Last modified: Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:58 AM EST Bad news no surprise BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Redevelopment authority Chairman Benton Keene III said Wednesday that when he became chairman several months ago he told Mayor Kevin Dumas the authority's industrial park project was "upside down" and should be sold. "I told him we should get rid of it," Keene said in reaction to a special task force report that found the project is insolvent and the city should not put any more money into it. Keene said it would probably be difficult now to sell the park because the real estate market and economy are so bad. He said that although the authority had received $15 million in grants for the project, the high cost of acquiring land for the park has caused most of the financial problems. Keene said he is unsure if the authority will have to pay back the grant money if it does not complete the park. Authority Executive Director Michael Milanoski said the findings of the report were no surprise. He said the authority informed the city in August after it lost a lawsuit involving a land taking that the project was insolvent. The authority has already taken some of the steps the report recommends, such as seeking administrative help from city hall, looking into selling some land for house lots, trying to find a tenant for one available business lot in the park and scaling back on the project, he said. "The report confirms a lot of the things we have been talking about," Milanoski said. He also said it is important to remember that the industrial park is the sole source of financial problems for the authority. Other projects, such as redeveloping a Swank factory, rebuilding County Square and developing plans for a downtown renewal project, have all proceeded well, he said. What the authority is looking for now, he said, is suggestions on how to go forward with the industrial park. Authority members Donald Smyth and Max Volterra declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to Keene. Dumas said he was withholding comment on the report by the task force he appointed. "I am in receipt of the report and will be reviewing it. My recommendations will be forthcoming in the near future," he said in a statement. Others were less reluctant to comment. City Councilor George Ross, who opposed the industrial park from the beginning, said Dumas should ask the authority members to resign. "It's time for them to fold up their tent and move south," he said. Ross said the fact that the authority and the industrial park is insolvent comes as no surprise to those who followed the project.