MADELIA - More than $3 million could be made from the sale of Camp Cuyuna in Crosslake - money much needed by the debt-ridden Boy Scouts Twin Valley Council.

Chuck McMahon, park ranger at Camp Cuyuna in Crosslake, helped facilitate the Boy Scouts Twin Valley Council meeting Sunday afternoon in Madelia. The Council Executive Board may sell 163 acres of Camp Cuyuna to pay its $800,000 debt from the construction of the Center for Scouting in Mankato. Council members looked at a variety of ways to solve the debt crisis.

The council is in debt about $800,000 after building the Center for Scouting in Mankato two years ago before fund-raising was completed. The $3 million capital campaign fell short, which means the scouts have one of the nicest Scout centers in Boy Scouts America but no money to support camp programming or improve camp facilities.

How to deal with the debt - especially concerning the sale of part or all of Camp Cuyuna - is a highly debated issue. That's why dozens of council members, Scout supporters and Camp Cuyuna alumni attended the Twin Valley Council meeting in Madelia Sunday afternoon. A facilitator from the Blandin Foundation was brought in to keep order.

"It could be a (gripe) session," said facilitator Tom Hollatz. "But they're not here to ask 'Why did you build (the center)?' That would be fruitless."

Chuck McMahon, park ranger at Camp Cuyuna, said the purpose of Sunday's meeting was to discuss a variety of ways to remedy the debt situation and bring their conclusions to Twin Valley Council Executive Board.

"I think we can make a huge difference," McMahon said. "(We're) advancing ideas that can be taken to the council."

In a phone interview Friday, Paul Wilkinson, council executive director, said the council has "set a course" to go ahead with the sale of a 163-acre portion of Camp Cuyuna used for family camping valued at $1 million. But he said the council board is still open to suggestions.

Camp Cuyuna Alumni Association members said they're concerned that the council has tabled the idea of selling the entire camp. The CCAA is asking the council for a "call to action" to protect the future of Camp Cuyuna.

"Would we be happy to see 163 acres of the camp gone? No," said Doug Raney, CCAA president. "But we are not entirely opposed if it helps pay down the debt. ... We are opposed to closing the camp."

Many council members agree that selling the camp would be the easiest way to settle the council's debt, establish an endowment fund and gain the money needed to make improvements at the council's other camps, Norseland near New Sweden Township and Cedar Point near Fairmont.

About $335,000 in upgrades are needed at Camp Cuyuna, $178,800 is needed at Norseland and $178,000 is needed at Cedar Point.

Sunday the council discussed various ways to solve the debt crisis, including fund-raising campaigns, applying for grants and recruiting scouts. In the past five years Cub Scout enrollment decreased 23 percent and Boy Scout enrollment decreased 11 percent. And fewer Scouts mean fewer boys to raise funds.

"We're losing people because the first thing they see is cruddy facilities," Wilkinson told The Free Press in September.

Wilkinson said many Twin Valley Council Boy Scouts may not like the partial sale of Camp Cuyuna, but they understand and support it. He said some Camp Cuyuna Alumni members don't understand the debt situation and that the council has to do something to deal with it.

Raney said he believes there are alternative ways to settle the debt. He said he attended Sunday's meeting to support the council and share his ideas.

"The council is trying to do the best it can do. We understand that difficult decisions have to be made," Raney said. "We're here to support the council and get information and present information about the camp."