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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1564
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 7542
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
Introduced by:
(GOS)
AN ACT AMENDING A PRIOR CONVEYANCE OF A PARCEL OF
STATE LAND TO THE CATHERINE VIOLET HUBBARD FOUNDATION,
INC.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Special act 14-13 is amended to read as follows (Effective 1
from passage): 2
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the 3
Commissioner of Agriculture shall convey to the Catherine Violet 4
Hubbard Foundation, Inc., a parcel of land located in the town of 5
Newtown, at a cost equal to the administrative costs of making such 6
conveyance. Said parcel of land has an area of approximately 34.44 acres 7
and is bounded on the west by the Housatonic Railroad right-of-way 8
property line; on the north by the approximately 37.54 acre parcel sold 9
to the town of Newtown for economic development; and on the east and 10
south by the approximately 21.66 acre parcel conveyed to the town of 11
Newtown along Deep Brook. The conveyance shall be subject to the 12
approval of the State Properties Review Board. 13
(b) The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation, Inc. shall use said 14
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parcel of land for an animal sanctuary, wildlife preserve or other nature 15
preservation purpose. [If] Except as provided in subsection (c) of this 16
section, if the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation, Inc.: 17
(1) Does not use said parcel for said purposes; or 18
(2) Does not retain ownership of all of said parcel, [; or 19
(3) Leases all or any portion of said parcel;] 20
the parcel shall revert to the state of Connecticut. 21
(c) The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation, Inc. may commit a 22
portion or all of said parcel as security for a loan obtained for purposes 23
of financing the construction of an educational barn on the parcel, 24
subject to foreclosure in the event of default. 25
[(c)] (d) The state shall reserve unto itself, its successors and assigns 26
and agricultural lessees of the state, a fifty-foot wide easement 27
extending approximately 1539.57 feet along the entire general northerly 28
line of said parcel. The easement shall be for access and ingress and 29
egress to other state lands and for agricultural purposes. 30
[(d)] (e) The State Properties Review Board shall complete its review 31
of the conveyance of said parcel of land not later than thirty days after 32
it receives a proposed agreement from the Department of Agriculture. 33
The land shall remain under the care and control of said department 34
until a conveyance is made in accordance with the provisions of this 35
section. The State Treasurer shall execute and deliver any deed or 36
instrument necessary for a conveyance under this section, which deed 37
or instrument shall include provisions to carry out the purposes of 38
subsections (b) [and (c)] to (d), inclusive, of this section. The 39
Commissioner of Agriculture shall have the sole responsibility for all 40
other incidents of such conveyance. 41
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage SA 14-13
Statement of Purpose:
To amend a prior conveyance of land to the Catherine Violet Hubbard
Foundation, Inc. to remove the restriction on leasing the parcel and
permit the parcel to be used as security for a loan and subjected to
potential foreclosure, in order to enable the foundation to secure a loan.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]