LEXINGTON -- About 90 people attended a public forum Tuesday at Rockbridge County High School hosted by Friends of the Maury, a group staunchly opposed to the Boy Scouts of America's plans to move its national jamboree to Goshen.

Some Rockbridge County officials see the Boy Scouts' proposal as a much-needed boost to economic development, while those opposed to the project fear that the development may compromise the natural beauty and rural character of the area.

Dave Condon, a North Carolina man whose family owned a farm adjacent to the camp site for 130 years, said he is concerned about how crowds would be evacuated if there were a major forest fire or flood in the area, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides.

"It is going to take one incident, gentlemen, and there are people who are going to die," Condon said to the panel. "The motto of the Boy Scouts is 'Be prepared,' but this is one thing I have yet to hear."

Representatives from three state agencies and Rockbridge County participated in the forum Tuesday evening, but no one represented the Boy Scouts on the panel. Friends of the Maury Vice President Jay Gilliam said Isaac Manning of Trinity Works, the site selection consultant for the project, had been invited.

The Boy Scouts have not released specific plans for what the project will include, but Sam Crickenberger, Rockbridge County's director of planning, said it will most likely require a special exemption permit.

"We are all sort of just waiting to see what kind of program will be proposed," he said.

The Boy Scouts announced in February that the Goshen Scout Camp was its top pick out of 80 proposals from 28 states. The Goshen site is owned by the National Capital Area Council of Boy Scouts.

The 10-day national jamboree, typically held every four years, draws more than 240,000 Boy Scouts, volunteers, vendors and visitors.

Under the proposal, the Goshen site also would be home to a year-round National Scouting Center, creating about 80 full-time jobs and an unknown number of part-time positions. The anticipated capital investment is $100 million.

"What we are trying to do is convince the Boy Scouts of America Goshen Pass is an inappropriate place for this development," Gilliam said.

A major concern of Friends of the Maury is the potential impact of treated wastewater polluting the Maury River.

Keith Fowler of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said a "very carefully engineered" wastewater treatment plant would have to be built to accommodate the jamboree crowds. Because of the high volume of visitors in a short period of time, Fowler said there would have to be large holding tanks to allow adequate time to properly treat the wastewater before releasing it downstream.

"Wastewater treatment and disposal will probably be set up to take a much longer time for processing and discharge," he said.

He estimated the volume of wastewater could be as much as 3 million gallons per day for a crowd of 240,000 visitors.

A concern that was not addressed Tuesday evening was the safety of the dam at Lake Merriweather, which is located on the camp's grounds. Earlier this month, Gary Waugh of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation said the dam has been operating under a conditional permit since 2005 because of a deficiency: The spillway of the dam, which was built in 1996, is not of adequate size. As a result, it has been designated as a high-hazard dam.

"If there was a failure, there would likely be loss of life and substantial property downstream," Waugh said.

Several members of the audience raised questions about traffic on Virginia 39, but moderator Catherine Gilliam of Friends of the Maury withheld those questions in the absence of a representative from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Another forum is slated for May. In the meantime, Friends of the Maury President Linda Larsen said the group will continue gathering information and disseminating it to the public.

"I am sure the hotels would do well and restaurants wouldn't hurt," Jay Gilliam said. "What I am concerned about is what the average taxpayer in Rockbridge County would pay for subsidizing this thing."

On the Net: www.savegoshenpass.com