Excerpts of an article that appeared in the Cape Cod Times on December 18, 2007 (excerpts below, emphasis mine):
Casino investors engineered secret deal
In a secret deal, casino investors for the Mashpee Wampanoag secured an option on 200 acres in Middleboro two days before they purchased 125 adjacent acres from the town.
The deal, and the secrecy surrounding it, may have resulted in the town garnering less money than it could have had the deal last April been more widely advertised.
Former Middleboro Town Manager Jack Healey, who first proposed the auction to raise money for the cash-strapped town, has since retired and could not be reached for comment. Town and tribe officials first met in March to begin talking about a proposed casino, according to Times archives.
Middleboro selectmen approved the auction April 9 and it was held April 27. The auction was advertised only in the local weekly newspaper, town Treasurer Judy MacDonald said.
But if the town wanted to get top dollar for the property, it should have done more advertising, Stevens said.
By comparison, Sandwich officials recently hired a professional auctioneer to advertise and accept bids on property sold by the town this month. The auctioneer advertised the properties in real estate publications in Massachusetts and New York, as well as regional newspapers, attracting 60 registered bidders.
A 34-acre parcel, the Sandwich auction's premier property, fetched $900,000 — about $26,470 an acre, or $12,000 more per acre than the Middleboro land generated.
.
Speeded up for budget
.
The Middleboro auction was held so quickly to make the funds available for this year's town budget, MacDonald said.
The Middleboro auction was held so quickly to make the funds available for this year's town budget, MacDonald said.
As for hiring an auctioneer, MacDonald said, the town's been doing its own auctions for several years. "Why pay someone when we can do it ourselves?" she said.
Auctioneers, like the one hired in Sandwich, are paid through a premium charged to the buyer over and above the purchase price — usually 9 or 10 percent. CapeCodTimes
.
.
.
1 comment:
What's with this --http://www.middleborough.com/Selectmen/Minutes/May%20Minutes/May%202004/May%2017,%202004.htm
Post a Comment