Gilbert Council asks state to investigate $50M land deal

The Gilbert Town Council on Thursday called on the state Attorney General's office to formally investigate the $50.2 million land deal in which the town acquired future parkland, rights-of-way and dairy infrastructure in January 2009. The move followed The Arizona Republic's disclosures this week that the town had a 2007 appraisal for a significant portion of the land that put its worth at $67,000 an acre - far less than the more than $300,000-per-acre price the council unanimously approved at the request of former town Manager George Pettit. No appraisal of the of entire 142.5-acre site had been commissioned before the sale was approved, and the existence of the 2007 appraisal had never been disclosed by town officials. The Attorney General's office must still decide whether to pursue an investigation, which the council requested after months of pressure from upset residents and a town-ordered retrospective appraisal and third-party legal review. In addition, the council directed Town Manager Collin DeWitt to find an independent firm to conduct a forensic audit, which would attempt to "follow the money." "Let them find out once and for all if there is any wrongdoing or if it was just bad business practice, poor negotiations or whatever it is," Councilman John Sentz said.

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