JOHN F. FLOYD COMMENTARY: There was no need for cloak and dagger on rendering plant
My mother always taught me, “Honesty is the best policy.” I have found out, over the years, she was right.
My mother only had a seventh-grade education, but she had more common sense than anyone I ever knew. Many of our city politicians, and I use that term irreverently, could have used huge doses of Mother’s wisdom and common sense with the rendering plant problem.
Now that most dust has cleared concerning the animal parts rendering plant, it is time for a small reflection.
Early on, city officials denied any knowledge of Pilgrim’s Pride’s intention to build an animal parts rendering plant at the Northeast Alabama Regional Airport. By all accounts, the general manager of the Gadsden Water Works and Sewer Board is a great person, both professionally and spiritually, but I believe his agency was a pawn in the whole fiasco.
There were numerous meetings and conference calls, some as early as August 2020, involving the wastewater treatment requirements of the proposed rendering plant. As a matter of fact, by at least October 2020, the board was seeking funding for the rendering plant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. I believe Water and Sewer Board officials and city officials including the mayor knew of the plant, its owner and the time frame for its completion.
All the above information was the result of attorney Christie Knowles’ Freedom of Information request to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The Water and Sewer Board request produced almost nothing, but ADECA records constituted a veritable treasure trove of information.
For instance, the total estimated construction cost for the water and sewer improvements on Steele Station Road, and other environs of the airport, was $3.371 million. The Water Works and Sewer Board, in executive session (there is that word again) at 4:37 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2020, approved an engineering design service contract with CDG Engineers and Associates at a cost of $295,000. The service contract was ultimately completed and a timeline and estimated project schedule for the rendering plant was developed.
The design period was six months. Permit acquisition was established as two months. Bid phase services was one month and the construction phase was nine months. Total cumulative months from design to construction was 18 months.
This Preliminary Engineering Report was completed and presented to numerous city politicians in October 2020. The rendering plan and its owners, Pilgrim’s Pride, and the time schedule for completion were no secret from anyone but the financiers of the project: the taxpayers of Gadsden.
There was no need for all the cloak and dagger and subterfuge associated with this Pilgrim’s Pride project. There were many steps that were missed because of the wall of deceit surrounding the project. There was no time for a cost benefit study, and it appears that the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority brought the rendering proposal to the city with no input from local residents on the many negatives associated with such a plant.
The IDA is a problem Gadsden’s next mayor has to address. The organization evidently answers to no one and has no reporting responsibility. Anytime a question is asked concerning the IDA, we are told it is a private organization. Private organizations using taxpayer funds for their existence have a responsibility to whomever is funding the operation, especially when that funding is ended.
It is a shame, and admonitions are appropriate, that the only way attorney Knowles could get this information was by invoking the FOIA. If all players in the rendering fiasco had come to the people with the benefits and digressive elements involved, the need for a citizens’ organization would be negated, a mutually beneficial discourse could have been initiated and the pros and cons weighed by everyone.
With all assurances, I believe if city politicians had objectively listened to input from the general public, the rendering plant project would never have been given more than passing interest. Many Gadsden city organizations panicked with the closure of Goodyear and figured any industry was welcome.
I give credit to Advance Etowah, led by David Chadwick, Michael Wildman and attorney Knowles, and backed by many residents of Etowah County and Gadsden, for their hard work in nullifying a detriment to the county and city.
Against terrific odds, this organization prevailed in opposition to the rendering plant and misguided city government.
John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: John Floyd looks at FOIA info on rendering plant
