Thomaston — Emails released by the Maine Department of Corrections indicate that Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart asked for and received information on the work done to improve the homes at Ship Street Circle around the time she was beginning negotiations with the state to buy the property.
The emails show that the homes were renovated by the state prior to the negotiations and the sale, and that the Maine Bureau of General Services, which sold the property to Barnhart and her partner, funded some of the renovations.
The documents were released in response to a written request from VillageSoup.
The state sold three homes and about five acres of land on Ship Street Circle to the warden in June for $175,000, significantly less than the town’s assessed value of $458,000 for the property. The warden had been living in one of the homes on the property since being hired in 2009, and the prison provided that space to her.
As part of the land-sale agreement, the warden would allow the state to rent one of the houses for $1 per year for four years to use as housing for trainees or employees working a double shift.
The state had hired the realtor CBRE/The Boulos Company to sell the property.
The emails show that one of the homes on the circle was renovated to serve as housing for prison trainees to replace the Main Street property in Thomaston that had formerly served in that capacity. The Main Street property was also sold by the state.
The Attorney General’s office has determined that the sale to Barnhart was illegal under state law because Barnhart was a state employee at the time of the deal, and state officials say the sale is undergoing an “unwinding” process and being voided.
On Sept. 15, 2010, Karen E. Carroll of the Maine State Prison sent an email to Barnhart saying, “You requested information on the costs associated with Ship Street Houses. Let me know if you need additional information. Recent Renovation — Wardens House — 6,594 (renovations/appliances) staff training — 2,252 (renovation/furniture).”
The email goes on to list costs associated with electricity, fuel and other utilities for the Ship Street buildings. “This does not include services such as snow removal, general maintenance, mowing or other services provided by state employees,” the email states. “The amounts listed are actual expenditures for FY10.”
Barnhart replied to the email, thanking Carroll.
On Sept. 2, 2010, shortly before this email exchange, Denise Lord, formerly of the Maine Department of Corrections, sent an email to Chip Gavin, former director of the Bureau of General Services, stating, “The warden asked if there was a possibility that she might purchase the house she is living in currently.”
That email began a series of negotiations between Barnhart and the Bureau of General Services that led to the eventual sale of the property to her. Barnhart would end up buying not only the house she was living in, but the other two houses as well.
On July 11, 2011, Carroll sent a fax memo to Department of Corrections Associate Commissioner Jody Breton saying, “Since we became aware of the pending sale to the warden, we have only provided work necessary for safety and routine maintenance, no major repairs. As you can see; most of the repairs date back to the spring of 2010 and fall of 2009. …Also, I included the list of the repairs for the dorm house on Ship St. that was paid and approved by BGS [Maine Bureau of General Services] when the sale of the Route 1 properties was finalized.”
On Dec. 3, 2009, Gene Goss of the prison sent Barnhart an email including a Maine State Prison Engineering Department memo detailing renovations to the warden’s residence on Ship Street Circle. The list of renovations included replacement of the garage door, installation of a new dishwasher, refrigerator and range, deck repairs, storm door replacement, furnace service, sanding and refinishing the wood floor in the living room, replacement of a rotted window sill and a long list of other items.
Most of the renovations that were made took place in November 2009, according to another document released.
Having received information about the renovations in September 2010, Barnhart explained her initial offer of $150,000 for all three homes in a December 2010 email. In the email, she cites the amounts the state had already accepted when selling the former Maine State Police barrack in Thomaston and three Main Street properties across from the former site of the Maine State Prison on Route 1.
“The following information was taken into consideration when establishing a purchase amount for the Ship St. properties,” Barnhart wrote in an e-mail Dec. 8, 2010, to Jon Leahy of Boulos. “Based on the sales amount of the properties of which I am aware: 446 Maine [sic] St.=$104,000.00; 367, 232 and 399 Maine St.=$150,000.00; I arrived at a total amount for the Ship St. properties. These properties sold at approx. 39% of the assessed values as taken from the 5/30/06 appraisal information.”
“I gave additional consideration to the condition of the homes,” Barnhart continued in the same e-mail. “During this past year we as a facility looked into utilizing the property at 24 Ship as additional housing for our staff and determined it was uninhabitable without extensive and cost prohibitive repairs starting with the condition of the heater, drains, roof, siding, windows etc. We have used 26 Ship as a bunk house for staff to date however it does not have a stove etc. and also has issues with the roof, siding, paint, windows etc.”
“The house I currently occupy is also in need of window replacement throughout,” she wrote. “Finally, situated directly behind the house I currently reside in is a power station with daily visitors. Last winter a storm took out the power station for four days-ripping the cables down off the house and the station and blocking the street.
“These houses are situated on 4.3 acres of property, however most of this is not usable space and it is shared with working train tracks and a hobo camp down by the river,” she concluded.
Prior to that on April 15, 2009, Mark McCarthy of the Maine Department of Corrections asked Bill Leet, the state director of leased space, in an email for a timeline for the project.
“It would really help out on our end if you could tell us when we had to vacate the old warden’s house,” he said. “This will drive the process for renovating the other site. Otherwise, I’m afraid that this could drag on and could get messy at the end.”
“No timeline was ever established,” Leet wrote in an email March 31, 2009. “Several months ago we inspected the properties with a real estate broker and a couple individuals from corrections. The question then was if we sold the homes on Route 1, would there be an alternative site for the training residence. Some thought that corrections was looking at relocating the residence in closer proximity to the Warren facility, but that was only speculation.
“A couple months ago, I proposed to Mark McCarthy that BGS [Bureau of General Services] would provide the funding for some nominal fix up needed to prepare a house on Ships Circle for occupancy.
“…We are now at the stage of formally listing the properties and just wanted to make sure you are still comfortable with BGS proceeding, in cooperation with Corrections, to start preparing one of the homes for occupancy.”
“As you know, BGS approved renovations of the Ship Street house assigned to new recruits,” Carroll wrote in an email to Gene Goss Dec. 16, 2009. “Costs associated with the renovations were to be paid by BGS. Have you submitted them or communicated with them the final costs? If not, you need to put a package together for submission to BGS to insure the prison gets reimbursed.”
In January 2010, Carroll sent an email to Gavin noting that an article in VillageSoup had stated the Ship Street Circle properties were going to be sold by the state.
“We have not been advised previously of this and I just want to stop the rumor mill if that is the case,” she wrote. “…We use one of the houses for emergency situations as well as for recruitment. We will need to address these concerns if the state has made the commitment to sell.”
“The ship circle properties are not for sale at this time,” Gavin wrote back Jan. 26. “At the same time, their sale already is authorized by law and I do expect they will be sold, but that is not a current project. I previously advised the Dept. that we would not move to sell those properties until at least 6-to-9 months after the new warden started work, at a minimum. We understand your existing use and we will not move to sell them without coordinating with the Department of Corrections. That help?”
Carroll sent another email to Barnhart April 6, 2011, saying, “Patty, I’m afraid I get detailed information on the Ship Street houses. Much of the work was done by BCF (Bolduc Correctional Facility) vocational staff with no way to search records. Gene advised me that his staff have not done any electrical or plumbing upgrades. They did put in gutters, fixed the deck, upgraded the pump, added a new electrical service to your house, and a new furnace in the dorm. It’s not much help, sorry…”
By April 2011, Barnhart was in the midst of negotiations with the state to buy the property.
Other state-owned properties sold around prison land
In November 2010, the state sold the former Maine State Police barracks to an entity called Barracks LLC for $104,000, according to documents on file at the Thomaston Town Office. At the time of that sale, the same developers also received the right of first offer on a maintenance building behind the barrack.
Barracks LLC is a business started by a group that was until recently planning to develop the former Maine State Prison property itself. Other company names affiliated with the same developers include St. George Cove LLC and The Developers Collaborative based in Portland. The partners in the collaborative are Richard Berman, Kevin Bunker and James Hatch. Strong Insurance Agency Inc. has been operating out of the barracks.
In December 2009, two Port Clyde residents purchased three properties across Main Street from the former prison property, including the buildings known as the warden’s house and deputy warden’s house. Like the Ship Street Circle properties, these properties had been owned by the state.
The three properties were sold to Carl F. Danielson and Carolyn Whittaker of Port Clyde. At the time the state reported the properties collectively sold for $150,000.
At the time the state said the properties had been listed on the open market in hopes of getting the best value.