CITY ENGINEER APPROVES HIS OWN PLANS

JACKSON -- In this fast-growing community, subdivision plats are a mainstay of the rapid development of new housing. But professional engineers and others involved in the subdivision and platting process claim there is a conflict of interest in the approval procedures.

Richard Bowen, a partner in Jackson's only engineering and surveying firm, is also city engineer.

As city engineer, he approves subdivision plats submitted to the city -- even the ones from his own firm.

Moreover, some engineers from other towns who work on Jackson subdivisions say Bowen nitpicks plans submitted by other firms. In some cases, they say, subdivision developers frequently wind up having the city engineer's own firm, Bowen & Lawson Professional Engineers & Surveyors, do the work to avoid bureaucratic headaches.

Bowen, who has been interim city engineer for six years, says the complaints are sour grapes and insists there is no conflict of interest. He said other small towns, where professional engineers are few and far between, also rely on the same person to draw up plans and approve them for compliance with city codes and ordinances.

Bowen cited Perryville and Poplar Bluff as examples of towns with situations similar to Jackson. But both of those towns take pains to avoid potential conflicts, and neither town allows an engineer to approve his own plans.

Charles Blattner III of Blattner & Associates Inc. in Cape Girardeau is one professional engineer who doesn't care for Bowen's dual role. He filed a complaint with a state licensing agency, the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, three years ago after months of bickering with Bowen over a plat.

"If he would treat you with decency, it wouldn't be a problem," Blattner said. "He points out piddly things that don't have anything to do with engineering. Anyone in Jackson knows if they want to get a plat approved, they ought to go to Bowen."

The state board dismissed the complaint without any type of discipline and suggested Blattner pursue the matter in civil court.

He didn't, but he still believes elected officials in Jackson should remove Bowen as city engineer. Blattner flatly said Bowen holds up competing engineering firms' plans so that clients would get upset and take their business to Bowen.

Bowen's firm currently receives the majority of engineering and surveying business done in Jackson. Of 20 complete subdivision plans in the Jackson utilities and public works office filed since 1990, Bowen & Lawson did 11. Blattner had six, and Poythress & Koehler, another Cape Girardeau engineering firm, had three.

And, of the 21 new plats in Jackson filed since January 1994 with the Cape Girardeau County Recorder of Deeds, Bowen's son, surveyor Chris Bowen, completed 16. Richard Bowen's approving signature is on all of them as city engineer.

Blattner isn't the only competing engineer who has expressed dissatisfaction with Bowen. Other engineers, surveyors and developers say they have had problems with Bowen's treatment of them, too, but they didn't want their names used, because they said it would affect their ability to do business in Jackson.

"It's common knowledge what he's doing," one said. "It's a pain in the butt. I think we get scrutinized more and have to play by different rules. More stuff is asked of us."

Asked about the assertions of his competitors, Bowen said there is no conflict of interest. He said it is fairly common for small towns such as Poplar Bluff and Perryville to hire a private engineer to do work for the city.

However, Poplar Bluff doesn't have a city engineer. Sam Smith of S.H. Smith Consulting Engineers and Surveyors in the Butler County seat, does engineering work for the city, but it is approved by the city planner and building inspector.

Tom Lawson, Poplar Bluff's city manager, said there might be some confusion, because Smith was elected Butler County's engineer. However, he isn't retained by the city.

In Perryville, Ken Baer of Baer Land Surveying & Engineering said he is one of four engineers used by the city, but the city staff there approves plans for subdivisions and other engineering work, including Baer's.

"If it exceeds the building commissioner's capabilities, they hire an outside engineering firm to approve it," he said.

While Baer is a member of Perryville's planning and zoning board, he abstains from voting on his work or doesn't attend the meeting at all.

At the Jackson City Hall, there haven't been any complaints about Bowen's handling of work done by other engineers, according to Mayor Paul Sander.

Sander encouraged developers or engineers with complaints to raise their concerns with the Jackson Board of Aldermen during open session.

"I can assure them their comments won't be held against anybody," Sander said. "I can see where people may have questions, but they need to come to the council or city staff."

Shirlye Cramer-Benson, executive director of the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, advised people who believe there has been an ethical violation to file a complaint with her office.

And the executive director of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers, Paul Jobe, echoed Cramer-Benson's advice. "I would need a letter from one of the other engineers. We have a professional conduct committee, and a code of ethics is a strong suit of ours."

Bowen is a member of the society.