State worker fired after land deal quote

The Baltimore Sun

A longtime state employee was fired the day after he was quoted in The Sun suggesting that the state did not follow normal procedures when it agreed to pay more than the highest appraised price for a piece of Eastern Shore preservation land.

A spokesman for the Department of General Services denied that the statement had anything to do with the firing of Nelson E. Reichart, a 29-year veteran of state government who had served as that agency's assistant secretary for real estate since 2003.

Yesterday, Reichart said his attorney had advised him not to comment on the circumstances of his firing, but he added, "You can put two and two" together.

Reichart was fired June 29. A day before, he was quoted in The Sun as saying that he had approved two appraisals for a 270-acre tract that the state was considering purchasing through Program Open Space in Queen Anne's County. One appraisal valued the land at $3.6 million and the other at $4.6 million. The state and Queen Anne's County together paid $5 million for it.

In the June 28 Sun, Reichart said that in such a situation, the state would typically pay the average of the two appraisals, which in this case would have been $4.1 million.

Reichart, 59, said he is considering his legal options.

General Services spokesman Dave Humphrey denied that Reichart's involvement in the Queen Anne's deal led to his firing.

"Neither the comments Mr. Reichart made to The Baltimore Sun nor his sign-off on the two appraisals last year had anything to do with his departure," Humphrey said. "Secretary [Alvin C.] Collins told Mr. Reichart that he wants to take the office of real estate in a different direction."

The Queen Anne's land deal has become a topic of debate in Annapolis, with Comptroller Peter Franchot, who initially voted for the deal, requesting it be delayed based on new information, and with critics questioning potential conflicts of interest between the O'Malley administration and the owner of the land.

Department of Natural Resources Secretary John R. Griffin worked as a consultant on part of the deal, which has been in the works for two years, before he came to the O'Malley administration this year. He has said he was advised by an attorney with the state Ethics Commission that his previous work did not pose a conflict.

David Sutherland, the president of U.S. Land Alliance, the for-profit group that owns the land, served on O'Malley's transition team and was one of 30 people on an environmental steering committee within that group. However, O'Malley staffers have said neither the governor nor any of his senior advisers have ever met Sutherland.

On Friday, Franchot questioned the validity of the $4.6 million appraisal, saying it appeared to have been based on the assumption that the property could be hooked up to water and sewer and that a sports complex would be built there.

William T. Beach, the head of the valuation and appraisal division of the Department of General Services' real estate division, said Franchot appears to be misreading the appraisal. Although the appraiser did discuss the idea that a sports complex could be built there or that water and sewer services could be extended there, he did not factor those possibilities into the value of the land.

The valuation is based on the current "countryside" zoning, which could allow for as many as 54 lots on the property, Beach said.

"The value is based on conditions as they existed as of July 26, 2006," Beach said.

O'Malley has said he believes the deal was handled properly.

This is not the first time Reichart has been involved in a controversial land deal. Last year, he signed off on appraisals for the purchase of 572 acres north of Ocean City. The state paid $10,000 an acre, though most of the property was marshland and as such could not have been developed.

Three years ago, he helped defend a failed plan by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration to sell a parcel of St. Mary's County conservation land to Baltimore construction magnate Willard Hackerman. State documents showed Hackerman could have made millions in tax breaks on the deal, even though he planned to develop part of the property.

andy.green@baltsun.com

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