[Ed. note: Ellen Burns, president of the Ridgefield Open Space Association (ROSA), has made public her exchange of correspondence with the IBM Corporation over the circumstances surrounding IBM's sale of the Bennetts Pond Property to the developer Eureka V LLC. We are indebted to Ms. Burns for putting this important information in the public domain. She sent the letter below to The Ridgefield Press, and to Rudy Marconi and Abe Morelli, 1999 candidates for First Selectman, explaining the background of her investigation and the correspondance which she subsequenly developed. We have added hyperlinks to the correspondence she references throughout the letter.]
Ellen S. Burns
297 Great Hill Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Phone: (203) 431-3796 Fax (203) 431-4667
email: EBurns@mags.net
September 20, 1999
Mr. Abraham Morelli
First Selectman
Town of Ridgefield
400 Main St.
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Mr. Rudy Marconi
36 Fulling Mill Lane
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Mr. Macklin Reid
The Ridgefield Press
P. O. Box 1019
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Gentlemen:
As you know, there is continuing interest and concern on the part of the citizens of Ridgefield regarding the circumstances surrounding the February, 1998 sale of the 680 acre parcel now known as the Bennetts Pond property.
In early 1998, as soon as I learned that IBM had sold the property to Eureka V. LLC for only $7.9 million, I launched an investigation of the events leading up to the town's failure to purchase this property at an obviously bargain price. It was well known that some discussions regarding the land had been held between town officials and IBM representatives, and that both the Conservation Commission and the Planning & Zoning Commission were in favor of acquiring the property.
Based upon this investigation, Mack Reid and I co-wrote an article which appeared in the August 20, 1998 edition of the Ridgefield press (copy enclosed). The article covers much of the information we learned from public records, various town officials, local builders who had also been interested in the property, as well as from representatives of IBM. Even after this fact-gathering effort, questions remained as to why IBM chose to sell the property to Eureka for $4 million less than Sue Manning has publicly indicated she offered for the property on behalf of the town. As a result, on December 29, 1998 I wrote to IBM Chairman Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. To make the circumstances of this sale known to him in the hope that he would be able to shed some light on why the town's offer was rejected and the property sold to Eureka V LLC for only $7.9 million.
I received a response from IBM on January 7, 1999 from Alan R. Wolfert, Associate Counsel of IBM Real Estate Services acknowledging receipt of my letter to Mr. Gerstner, and a second letter on January 19 describing the results of his internal investigation into the transaction. I then requested clarification of his response, and received a final letter from Mr. Wolfert on February 24, 1999. I have enclosed copies of all of these letters in this package for your consideration.
I previously sent a copy of the January 19 IBM letter to former First Selectman Sue Manning, who responded to me via a telephone call that, in her view, nothing contained in the IBM letter contradicted her public statements regarding the town's efforts to buy the property. I requested that she provide me with any correspondence or notes which would document her $12 million offer to IBM, but she indicated that none exist.
This year's First Selectman candidates were both members of the Board of Selectmen during the period of time when Sue Manning has indicated she was in contact with IBM representatives to discuss a possible purchase (1996), and as a result were present during Board executive sessions on the subject. In terms of public documentation, the only reference to the proposed purchase I could locate in minutes of public meetings were from a Board of Selectman meeting on May 8, 1996 and joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and Planning & Zoning on June 4, 1996. I have also enclosed a copy of these minutes for your review. Approximately 10 of my neighbors and I had planned to attend the June 4 meeting because the subject of the purchase of the IBM property was on the agenda for discussion. However, we did not stay for the meeting because we were told just prior to the start of the meeting that the item was no longer on the agenda. The minutes document that some discussion did in fact take place.
I have not made the information I obtained from IBM public until now because the focus of my efforts since January of this year have been in organizing the opposition to Eureka's requested zone change and change in regulations through the Ridgefield Open Space Association. However, due to the continuing questions raised by Ridgefield residents, I felt it was appropriate to make the information public. My only interest in doing so is to get at the truth of what took place. I hope this information will stimulate discussion regarding this tragic occurrence so that the facts surrounding the town's failure to purchase the property will be made public. In the interest of fairness, I have chosen to provide the enclosed information both candidates for First Selectman as well as to the Ridgefield Press.
Very truly yours,
Ellen S. Burns
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