AG voids sale of state land to warden
The state's attorney general has voided the sale of a state-owned parcel in Thomaston to the Maine State Prison warden, calling the transaction illegal.
In a letter dated yesterday, Attorney General William Schneider said the sale of the five-acre parcel to warden Patricia Barnhart violates state law prohibiting state officials from having interest in "any contracts made in behalf of the state." In April, Barnhart and Sheehan Gallagher bought property at 22, 26 and 30 Ship Circle in Thomaston from the state, through the Department of Administrative and Financial Services and the Bureau of General Services. Last month, Barnhart and Gallagher then leased one of the buildings on the properties back to the state.
According to the Herald Gazette, the pair paid $175,000 to buy the property and its three houses, one of which the prison provided to Barnhart to live in, and another the Department of Corrections hoped to use as temporary housing for new staff. Barnhart agreed to lease one of the houses to the department for $1 per year. The sale of the Thomaston property was included in $1.5 million in anticipated revenue the state used to balance the fiscal year 2011 budget, according to the paper. Barnhart and Gallagher's proposal to subdivide the property into seven lots was scheduled to go before the planning board today, but that meeting has been postponed.
Also yesterday, Gov. Paul LePage signed an executive order directing the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to create internal policy guidelines for the sale of state-owned real estate.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments