Cayuga County and Hiawatha Seaway Council Merger Update

Brother Andrew, passed along this update on the proposed merger of Cayuga County Council and Hiawatha Seaway Council which I had previously written about.
Cayuga County Boy Scouts close to merger

The Cayuga County Council of the Boy Scouts of America may be merging with a council in a neighboring county.

The board of directors and its chartered members, representatives from the various local sponsors, will vote Wednesday on a measure that will merge the council with the Hiawatha Seaway Council, which currently serves the counties of Jefferson, Lewis, Onondaga, Oswego and St. Lawrence.

….

If the Cayuga County Council votes in favor, the merger will be effective immediately, Avery said. While the transition would occur during the summer months, “in the eyes of the scouts it will be seamless because their programs will continue,” he said.

However it appears emotions ran high at the meeting and the merger may not be as cut and dry as some thought.

A proposal to merge the Cayuga County Council of Boy Scouts with the Hiawatha Council in Onondaga County was tabled at a special meeting Wednesday night.
“It was very emotional,” said Steven Smith, director of the Northeast Area, in charge of this area for the National Council for Boy Scouts. “They were looking for a more thorough process and had more questions.”

Smith said more than 30 of the council’s 42 members at the meeting passed the resolution to table with a simple majority. Bylaws only require 10 percent of the board to be present for a quorum. To pass the merger resolution, a two-thirds majority of those present is required.

“One of the huge issues is very little communication,” he said.

The Cayuga Council will go back to the national organization to ask for more time.

While no date was set for another special meeting, the board meets every other month. It will likely take at least a month, possibly three, before the issue is resolved, Smith said.

Cayuga County Council’s charter with the national council is up at the end of June. Smith said he was told the charter will not be renewed in the event the council rejects the merger.

More information as it becomes available.

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“Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” –James Madison

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7 thoughts on “Cayuga County and Hiawatha Seaway Council Merger Update

  1. I think the last part is the more interesting part. I still think FLC and CCC should have merged first, but I now say that either CCC merges and becomes a district with HS or it will be swallowed up without their say-so. By now, we should know something, yes?

  2. Brother Andrew,

    Doesn’t seem to be anything else on the Citizen or Post Standard web sites. And the Hiawatha-Seaway Council web site is silent as well.

  3. It is goodbye to the small councils in NY….First Adirondack then Finger Lakes and now Cayuga…..

  4. Dear Greg,

    I think small councils in NY have been on their way out for years. Let’s not forget Herkimer Council and Land of the Oneidas, Seaway Valley, Mohican (which I wished merged with Adirondack earlier; I think that might have survived merging into Albany until later.)…. As one of the last Eagle Scouts of Genesee Council (which got to its 75th anniversary before merging) and one of the first Vigils of Ashokwahta 339 (a result of a merger from Genesee Council and another), I do feel that is the case.

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