2125723974_BSAChurchillPlan-ProposedNewTerritoryStructureandCouncilStandardspresentation10.6.20.pdf

I would also add, that while technically they need 66% ... if the TCC supports the deal and 52% of the claimants, I could see the judge accepting the deal. From the TCC townhall, they talked that no judge approve a deal over the objections of the sex abuse survivors. They didn't necessarily the 66% approval. I bet when the TCC approves, they will get close to the 66% and the Judge will approve. No deal will be done until the TCC approves, so just focus on that for now.

I will say, from my experience, Wisconsin scout property typically sells to logging companies. They'll go through and remove most of the trees then possibly lease the land for farming. Its pretty far from populations and the lake is very small ... so not a ton of value of water frontage in this case.

Single. CFL is essentially the property pictured below. In Wisconsin, you cannot technically own lakes, but they own the property around the entire lake. The claim is that it is the 2nd cleanest lake in Wisconsin. I have no idea what the property will sell for ... my guess its outside my price range.

To me, this makes a ton of sense. I love private lake camps ... but if the balance is no camp or sharing a lake, I'd go for a shared lake. Most of the time, scouts do not need the entire shoreline. We need a waterfront to swim & and boat launch area. I hope some councils consider this option as it could net a large portion of the camps value while still maintaining a local summer camp.