THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010468
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
State commissioners studying the possible sale of surplus state property agreed Wednesday to visit and evaluate about 50 sites.
Gov. George Allen wants to use money from property sales to help pay for a $2.2 billion prison-building program that was approved when the General Assembly abolished parole in September.
Allen has not said how much of the construction should be financed by the sale of surplus property. Most of the money likely will come from bond issues.
The Governor's Commission on Conversion of State-Owned Property will have a busy December. Allen, who appointed the panel Sept. 16, wants its recommendations by Jan. 1.
Most of Wednesday's meeting was spent discussing procedures for determining whether property is being put to its best use and, if not, whether it should be sold. The commission agreed to organize subcommittees to make site visits and evaluations on a regional basis.
``The ultimate objective is to provide the governor with fairly detailed recommendations,'' said state Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico, co-chairman of the commission.
He said the commission should be ``fairly testy'' in dealing with state agencies that want to hold onto their surplus property. ``We have to ask the hard questions about their plans for future use,'' he said.
Commission member Shep Davis agreed.
``I don't care about controversies with the agencies,'' he said. ``The agencies have proven over the last 20 years that they don't want to sell anything.''
Efforts to catalog and dispose of surplus properties date to the '70s, but few tracts have been sold.
KEYWORDS: SURPLUS LAND by CNB