Save Fort Rock trails derailed: Family halts plan to sell 148 acres to Exeter, Newfields

EXETER — A campaign to conserve 148 acres of woodlands on the Exeter-Newfields town line has been “formally paused” due to a boundary dispute between landowners and the town of Exeter.

The Trust for Public Land and the Southeast Land Trust of NH have been working with Exeter and Newfields to purchase the property, which includes 12 miles of the Fort Rock Trail system, from the Rugg Family for nearly $5.2 million.

Newfields voters had approved spending $3.7 million at the March Town Meeting to purchase the Newfields portion of the land, which accounts for 101 of the total 148 acres. Exeter voters overwhelmingly expressed interest in buying the remaining 47 acres in their town at next year's Town Meeting.

In a letter to both communities, Lynnette Batt, project manager of the Trust for Public Land, stated Friday the proposed purchase has come to a halt.

"We regretfully share that the landowners have concluded they are no longer in a position to sell the subject property due to a boundary and ownership issue with the Town of Exeter that could not be resolved to each party’s mutual satisfaction,” the letter stated.

Derek Rugg, who owns 15 of the 47 acres in Exeter, said Monday the town of Exeter “sabotaged” the deal.

The town and the Rugg family have been working behind the scenes to settle a boundary dispute regarding the property.

At the April 29 Select Board meeting, Town Planner Dave Sharples stated the town had a “warranty deed” for a parcel that the Ruggs claim to own. He stated the Rugg family engaged a surveyor to review the area, which contradicted prior surveys and town tax maps.

"The town’s goal is to resolve this issue in a timely manner, but title issues can be tricky to navigate,” stated the Select Board April 29 meeting minutes. “As the town may be involved in the purchase, we must arrive at a resolution that ensures the town is receiving what it bargains for.”

Rugg said the boundary dispute was caused by a development project in the early 2000s that resulted in a “lot overlap,” which took away 7 of the 15 acres his family owns.

“We spent around $400,000 as a family to prove where our land was and where our boundaries were, and through that, we realized that (the developer) had taken part of our lot,” said Rugg.

Rugg said the developer then gifted the town the 7 acres as part of the project.

“We went to them (Exeter) and said we got a mapping overlap… we broke it all down, showed it to them in a meeting,” said Rugg. “They (Exeter) followed up with my surveyor, and they decided that how they would approach the problem was to threaten to have us go to Superior Court or give them that 7 acres.”

Rugg said he felt that was “extortion at the worst level,” which caused him to pull away from the deal.

“Why are town officials and their lawyer feeling like that’s the proper way to negotiate, especially with somebody that’s offering conservation (land) to them?” he added.

Calls to Town Manager Russ Dean and Town Planner Dave Sharples were not returned. Select Board Chair Niko Papakonstantis was unavailable for comment Monday and Select Board member Dan Chartrand said he "can't comment."

Papakonstantis said Tuesday the board will give a "full and complete update" on the issue during their Monday, June 10, meeting.

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Volunteers who pushed for project ‘deeply disappointed’

In a joint statement, Lynette Batt and Shelby Semmes, of Trust for Public Land, stated they were “deeply disappointed” at the Rugg family's decision to withdraw the property from sale.

The nonprofit had been working for 18 months to secure grant funding to make the sale a reality.

“In partnership with the towns, we have applied for over $6 million in state and federal loans and grants, with $3.4 million already awarded, and nearly $2 million pending,” they stated in the letter to both communities. “In light of the decision to revoke the sale offer, we must pause in-process grant applications and administration, including news this week that the project ranked No. 1 in the country (in a record competitive year) for a $600,000 Community Forest and Open Space acquisition grant to Newfields.”

Semmes explained Monday there’s only “a very small window of time” to resolve the issue between the Rugg family and Exeter that would allow Trust for Public Land to move forward with the acquisition.

She noted the dispute caused the project to miss grant application deadlines.

“The project is in some significant uncertainty that we’re not willing to move forward with grant applications that are pretty decisive in the overall success of the project timeline,” she added.

Proponents of the Save Fort Rock campaign, Exeter resident Vanessa Lazar and Newfields resident Jaime Bell, said they were “devastated,” “heartbroken” and “completely blindsided” by the Rugg’s decision to pull away from the project.

“The land dispute had always been a known part of the project that needed resolution,” said Bell. “There had always been a positive intention that it could be resolved. So, to see it come so far to unravel at this point, after (the project) secured so much grant money, so much public support … it’s just a huge, huge disappointment.”

Lazar said she is “concerned” about the future of the ecological environment of the property should it be sold to a developer.

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What does the future hold for Rugg property?

Rugg, who said that he was “exhausted” by challenges coming from both towns, said that his family will be moving forward to sell the property privately, adding that there’s already a few potential buyers. The project, he added, has "cost my family so much money and energy."

“We’re still working through offers, and one of the major things that we want to make sure is that whatever is left of the land, that recreation for the people is a huge part of that,” he said. “Whoever we decide to work with, that’ll be part of it, it won’t just be about the money, it will be about the whole package.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rugg family halts deal to sell 148 acres to Exeter, Newfields