We agreed to publish NEFF's response to our revelation that there had been a second land swap, in addition to the major one with Kenneth Sydow, at Rocky Pond. This is what we received on the afternoon of August 23, 2002.
Description of Land Trade
New England Forestry Foundation to Aspero
Aspero to New England Forestry Foundation
In April 2000 the New England Forestry Foundation and Ronald Aspero completed a land trade involving property on the Green Street side of New England Forestry Foundation’s Falby Memorial Forest in Boylston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Aspero, an area builder, was in the process of constructing houses, including his own, on Pendell Circle, a cul-de-sac off Green Street. A survey showed that NEFF’s boundary adjacent to Mr. Aspero’s lot had been marked incorrectly. Mr. Aspero proposed a trade of land that would enlarge NEFF’s holding, give the Falby Forest frontage on Green Street and provide a wooded buffer between the housing development and the NEFF property.
NEFF met with Gertrude Falby, the original donor of the property, and explained the proposed trade of land. She approved of the transaction.
The specifics of the trade were as follows:
a) NEFF conveyed 0.88 acres of land to Aspero subject to a deed restriction that eighty percent of the land area remains in a “Restrictive Area” such that no structures could be constructed within the Restrictive Area and that it remain in a natural state except for forestry maintenance.
b) Aspero conveyed to NEFF 3.93 acres of land contiguous with the Falby Memorial Forest that included 343 feet of frontage on Green Street. This land provided NEFF additional access to the forest for educational and management purposes and expanded the total area of the forest by over 3 acres. The property was conveyed with the stipulation that it was for the benefit of NEFF and its invitees and not for use by the general public. Such a stipulation allows NEFF to manage the property and invite the public on the property for educational or other purposes in a controlled manner.
As a result of this transaction, an additional three acres were added to the Falby Memorial Forest for forest conservation and potential access to the forest was improved by the addition of frontage on a public road. The improved access can benefit both land management efforts and the future educational value of the forest.
8/22/02
Here are some comments about the specifics of the deal. The first is that Gertrude Falby denies any such knowledge. The second is that according to the Asperos, who wrote to us after the orginal page was posted, the official beneficiary of the contiguous property purchase (as the deed application showed) was Jeanne Aspero, not the developer Ronald Aspero, though NEFF reveals here that Mr. Aspero proposed and consumated the trade at the time when he was constructing his residence. The official record claims that it was the Asperos' jointly held company R&J Reality, Inc., which sold land to NEFF, not Mr. Aspero himself. We wonder why NEFF did not consult its official contracts before putting out such a loose official statement that does not state accurately the nature of the foundation's transactions with the Asperos -- why they did not refer to Ms. Aspero as the actual buyer and R&J Reality as the actual seller? Foundations, in particular, much be utterly and completely accurate in their public statements. It makes any reader wonder about what they put out. Whether other statements on this case are accurate. And, it does the Asperos no good to have their role described inaccurately, nor for NEFF to portray Mr. Aspero as the key player at all levels of the deal by key partners to the arrangement.
We don't know why NEFF and the Aspero documentation seem to be at odds, though perhaps ( here and elsewhere in Rocky Pond transactions?) the foundation's documentation process and record keeping has been very loose. But at the end of the day it was a developer family that gained a contiguous lot at a very low price (a hundred dollars!) in exchange for land of questionable value to them that does not provide general public access to tracts of conservation land where we have yet to find public access except by water. Indeed, one of the features of this Rocky Pond situation is that extremely valuable local land has been obtained by a developer and another developer's spouse at incredibly low prices in 'swap' arrangements which in our view do not truly, at the end of the day, serve the conservation of the pond and its shoreline, as well as access to land Gertrude Falby intended to be enjoyed by the public. Whether directly or indirectly local developers have gained a great deal from these deals while the donor and local citizens seem out the window. We wonder if the results would have been the same if the process was more open and others could have bid on the original land. If the record keeping could have been better. And, what else on-going research will show.
We have also agreed to have NEFF provide us with a map of the area, which will be published soon.
Click here to read the original NEFF letter on letterhead.