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The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF A CERTAIN PARCEL OF LAND IN THE TOWN OF CHESTERFIELD TO DENISE T. CORMIER.

     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 section 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of conservation and recreation may convey a certain parcel of land currently under the care and control of the department of conservation and recreation in the town of Chesterfield to Denise T. Cormier, to correct an inadvertent error on a right of way designation made on the property by the department of conservation and recreation and the division of capital asset management and maintenance in 2001. Prior to finalizing the transaction or making the conveyance authorized herein, the division of capital asset management and maintenance and the department of conservation and recreation may make necessary modifications to the endangered species protection and public access plans related to the site and the Long pond, Dead Branch and Krug Sugarbush preservation and public access plans to carry out this act. The parcel to be conveyed is a portion of the property acquired by the commonwealth by deed recorded with the Hampshire registry of deeds in book 6125, page 131, identified as “Lot B”, such portion to be determined and surveyed by the division of capital asset management and maintenance, with the approval of the department of conservation and recreation.
     SECTION 2.  An independent appraisal of the fair market value and value in use of the parcel described in section 1 shall be prepared in accordance with the usual and customary professional appraisal practices by a qualified appraiser commissioned by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance.  Consideration for the conveyance authorized in section 1, shall be the full and fair market value or the value in proposed use, whichever is greater, as determined by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance and calculated with regard to the parcel’s full development potential; provided however, that the division of capital asset management and maintenance and the department of conservation and recreation may elect to accept nominal consideration for the conveyance authorized in said section 1.  If the consideration paid for the purchase is less than the full and fair market value or the value in proposed use, based on the public benefits related to endangered species protection efforts undertaken by the land owner and public access provisions related to the right of way, the department of conservation and recreation shall place notification in the central register of the conveyance, which shall include the amount of the transaction and the difference between the calculated value and the price received. The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall submit the appraisal to the inspector general for review and comment.  The inspector general shall review and approve the appraisal and the review shall include an examination of the methodology utilized for the appraisal. The inspector general shall prepare a report of such review and file the report with the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance for submission by the commissioner to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight. The commissioner shall submit copies of the appraisal and the inspector general’s review and approval and comments, if any, to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight not less than 15 days prior to the execution of any documents effecting the transfers described in said section 1. 
     SECTION 3.  The grantee shall assume all costs associated with engineering, surveys, appraisals, deed preparation and other expenses deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to execute the conveyance authorized in section 1.
      SECTION 4.  As a condition of the easement authorized in this act, the grantee shall compensate the commonwealth through the payment of funds or the transfer of land or a conservation restriction upon land to the department of conservation and recreation which shall be equal to or greater than the full and fair market value or value in use, whichever is greater, of its interest pursuant to this act as determined by independent appraisal prepared in accordance with the usual and customary professional appraisal practices by a qualified appraiser commissioned by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of conservation and recreation. Any land or interest in land, including any conservation restriction, shall be acceptable to the department of conservation and recreation.  Any sums due pursuant to this section shall be paid by the grantee to the department of conservation and recreation for deposit into the Conservation Trust established in section 1 of chapter 132A of the General Laws to be used to acquire land or interests in land for conservation and recreation purposes

Approved, August 10, 2016