To the Editor:

This letter comes to you from…the other side.

To the owners of the property next to Harmon Field with the pitifully lonely looking grotto on the devastated hillside-what were you thinking about when you decided to destroy that beautiful forest?

When you approached us about your plans to cut some trees it did not sound so bad to us at first. You said you would definitely not be clear cutting and you would also stay at least ten feet from our property lines. Also you stated that you were only selectively removing some older deceased trees. We trusted you, and as our friends we thought you surely were not going to totally destroy our views of your hillside.

Since the tree harvesting took practically every single tree from the land, your property values and the property values of the other four owners on each side of you have decreased by tens of thousands of dollars each. This, Mr. Director, is not economic development. It is economic devastation. If this is what you call maintaining the propertys integrity and if this is the example you want to set forth with the Save Our Slopes campaign, then you certainly dont know the definition of the word, integrity.

I would like to apologize to my own family for not taking more forceful measures to protect the number of trees taken not only on our property line, but also on our property as well. They were huge, healthy, beautiful trees and it was not only morally wrong, but criminally wrong for our trees to be destroyed.

To the professional logger who did this work without even verifying property lines, you said to me that you would clean up every piece of wood larger than your arm to make the hillside as clean as possible. Our side still looks absolutely horrific. Will you ever honor your word and finish the job?

I challenge the people of this community to help with ideas to restore this piece of property to its former beauty. What was once a gem in our neighborhood of Harmon Field that is now a piece of scarred scrubland could someday again be a lovely place to sit by the river. There is no way these property owners will ever be able to do this by themselves. Dont let this destruction happen in your neighborhood.

And finally, to all the townsfolk who were invited to cross the river and get your feet wet, if you think the Harmon Field side looks bad, I invite you to come and see our side. Take a drive up to the top of Baker Road, stop and enjoy the beautiful new views of Tryon Peak. But please just dont look down, for most certainly you will immediately become sickened.

&bsp; Rick Rosetti