A Republican state senator asked Connecticut's attorney general and auditors Monday to investigate a "potential misuse of taxpayer dollars" in the Department of Transportation's purchase of 1.5 acres of land in Hartford for $5.6 million to use as a station on the planned New Britain-to-Hartford Busway.
The request by Sen. Jason Welch, R-Bristol, came in response to a Sunday Courant column by Kevin Rennie disclosing that the DOT paid Aetna more than $5.6 million in 2008 for 1.5 acres now used primarily for parking on Hawthorn Street by its intersection with Sigourney Street. The city has assessed the value of the land at $442,000.