Scouts looking to sell off some of the Dipolder property

Crowd sends message to Scout hierarchy: Don?t sell the land
suncoastnews.com/news/crowd-sends-message-to-scout-hierarchy-don-t-sell-the-land/article_25ade6f8-7758-11ef- 90c4-37b47db6ca78.html
By VINCENT F. SAFUTO, Hernando Today September 23, 2024
SPRING HILL ? Roman Williams of Spring Lake is about to become a Boy Scout after four years as a Cub Scout, and has attended numerous events at the Sand Hill Boy Scout Reservation.
The 11-year-old is worried about the camp and the animals that live there because a sale and development of some of the land could displace them onto the roads and into the backyards of homes, he said.
?I don?t think they need to sell it,? he said. ?They said they needed to update the bathrooms, but I think the bathrooms are perfectly fine.?
Jessica Sturgis said it is one thing to sell the land to fund improvements here, but using the money to fund a dining hall in another county is ?despicable? and dishonoring the tremendous gift they were given.
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They could use other assets. ?They don?t need to take from here to fund other counties,? she said.
A vocal crowd gathered at the entrance of the Sand Hill Boy Scout Reservation on Sept. 15 with a message to Scout leaders not to sell any part of the land, but rather to obey the will of Larry DiePolder, who wanted the land to be free of development.
DiePolder?s will wanted his 1,300 acres to be used by the Boy Scouts forever, but a recent court action could allow the sale, according to a recent story in the Tampa Bay Times.
Scout officials have said they want to sell 50 acres to the Withlocoochee Rural Electrical Cooperative for a headquarters building and 450 acres for commercial and residential development.
The money from the sales would go for improvements to regional Boy Scout facilities, including a dining hall in Odessa and bathrooms at Sand Hill.
?I?m out here to protest the potential sale of property from the Scouts,? Eric Cupps said. ?This land was donated to the Scouts by Mr. Larry DiePolder and now they want to turn around and make a profit off of it, and his will specifically says the land?s not for sale.?
It?s unfortunate, he said, because the judgment wasn?t in the best interest ?and the judge decided what he decided, and unfortunately that?s the way it is.?
?The Scouts have an opportunity to make things right and to uphold the will of Mr. DiePolder,? Cupps said.
He said it?s his belief that they are selling the land to fund projects at other locations, including a $10 million dining hall at Camp Brorein in Odessa.
They should fund improvements through capital projects funds, he said, not the sale of land.
Cupps has been in Scouting for a long time, he was an Eagle Scout in this council and has been coming to the camps at Sand Hill since the early 1990s.
?I?m still registered today until they kick me out.?
Blocked entrance
Beyond the entrance, Boy Scout officials set up two pickup trucks to guard the road, and rejected all attempts to interact with them, advising citizens and the news media who approached to stay away from the private property and refusing to be interviewed.
In addition to TV and print media, local internet and TikTok presenters were on hand. There was no response to an email request to Scout Executive Mike Butler for comment.
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Among the dignitaries in the crowd were County Commissioner-elect Ryan Amsler and County Commission candidate Luciano Vignali.
Both men said they were there to show support for those opposed to the sale of any of the land.
Sign-carrying residents gathered on the sidewalk and the grassy verge as motorists driving past on Cortez Boulevard sometimes blew their vehicles? horns as a show of support.
Several people interviewed said they are tired of seeing all the development in Hernando County, and the planned development on a piece of land they expected to be kept pristine in perpetuity because of DiePolder?s will has people frustrated.
?Sweet deal?
Lori Scott of Spring Hill said her son has been a Scout since he was 6 years old and has been a Scout leader in Colorado and Arizona.
She said she thinks something is going on beneath the surface.
?What this county is doing to all of our land, and just taking over things like it doesn?t matter. It does matter. There?s eagles? nests in here. There are gopher tortoise nests, there are coyote dens, there are fox dens, and the Scouts need a place to be Scouts,? she said. ?Our County Commissioners went to them, I guarantee you, and made them a sweet deal. And now here we are.?
In fact, nothing has come before the County Commission yet regarding the land.
Several older men said that in their youth they had attended programs at Sand Hill, and some had continued as Scout leaders helping the next generation of youths learn important outdoor skills and values such as teamwork, respect for the environment and the value of ?roughing it? in the outdoors.
General frustration
There has already been a lot of fiery rhetoric in Hernando County over growth and development, with the recent arrests of two people at a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting that turned so raucous that Chairman Nicholas Holmes had to push the panic button to summon deputies to the chambers.
?The whole county?s blowing up and they?re building probably faster than they should be,? said resident Steven Marford.
DiePolder?s will has to be honored, several people said, and the will of the people should take precedence when it comes to the last bits of wild land in Spring Hill.
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?We need to stop the development for one, but the biggest, most important thing is this man had a will that was very specific in what he wanted, and we need to honor his will regardless of what the government did,? Aja Moore said. ?His will was ?iron-clad.??
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haha "She said she thinks something is going on beneath the surface." Seriously though... how do we keep track of what is happening here?