Shumlin’s East Montpelier Neighbor Strikes “A Good Deal” with the Governor

Two months after he took on Gov. Peter Shumlin over a land deal gone sour, East Montpelier resident Jeremy Dodge says he’s happy with an agreement he struck late Wednesday with the governor.

“It’s a good deal,” Dodge (pictured) says. “I got my property back and that’s what I was looking for. I wasn’t looking for anything else.”

Shumlin, for whom the dispute represented the biggest political crisis of his two-and-a-half years in office, is also relieved to put the situation behind him, according to his lawyer.

“He’s pleased that Jeremy Dodge and his family are pleased,” says Jerome Diamond, Shumlin’s attorney.

Faced with a looming tax sale prompted by $17,000 in unpaid taxes, Dodge sold his home and 16 acres to Shumlin, a neighbor, last November for $58,000. At the time, the property was appraised at $233,700, though a subsequent reappraisal reduced its value to $140,000. 

Nearly two months ago, as Dodge’s July 15 deadline to move out of the house approached, he and his family told reporters Shumlin had taken advantage of him — and sought to nullify the agreement. They said the 54-year-old man lacked the mental capacity and legal representation to strike such a deal with an accomplished negotiator and real estate investor like Shumlin.

Both sides engaged high-powered attorneys, who spent the last month negotiating a resolution. Shumlin’s team presented Dodge with several proposals and late Wednesday, as WCAX’s Jennifer Reading first reported, the aggrieved neighbor agreed to one.

“An agreement has been reached in principle,” says Dodge’s attorney, Brady Toensing. “The details will be worked out in the next few weeks, but it involves Mr. Dodge buying back the property over the next five years.”

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