Conflict of interest clouds Comprehensive Plan process 
By J.C. Huntington
Posted to PoisonedWells July 23, 2001
Updated July  28, 2001

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       A Canadian-based firm Stantec Consulting, Inc. has been hired by Pinal County to help develop a Comprehensive Plan that will guide future development in the county, while also serving on the "core team" for a large residential housing project in southeastern Pinal, called the South Village of Willow Springs. 

       Dennis Cady, Pinal County planning and development director, was asked about Stantec's involvement with the Willow Springs project during a July 12 meeting on the Comprehensive Plan at SaddleBrooke. 

       Cady told residents that if Stantec were working for Anam he would consider Stantec's involvement in the Pinal County Comprehensive Plan a "conflict of interest," and said he would look into the matter. 

       During a meeting in Oracle on the Comprehensive Plan held July 18 Cady said he had confirmed that Stantec was working for Anam and told residents that he wouldn't have advocated Stantec's involvement in the comprehensive planning process had he known that fact. 

       Cady explained the mistake by saying "whooops." 

       At their July 11 meeting, Pinal County supervisors unanimously approved a change order of nearly $60,000 to the existing Stantec contract with the county. 

       According to the meeting minutes, the additional money was needed to pay Stantec to "provide expert assistance in training and assisting citizen committees in gathering input from county citizens interest groups and governmental agencies in the preparation of Pinal County's Comprehensive Plan." 

       At the meeting, Cady told the supervisors the $58,768 extension to Stantec's contract was needed because of the schedule to complete the Comprehensive Plan by Dec 31. 

       Oracle resident Frank Pierson said the reason for the county's urgency to complete the Comprehensive Plan is not clear in light of the fact that deputy county attorney William McLean told the Queen Creek News that there is no penalty if the county misses the Dec 31 deadline. 

       "I'm looking for a high quality plan that benefits everyone and has squeaky clean credentials," Pierson said. 

       The 4,600-acre South Village project is the first phase of Willow Springs, a project that would put 34,000 houses over 18,000 acres square miles of land situated 10 miles north of Oracle Junction. 

       Anam Inc., another Canadian-based firm, owns the land. 

       Anam has hired The Remington Group, to take care of the legal and procedural technicalities so as to make their land marketable to home-building companies that would do the actual building. Alex Argueta founded Remington. 

       Last month Argueta told The Arizona Daily Star that Anam will return to seek approval for rezoning the remaining acreage after the county completes their Comprehensive Plan. 

       The web site for Remington (http://www.theremingtongroup.net/) lists Stantec Consulting as a member of Remington's "Willow Springs Core Team."