Owens Corning Paid For The Application: Poggemeyer In Conflict Of Interest?
Analysis: Owens Corning paid Poggemeyer Design Group for the grant application submitted by Granville Township Trustees seeking $1.2 million in state funds to lay a two-mile sewer line along Columbus Road, connecting the Pataskala-based Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District to the Owens Corning property.
According to Granville Township Fiscal Officer, Norm Kennedy, "The cost to prepare the grant application was paid for by Owens. No payments were made by the township."
The grant application that totals $5 million, was prepared by Poggemeyer Design Group and signed and submitted on May 13, 2008 by Township Trustee Bill Habig on behalf of Granville Township. Poggemeyer, a national planning and design firm with offices in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington and California, has a long history with both the Village of Granville and Granville Township.
Poggemeyer holds the contract for the development of the Comprehensive Plan Update currently underway and nearly completed. The Village and the Township are sharing the cost of the plan update. Poggemeyer also was hired by the Village to analyze development possibilities within the River Road / South Main Street gateway district.
The introduction in the current draft of the Comprehensive Plan Update (available here in its entirity) states:
"A comprehensive plan is a visionary document. It looks five to ten years ahead to the future a community envisions for itself. Using information about the physical, social, and economic features of the community, it reflects consensus about how the citizens want their community to develop.
"A comprehensive plan lays out a road map of initiatives to achieve community goals. A basic tenet of the planning process is that the well-being of the community as a whole shall be considered. It recommends a logical set of policies covering land use and residential and commercial development that define and protect the future that residents envision. It provides a foundation upon which landowners, developers, Township Trustees, Village Council members, and other legislative and administrative bodies can make informed and consistent decisions that affect the future of the Community."
Now, however, Poggemeyer is working to protect the future envisioned by Owens Corning as well as "the future that residents envision."
It is not clear that the interests of the Village, the Township, and Owens Corning are all in accord - raising the question of just who is Poggemeyer working for?
Poggemeyer seems to be in the middle of an obvious conflict of interest.
Surely the Township Trustees understood the conflict when they agreed to join Owens Corning in applying for the state funds.
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See previous stories about the Township - Owens Corning grant:
I really don't understand this
I'm not looking to bash anyone, but am interested in knowing the rationale for the trustees and Owens Corning's actions. The July 9 trustees meeting will be a good time to ask questions in order to seek understanding.
Hummmm...
Is it me, or do the township trustees seem to always be blithely sitting right next to a conflict of interest?
We tell our children to do what is right
We have not lived in this community for two or three decades like some in Granville, but we have been here for several years. Over time I've been puzzled by the township trustees. I've not seen this behavior other places we've lived.
We tell our children to do what is right. Then they hear about adults getting away with things like these repeated conflicts of interest involving the trustees.
Are the trustees blind when it comes to ethics? Or do they belong to the "it's okay as long as you don't get caught" school? Do people in Granville even care? They should. It is what we are teaching our children.
I was curious what the civil engineering professional group says about conflicts of interest (thanks google).
"The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) believes that:
The engineer's judgment must be above reproach and beyond the influence of competing interests. Even the appearance of a conflict of interest is to be avoided."
Source: http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/policy_details.cfm?hdlid=184
From ASCE Fundamental Canons of Ethics:
"Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest."
Source: http://www.asce.org/inside/codeofethics.cfm
This conflict of interest reeks
This whole thing with bringing Pataskala sewer into Granville Township reeks. This new revelation shows just how much it reeks.
Sadly, now that it is clear that Poggemeyer is working both sides, the Comprehensive Plan Update must be viewed as a tainted document. One can only guess what subtle, and perhaps not so subtle, wording was added to, changed in, or removed from the update in order to help their client Owens Corning. It is also quite likely that any recommendations or counsel from Poggemeyer to the group working on the plan would have been tainted.
Finally, it makes one wonder whether Poggemeyer performed its work on the Comprehensive Plan Update with an eye toward encouraging potential future engagements with local developers. Pretty nice deal: "help" the local community plan out development and then sell yourself to the developers. This is a classic case of a conflict of interest.
The bottom line is we don't know if we can trust anything with which Poggemeyer has recently been involved.
At a minimum, the village and the township should ask Poggemeyer to return all money Poggemeyer has received for their work on the Comprehensive Plan Update and for any other recent projects for the village and/or township.
This clear conflict of interest raises some additional questions. Who in public office knew that Poggemeyer was working for Owens Corning and when did they know it? Why did those public officials not raise this as an issue with Poggemeyer early on before further tainting of both the Owens proposal and the Comprehensive Plan Update occurred?
poggemeyer conflict
Thanks, ot, for articulating what's wrong with Poggemeyer working for Owens and the Comprehensive Plan. It felt wrong, but you helped me understand why.