A Letter to Correct the Record
Township statements claiming that the retained experts produced “no deliverables” at recent Township meetings are false and directly contradicted by the public record.
Despite clear, on-the-record acknowledgments that the experts completed a preliminary review and submitted written identification of data gaps, Township leadership publicly told residents and the Planning Commission that the experts had produced “nothing.” These statements emphasized dollar amounts paid and the absence of Planning-Commission-facing reports, while omitting the documented deliverable that was in fact produced and ignoring repeated acknowledgments that further work was contingent on Levy supplying missing information.
This framing misrepresents both the experts’ role and the stage of the review process. In environmental and mining review, identifying deficiencies and requesting additional information is a foundational deliverable, not a failure of performance.
Compounding this misrepresentation, the experts were excluded from subsequent meetings, not invited to clarify their work, and not given an opportunity to respond, while their professionalism and value were questioned in their absence during the January Township Board and Planning Commission meetings. The result was a public narrative that discredited the experts without acknowledging the factual and procedural reasons their work could not yet proceed.
Taken together, the record shows that claims of “no deliverables” are inaccurate and that Township leadership presented an incomplete and misleading account of the experts’ work. Based on that incomplete record, on January 27, 2026, the Planning Commission publicly recommended termination of the Township’s contracts with Mike Wilczynski of Pangea, LLC and Brian O’Mara of Agate Harbor Advisors, LLC.
Setting aside personal views, it is concerning and unprofessional for the Township Board and Planning Commission to attempt to discredit highly qualified experts who undertook this complex and consequential work in good faith, particularly when the public record demonstrates that their work was constrained by missing applicant-provided information.
As a former Fact-Finding Committee member who participated in those FFC meetings and was present at both Township Board and Planning Commission public meetings, I believed it was important to set the record straight and ensure that both the Planning Commission and the public have access to complete and accurate information. For that reason, I submitted a letter to the Planning Commission clarifying the documented record.
If you want to find out more information about the Township’s independent experts: -> Springfield Township’s Independent Experts Article
