SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37 inclusive of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance may sell, or otherwise grant , convey or transfer to the city of Northampton, under the care and custody of its conservation commission, that certain parcel of land located in said city shown as "Locus:  32-051, N/F Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Inhabitants of Hampshire County)  Deed 721, Page 467"  delineated on a "Plan of Land in Northampton, MA, Hampshire Registry, Prepared for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management" dated 08-01-2012, recorded at the Hampshire Registry of Deeds at Plan Book 228, Page 14, containing approximately 3.1 acres, together with any buildings and structures thereon, if any, formerly used as a farm for the Hampshire County Jail. Said parcel shall be subject to an agricultural preservation restriction or conservation restriction retained by the Commonwealth and the city, under the care and custody of its Massachusetts department of agricultural resources, provided that no such restrictions shall limit the city's ability to use the land as farmland, including a community garden.

SECTION 2.  The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall establish the value of the property for both the highest and best use of the property as currently encumbered and for the purposes described in section 1.  The commissioner shall place notification in the central register of the conveyance, the amount of such transaction and the difference between the calculated value and the price received.

SECTION 3.  The city of Northampton shall be responsible for all costs and expenses including, but not limited to, costs associated with any engineering, surveys, appraisals and deed preparation related to the conveyance authorized in this subsection as such costs may be determined by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance