All five members of the Meredith Selectboard said at their Oct. 26 meeting that they oppose developing Camp Menotomy, 95 acres of Meredith Neck with roughly a mile of undeveloped Lake Winnipesaukee shoreline. The decision that actually moved the property toward sale was made on Sept. 2, when Judge Carla A. Salvucci of the Middlesex Probate and Family Court signed a decree ruling that the trustees of the Camp Menotomy Trust have the authority to sell.
That gap between local feeling and legal control is what the camp at 386 Meredith Neck Road is really about. The land's future runs through a deed signed more than six decades ago, a court in another state, and two attorneys general. What happens on Meredith Neck depends on how those three treat a single clause about camping.
The Clause the Whole Case Turns On
The Camp Menotomy Trust is based in Arlington, Massachusetts, and owns the property outright. The Girl Scouts never owned it. They leased it, and according to The Laconia Daily Sun the rent was $1 a year. The paper reports that the deed allows a sale only if the Arlington Girl Scouts or their successors do not want to
"hire the camp grounds for camping purposes, and if no other organization can be found to utilize the site for camping purposes."
YourArlington describes the 1961 trust as set up to keep the property a camp for girls ages 7 to 18. If no Arlington Girl Scout organization exists, the trust lets the trustees rent the land to another camping group and keep the proceeds as "camperships" for Arlington girls. A sale is allowed only after that. GBH News reports that sale money would go back to the Girl Scouts, "any successor organization," or girls living in Arlington.
So the central question is a factual one written into the deed: was there really no other organization willing to run a camp here? The objectors say there was.
How a 1939 Camp Reached a 2026 Appeal
The dates show why the case ended up in a Massachusetts courtroom and not at Meredith's town hall.
- 1939: Camp Menotomy opens as a Girl Scouts camp.
- 1961: The Arlington Girl Scouts create the trust that governs the land.
- 1967 to 2023: The property is leased to the organization overseeing Arlington Girl Scouts, most recently Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts.
- 2020: The camp holds its last season.
- May 9, 2023: Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts notifies the trustees that it is ending the lease.
- Feb. 9, 2024: The property is publicly listed for sale. According to the Meredith Neck and Islands Alliance, a purchase-and-sale contract had already been signed by then, and the listing came down the next day.
- October 2025: The trustees ask the Middlesex Probate and Family Court for permission to sell.
- Sept. 2, 2026: The court authorizes the sale.
- Sept. 14, 2026: Objectors file an appeal.
- Oct. 26, 2026: A packed Meredith Selectboard meeting takes up the issue.
Meredith's town government appears only in the last entry. The trust, the court and the Girl Scouts made every earlier move.
Who Actually Holds a Lever
| Party | Role in the outcome |
|---|---|
| Camp Menotomy Trust | Owns the land and asked the court for permission to sell |
| Middlesex Probate and Family Court | Authorized the $18 million sale on Sept. 2 |
| Massachusetts Attorney General's Office | Told the court it has "exclusive standing" to intervene because it oversees public charities |
| New Hampshire Attorney General's Office | Reviewing the sale, according to Executive Councilor Joe Kenney |
| Objectors, including Eric Carlson and Jessie Trowbridge | Opposed the sale in court; an appeal was filed Sept. 14 |
| Meredith Selectboard | Publicly opposed development; took no formal action Oct. 26 |
The third row matters most. GBH reports that in January, lawyers for the Massachusetts Attorney General argued that Carlson and Trowbridge had no standing in the case, and that only the attorney general's office could intervene on behalf of a public charity. The office told GBH it is taking part in the litigation to make sure camp assets are used according to the terms of the trust. Even the most committed private objectors are working in a forum where a state office claims the main voice.
That explains what happened in Meredith. At the Oct. 26 meeting, attorney Rachel Hampe of McLane Middleton told the board, as reported by The Laconia Daily Sun, "We're hopeful that the New Hampshire Attorney General Office will step in and enforce the charitable purpose of this trust," and urged the selectboard to press that office to act. The main tool offered to the town was persuasion aimed at someone else.
Seven Homes on Land Zoned for More
The buyer's plan points the same way. YourArlington reports the $18 million agreement is with Menotomy Development, a company associated with a Lakes Region residential developer, and calls for seven single-family homes with part of the property left undeveloped. The Daily Sun puts the preserved share at about 25 acres. A May 2026 account said current zoning could allow about 20 house lots.
A proposal for roughly a third of the allowed density leaves the usual local levers, such as lot counts, setbacks and density debates, with little to work on. The objection is to any homes at all on land a deed set aside for camping. That question belongs to trust law and the courts. In a written statement quoted by YourArlington, the buyer described the existing camp structures as "obsolete and physically deteriorating."
What the Selectboard Said, and What It Didn't Do
The Oct. 26 meeting filled every seat, with people standing. Jeanie Forrester said plainly, "I support the camp staying as it is." Mike Pelczar called the lake the town's lifeline and said he was "110% behind this personally, and I'll see what we can do legally on the rest of it." Lynn Leighton matched the 110 percent. Chair Steve Aiken said he lives on Meredith Neck and abuts Page Pond.
Jim Gregoire described the limits most directly: "We should be doing something to keep this camp in place. What that is, I don't know. Whether we can do something stronger than just send a letter to the attorney general, but we need to talk about that."
Forrester's own recap in The Laconia Daily Sun says more than 50 residents asked the board and the New Hampshire attorney general to step in, and the board took no immediate action. Kenney told the room the court's approval "doesn't determine the fate," pointing to the pending appeals and the state's review.
There is also a camping alternative on the table. Eric Carlson, owner of Camp Quinebarge in Moultonborough, made a lease offer for a "for-profit or non-profit residential camp for children," according to the Daily Sun. GBH quoted him saying, "I was very clear that we would use the camp." His offer goes straight to the deed's test of whether any other organization would use the site for camping.
Meredith Has Waited Out a Fight Like This Before
According to The Laconia Daily Sun, Mark Billings, who has served on the Meredith Conservation Commission for about 20 years, told the board it reminded him of Page Pond in 2003, and that the earlier dispute "took years to sort out." Page Pond Community Forest was established in 2009 and is now the town's largest municipal forest and trail network. "Patience is an important characteristic in this," Billings said, and later, "Menotomy is that story, part two."
That precedent is a few minutes from the camp. The Conservation Commission's trail map, last revised in May 2020, lists the Page Pond Loop as a moderate 3.7-mile hike, with trailheads on Quarry Road and access from Barnard Ridge Road and Blueberry Hill Road, where parking is limited. A November walk there shows what six years of patience produced the last time.
Kenney put the stakes in lake-wide terms at the meeting, telling the room, as The Laconia Daily Sun reported, that "90%" of Lake Winnipesaukee is developed and the last 10 percent needs protecting.
Where the Next Decisions Will Come From
The developments that matter will most likely come from outside Meredith:
- The appeal filed Sept. 14 of the Middlesex Probate and Family Court decree.
- The New Hampshire Attorney General's review, which Kenney said will look closely at the original trust language.
- The Massachusetts Attorney General's part in the litigation, which the office describes as making sure assets are used according to the trust.
For primary documents, MerNIA's Camp Menotomy page keeps a dated archive. It includes the deed and trust document, the trustees' October 2025 court memorandum, and the group's letters to the charitable trust units in both states. This post is general information about a public dispute and is not legal advice. Anyone with a personal stake in the trust or the property should talk to their own attorney.
A deed restriction written in 1961 now controls a mile of Winnipesaukee shoreline, and old recorded language can carry that much weight on any lakefront parcel. If you own waterfront, or are weighing a lot whose deed limits how the land can be used, Cisneros Realty Group will go through the recorded restrictions with you before they turn into a surprise. Schedule a Call.
