Neil and Anna Rasmussen

393 Estabrook Rd, Concord MA 01742

11/10/2020

Dear Town Manager Crane and Concord Select Board,

The Town’s Counsel has been harassing us about signs on our property and about our video security and
surveillance systems. I would like to explain why this is outrageous and ask you to instruct your counsel
to stop harassing us and assaulting our civil rights.

Your counsel has complained to us that members of the public assume some kind of right of privacy
while on our property -- and are upset if their scofflaw behavior is recorded. From a legal perspective,
this is absurd. Members of the public are not entitled to privacy on our property. The problem is this:
that the Town has continued to cause people to believe that our private property is Town land that they
are entitled to use.

This is why we have found it necessary to inform people that they are on private land, and why we must
post signs saying “There is no Town land on or along this trail.” and “You are entering private land.” By
providing this information, we try to make visitors aware that they are entering private property and
should act accordingly.

Your counsel has written us that such signage is causing confusion among the public and demanded that
we take it down. However, making people aware that they are entering private property is intended to
reduce confusion. People can only be confused by a sign stating a fact if they have a mistaken
understanding of the facts. These informational signs have been posted in response to the many visitors
who are confused and express their incorrect belief that the Estabrook Woods is Town Conservation
Land. Such incorrect beliefs are vocally expressed by people we encounter on our property, and they
are expressed in letters to the paper as well as on social media postings; such incorrect beliefs have led
to aggressive behavior, vandalism, threats, and trespassing.

There can be no doubt that the signs we post are factually accurate, and in agreement with the Town’s
own statements. For example, the Town of Concord on Oct 1, 2018 issued a public statement that said:

“The Town makes absolutely no claim of ownership of the Trail,” and “The Town is in no way
making any claim on the abutting private lands.”

The Concord Journal subsequently reported on Dec 4, 2018 that:

“Originally Town Manager Whelan had said he believed the trail was public land, but has since
walked that claim back, having received confirmation from town counsel that the trail is on
private land.”

While the Town’s counsel demands that we stop posting signs with facts on them, we note that other
old ways in Concord that were discontinued using the exact same process as Estabrook Trail was
discontinued are variously gated, obstructed by fences, built-over, and posted “no trespassing;” and the
Town has not harassed any of those owners. In fact, the Town itself has posted and gated closed two
 Neil and Anna Rasmussen
393 Estabrook Rd, Concord MA 01742

such old discontinued ways in Concord, preventing their public use at all 1. Your harassment of us is
hypocritical, unethical, and inequitable.

I would like to also make you aware of the background of the video surveillance on our property. Such
surveillance was originally proposed during the Estabrook Woods Access Committee as a tool for
gathering data about users, cars, bikes, and dogs, since nobody had any data about use patterns. The
first cameras were installed in response to that suggestion in March of 2016. In fact, we have been
recording and tabulating this data continuously now for over four years.

When the Town’s behavior began to incite vandalism against us, and we required significant police
intervention, it was the police that suggested to us the installation of additional cameras in order to
assist in the identification of vandals and trespassers, who turned out not to be the expected teens, but
rather were primarily aggressive adult off leash dog walkers who were Concord citizens. In fact, the
cameras have led to the identification of a number of vandals, trespassers, thieves, and people violating
the posted rules. It is true that we have also caught people urinating and defecating on our property,
which is not our intent but nevertheless is recording inappropriate and illegal behavior on private
property.

The confusion that causes people to believe they are on public land when on private property is a
problem entirely of the Town’s making. While the Town has made a few weak attempts to clarify this
issue, it has not been enough to overcome the Town’s long standing messaging on this issue such as
misleadingly describing the Woods as “Concord’s Open Space” and by creating and distributing flyers
and maps that suggest the Woods and our lands are a Town resource. Just a few days ago we learned
that the visitor’s center was still handing out brochures that suggest our land is public land and that our
house is a site to visit. We remain disappointed that the Town has not taken steps to correct the
ongoing public misperception that it has created regarding our property.

Nevertheless, it has always been our desire to be honest and open. We have tried to help people
understand the Woods and its history better on the site www.estabrookcouncil.org . We have tried to
help people understand the ownership and conflicts regarding the woods on the site
www.estabrookfacts.org . To make visitors aware of video surveillance, we will add a notice to that
effect on future updates to signs we place in the woods regarding ownership and rules.

It is unfortunate that we need to install gates, post signs reminding people that our land is private, and
deploy security systems to monitor problems on our land. We hold the Town completely responsible for
this, by making the unprecedented decision to throw away a history of public-private partnerships and
treat us like criminals instead of partners when we asked for help after our land became virally
promoted as a dog park. When we made the decision to open our land to the public about 30 years ago
it was a source of joy to share with our Concord neighbors. Unfortunately, many of those friends and
neighbors have passed on and been replaced with aggressive, entitled, and rude people. No sane
landowner in Concord should ever again trust this Town as a partner.

Neil Rasmussen

1 We have on a number of occasions offered to take the Select Board on a visit to the three other identically discontinued roads
in Concord, which we believe the Select Board would find informative; to date we have received no response; that invitation
remains open.