For several decades, the City of Concord has eyed the old state highway garages that lie along Stickney Avenue and are a prominent and strategic entry point to downtown. City planners have hoped the land on which the long-vacant state highway paint and sign shops stand can be commercially developed into an attractive entryway to a now revitalized downtown business and civic district.
We are told by city officials that talks with the NH Department of Transportation have been ongoing as recently as this spring. So it was with shock and dismay that the city was notified in June by the state that it had sealed a deal with private developer Brady Sullivan to sell the property for $1 million with not so much as a nod to Concord, notwithstanding a right of first refusal the city has always believed it had with the state to meet any other offer the state might be considering.
We have yet to hear any explanation from the state as to why such a right has been cast aside.
As it should as a surrogate for the public it serves, the Concord Monitor filed an official Right to Know request with the Department of Transportation and the office of Gov. Chris Sununu for release of emails and/or other correspondence leading to the deal with Brady Sullivan. Owners of the Manchester-based developer, according to public records, have in the past contributed thousands of dollars to Sununu’s political campaigns. So there is a whiff of suspicion cast on the company’s unilateral deal with the state, especially considering the claim of “executive privilege” that is the stated reason for denial of the Monitor request.
The governor’s legal counsel does not say no such correspondence exists; he says the governor enjoys an assertion of executive privilege, allowing him to keep the correspondence under wraps.
The cost of an environmental cleanup of the old highway property promises to be high and we have no idea if the $1 million price tag to be paid by Brady Sullivan is fair or not, although it’s hard to believe the company doesn’t foresee making money on its investment. Given the deal the city made to purchase and then sell for private development the old employment security building on South Main Street, there is reason for a full exploration of the cost/benefit analysis there or in the case of the Stickney Avenue property.
The NH Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on another Right to Know vs. Executive Privilege case late this week. It’s an issue that’s truly ripe for judicial review and one that pits shining a light on the public’s business versus potential political intrigue.
(Richard W. Osborne lives in Contoocook and served on the Concord Planning Board for 14 years.)