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The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSIONER OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE TO CONVEY CERTAIN LAND TO THE CITY OF NORTHAMPTON.

     Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
     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 capital asset management and maintenance may sell or otherwise grant, convey or transfer to the city of Northampton, to be held under the care and custody of its conservation commission, a certain parcel of land located in the 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 entitled "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 and containing approximately 3.1 acres, together with any buildings and structures thereon, if any, formerly used as a farm for the Hampshire County Jail. The parcel shall be subject to an agricultural preservation restriction or a conservation restriction to be held by the city under the care and custody of its conservation commission; provided, however, that no such restriction shall limit the city's ability to use the land as farmland, including use as 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 the 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 section 1 as such costs may be determined by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance.

Approved, August 10, 2016