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	Church Puts Summer Camp up for Sale By Kevin O'Connor Times Argus [Vermont] May 25, 2006 http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060525/NEWS/605250339/1002/EDUCATION05 Looking to relive childhood memories of camp? Sprawl out on 18.25 acres with 565 feet of Lake Champlain shoreline? Vermont's Catholic Church has the answer to your prayers. For a minimum bid of $2.75 million, you can buy Camp Tara, a half-century-old Colchester landmark in the breeze of Malletts Bay. The statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington is trying to pay off more than $1 million in debt, compounded last month by a record $965,000 settlement in the first of 20 priest misconduct lawsuits against it. But the sale of the historic camp is separate and unrelated, church officials say. Vermont Catholic Charities, official owner of the property, hopes to sell it next month to help fund its ongoing social programs, according to a 51-page prospectus released Wednesday. Vermont Catholic Charities acquired the camp in 1958 and operated it each summer until merging and moving its programs to the nearby diocesan-owned Camp Holy Cross in 2003. Camp Tara, assessed recently at $803,600, has enjoyed the church's tax-exempt status. Based on a nonresidential tax rate of 2.1 percent, a private owner would pay $17,048 in annual property taxes. The camp features an $85,880 staff house, $85,880 infirmary, $56,500 director's house, $49,720 chapel, $44,070 shower building, three $38,000 sleeping cabins, a $27,120 arts and crafts building, $24,860 garage and an $11,300 storage shed, according to a 2004 insurance appraisal. "Sellers shall leave the premises 'broom clean,'" a church contract promises. The camp also boasts municipal water, a 1,500 gallon-a-day septic system and "beautiful sandy beach with northwestern views," the prospectus proclaims. Still not enough? "FUTURE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL," the prospectus adds.Mary McNamara, executive director of Vermont Catholic Charities, wasn't available for comment Wednesday. But according to the diocese's Web site, she'll accept sealed bids on the camp until June 23, at which time her organization will decide which to accept. The diocese, which oversees Vermont Catholic Charities, started this fiscal year with a $127,947 deficit and saw that figure balloon tenfold when it took out a loan last month to cover the $965,000 settlement. Even though Bishop Salvatore Matano said last week "our next financial report will be far more precarious than the present one," officials stressed Wednesday the camp sale was part of an unconnected plan adopted almost four years ago to consolidate camp properties and programs. "The money's going to be used for Vermont Catholic Charities," diocesan spokeswoman Gloria Gibson said. "It's their property." Contact Kevin O'Connor at kevin.oconnor@rutlandherald.com.
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