February 6, 2012
What are we going to leave our kids?
John Boyd, treasurer of the Town Hall Alliance.
I have five grandchildren and not only am I worried about what the future holds for them in this country, but what we are doing with St. Mary's County.
I have decided to step up to the plate and take my turn at making my county a better place to live. We need good schools and we can't afford to pay for them if we are wasting money on buying property like the Hayden Farm at twice the appraised value.
What did they buy it for? Why were they afraid to show the public the plan in advance and let the rest of the county in on this deal? There usually is a reason when land deals are done in the back room, they don't want anyone to see where the money is going.
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Why did the St. Mary's Commissioners hold the public hearing for the Hayden Farm on Christmas Eve? Only Larry Jarboe said no. Maybe because Russell and Dement knew that the public would be furious to learn that the Hayden family was keeping the best and most valuable part, the front along the highway, for future commercial use.
Back room politics never produces a good result. The public's business should be conducted in open meetings and never on Christmas Eve. This is a deal that should have been held on April Fools Day!
Yea, I heard also that the Haydens get to stay on the property and only pay $1 a year rent and can still farm it until/if the school is built on it. Also heard there are some unmarked slave graves. Will be interisting when they dig.
Sounds like the Haydens got a "Back-Door" deal from some of the County Commissioners.
There are no Hayden's living on the farm land that was bought by the county. It was all empty. Also the county paid what it was appraised for not more. Maybe before you go slam the family you should get your facts stright.
There were two prior appraised values of around $3Million. Why pay $5.2Million for something previously appraised for less. That is the fact jack...
Pull a census on that property during the planting and harvesting times and see how many Hadens or their workers are on it then. I believe they will be able to continue farming the “vacant” property until the county begins developing it. As of now, they, the county doesn’t have a clue what they expect to do with it giving more time for Hayden
“cash crops” to mature. Kinda like money in the bank.
As to the “appraised price”, go to the following sites and read them for yourself…
Here is a start……. Folks like good old boys pound the table and tax payers need to pound the facts…… below are some to start with…..By the way. The appraised price for what the commissioners bought was far less that the total shown on both apprasials.
http://wiki.somd.com/index.php?title=Hayden_Farm&printable=yes
Hayden Farm
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As to the “appraised price”, go to the following sites and read them for yourself…
Here is a start……. Folks like good old boys pound the table and tax payers need to pound the facts…… below are some to start with…..
Appraisals
Two appraisals for the site were prepared: one by Gatewood Company, Inc., of Waldorf, submitted July 16, 2007 (valued as of May 16, 2007) and the second by Treffer Appraisal Group, of Arnold, Md. submitted June 28, 2007 (valued as of June 5, 2007). The appraisals were submitted to Supervisor of Capital Planning for the St. Mary's County Public Schools.
Appraisal Summary
Tract
Parcel
Gatewood
Treffer
A
Parcel 339-outparcel A 89.56 ac, zoned RL
$1,750,000
$2,150,000
B
78.92 ac, zoned RPD
$1,250,000
$1,400,000
C
339-Lot 1 1.06 ac w/Residence
$247,000
$262,000
D
225 1.69 ac w/Residence
$365,000
$258,000
TOTALS:
$3,612,000
$4,070,000
http://wiki.somd.com/index.php?title=Hayden_Farm&printable=yes
Facts, that is what is important. Ummm.... wonder why a December 24th meeting called by the Commissioners? Cover up or blur facts.... Who knows........
Regardless, the Hayden Farm Deal still Stinks!!!
No one is faulting the Hayden family for making a great business deal. Any person or family out there has the right to make the best deals they can be it selling land, a car, or furniture! However, like all great business deals someone ends up on the short end of the stick. The current Commissioners, with the exception of Jarboe, acted stupidly and spent taxpayer money unwisely. They did not take the advice of one of the appraisers who suggested that an engineer be brought in to evaluate development potential of one of the parcels of land. Almost $31,000 per acre was paid for @ 80 acres of land that is wetlands and has no development potential. The Comissioners paid for the appraisals then did not follow the advice given. That is not the Hayden's fault. The blame is squarely on the shoulders of Russell, Dement, Raley and Mattingly. Did they even read the appraisals?As for a "back door deal"...every newspaper in the county had an editorial about the really bad move to hold a meeting on December 24th concerning this land purchase. Again, not the Hayden's fault. The Commissioners with this action of the meeting date created the suspicions.
It is really refreshing to see people running for office making straight up statements about public policy and not pulling punches about high taxes. I will vote for the Jarboe ticket!
I wonder if there will be another Christmas Eve Public Hearing this year.
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