Harvard says that it chose Land-Vest because the company seemed concerned with land conservation-Wade Staniar says he thinks Harvard chose Land-Vest because of the company's "past track record of ecological concern." But not everyone agrees with that assessment. One island summer resident who asked to remain unidentified calls the construction "brutal" and claims that building 49 septic tanks on the property will undoubtedly pollute the soil.
Land-Vest says its tests show that there is no danger of such pollution. They also point with pride to the 50 acres of common land they have set aside, including a cemetery where members of the Putnam family are buried along with some of their pets.
The deal with Land-Vest was handled solely by Kraetzer and former treasurer George F. Bennett '33 and did not come before the full Corporation until after the land had already been sold. George Putnam '49, grand-nephew of Charles Russell Lowell Putnam and the man who took over as treasurer in July, 1973, says the matter should have come before the Corporation before the sale and adds that it will almost definitely come up in the Corporation's meeting today.
"It's unfortunate that they didn't get more for the land, but of course that's easy to say with hindsight," says Putnam. "I'm not being critical of my predecessor."
Hindsight is a word that comes up often in conversations about the Land-Vest purchase, but no one at Harvard seems too anxious to use it. They would prefer to close the Land-Vest case once and for all, pointing out that the deal went through almost two years ago and that nothing can be done about it now anyway.
It's still not clear just what the explanation is-bad luck, bad judgement, or some kind of hanky-panky-but the experience may lead Harvard to be more careful about its real estate dealings in the future.