Here is an outline sent to us which provides background on a deal which, if made by Gertrude Falby, would probably have earned her enough money to live in a magnificent Boston waterfront condo, where she could watch conservation at work, not conservation that unworks! It is derived from Boylston Planning Board minutes, publicly available deeds, and original language on the NEFF website (now somewhat modified). In the small Iowa town where the editor once lived the boys at the bar would say that "somebody got snookered big time..and it's time to let the sucker go." Editorial commentary is in red.
 

October 05, 1998 (prior to the swap)

Ken & Betty Sydow, Rocky Pond  came before the board to informally discuss their plans to purchase some land adjacent to Rocky Pond and to swap that parcel with a preservation group for another parcel on the Pond which is currently owned by the preservation group. Their basic question was what building development could be done on the acquired property which is accessed by a private road and which currently has about 6 cottages on it which are thought to be non-conforming to current zoning. The Board suggested the Sydow's would have to develop a plan for the parcel which the board could review. Eventually the Sydows did develop a plan that the board could review. Unfortunately it required between 14 and 19 waivers, depending on how you count them. Any plan that needs that many waivers is obviously not suitable for a subdivision. But the PB saw fit to give all the waivers as they furthered the Sydows agenda instead of upholding strictly the Rules and Regulations for subdivisions in the Town of Boylston.

October 19, 1998

The Sydows bought 47  landlocked acres from Mr. Richardson of Shrewsbury for $125,000. We want to know what NEFF knew about this 'landlocked' parcel. Were they under the impression that it would soon be developed? Certainly, we have found no evidence that there were any plans to do so. What were they told by the developer? Were they 'snookered' here? Or where they jointly planning with Mr. Sydow at a time when they could have been seeking other buyers (we believe there was some interest) for the land? In other words, why was NEFF engaged in discussions with Mr. Sydow BEFORE he actually purchased the land if there was no evidence (eg. nothing mentioned to the Planning Board) of another developer?

February 1999

Mr. Sydow swapped the 48 acres he purchased from Mr. Richardson for the almost 20 acres given by Gertrude Falby in 1982 for conservation to the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) NEFF allowed Mr. Sydow to erect 10 structures on the property which would have had no structures when the leases for the 6 cottages were up in 10 years. Were these the only options for the developer to recoup his investment? Why so easily change the prospects for the waterfront sites when other acreage off the lake was included? Why let this land be turned into just another suburban development, the likes of which have destroyed so many ponds in Central Massachusetts? The developer can laugh all the way to the bank at NEFF's expense, at the expense of Rocky Pond and its residents....and who's to stop even further development given the ease with which waivers have been obtained for virtually anything the developer wants to do? Where was NEFF's oversight during the waiver process? What happened to its guidelines?

Fall 1999

From the New England Forestry Foundation's 'New Growth' page on their website: "The Kenneth G. Sydow Family of Boylston, Massachusetts has enabled the completion of an important link in NEFF's Falby Forest, which consists of 167 acres around Rocky Pond.  Mr. Sydow acted quickly to secure a purchase and sale agreement from the Richardson family to purchase the 48 acres along the east side of Rocky Pond that separates the two parts of the Falby Forest." Why did NEFF use the words "acted quickly" when records show Mr. Sydow had been talking to NEFF back in 1998  about the land deal they finally cut in 1999 -- well over a year later? The land was landlocked and there were no developers interested in the 48 acres. This just doesn't add up, particularly when there is absolutely no evidence of any need to move quickly. Did NEFF think that development where there was currently 'development' was better than where there was none? Did Mr. Sydow suggest he was going to develop the Richardson land? Did the right NEFF hand know what the left NEFF hand was doing? Or does it just practice a loose form of editorial license?

April 4, 2000

New England Forestry Foundation sold almost one acre of land donated by Ms Falby for conservation. They sold the land for less than $100 to another developer, Mr. Ron Aspero, and now that it is in private hands it is not open to the public, which was Ms. Falby's intent. Our understanding is that Ms. Falby's permission was not sought or was told by NEFF that they had sold more of her property to another developer. Nor is it posted on the NEFF website, leaving it to us to shine the light of day. We wonder what else is going on around this deal?