The university made three new sets of records public Friday, also including more records from an already-provided set.
Ohio University officials considered relocating President Roderick McDavis and his wife, Deborah, from their Park Place residence as far back as four years ago, according to documents OU provided to the Office of the Ohio Inspector General in December.
Records provided to The Post Friday as part of a public records request indicate that the university was considering relocating the president’s residence as early as July 2012.
The records provided Friday include correspondences between administrators in Cutler Hall, the Division of University Advancement, Real Estate Management and Ohio Athletics.
OU President Roderick McDavis sent an email to then-director of Real Estate Development Donna Goss and Executive Director of Gift Planning and Principal Gifts Kelli Kotowski in July 2012, inviting them to consider the chancellor’s residence at the University of Arkansas “as a good model for a President’s Residence.”
Later that same day, Goss sent an email to Shawna Bolin, director of university planning and space management, and Dick Planisek, director of facility planning and space management, asking them for their help with three things, one of them being “what program(s) could be located to the current residence if it were to become vacant,” according to the documents.
On Aug. 3, 2012, a series of new housing sites were listed in the records: 109 University Estates, University Estates, Heatherstone Development, Longview Heights, Stimson Avenue, the Ridges Sites, 8225 Dairy Lane, Utah Place and Lavelle Road.
In September 2012, the university announced an anonymous donor was interested in renovating or building a new house for the McDavises, according to a previous Post report. The university decided against it, but said the relocation was a possibility for the future.
More records now public
OU made more presidential housing records public Friday after previously sending them to the Office of the Ohio Inspector General in December.
The Inspector General requested 20 sets of records from OU on Nov. 13, which was the third time the office requested presidential housing records from OU in the past year.
Of those 20, the university provided The Post with 10 sets of records Jan. 21 as part of a public records request. The university made three new sets of records public on Friday, including more records from an already-provided set.
OU’s Office of Legal Affairs is reviewing the remaining records to determine what should be excluded under public records law, Pam Dailey, OU’s records management senior specialist, said in an email Jan. 21.
Though the November request by the Inspector General cited part of the Ohio Revised Code about cooperating in investigations, it is unclear whether the university is being investigated.
“The Office of the Ohio Inspector General does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations and avoids all comment on investigations until such time that the investigation is complete,” Deputy Inspector General Carl Enslen said in an email.
All of the records are related to OU’s presidential housing situation involving President Roderick McDavis, the lease-purchase agreement for 31 Coventry Lane and the university’s relationship with the property’s owner, Athens realtor and OU donor John Wharton.
The university hasn’t provided the rest of the records, which, among others, include:
Copies of agendas and minutes of the OU Foundation trustees and executive committee.
A list of donations and pledges the Whartons have made since Feb. 1, 2015.
Expense reports and other notes regarding a Feb. 6 meeting with Wharton, McDavis and others.
The other records made public Jan. 21 can be found here.
What led to the Inspector General's request for records
The university announced March 19 that it had entered into a $1.2 million lease-purchase agreement for a new presidential residence at 31 Coventry Lane. That news came after McDavises moved out of their home at 29 Park Place following problems with a bat infestation.
The controversy surrounding the university’s lease-purchase agreement continued through much of last year.
Students and faculty concerned with the $1.2 million agreement held a protest March 31, dubbed the “Bat Rally,” and organized a petition with more than 100 faculty signatures against the decision.
In April, OU’s Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding announced the university would not purchase the home following the discovery of a verbal agreement made between Wharton and Director of Athletics Jim Schaus.
The agreement entailed a promise of $100,000 from Wharton toward the Walter Fieldhouse contingent upon the university’s purchase of his Coventry Lane home.
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That prompted OU faculty to call for an independent investigation into the Coventry Lane decision, either by the Ohio Inspector General or the Ohio Ethics Commission. It’s unclear if this caused the Inspector General to request records from OU, but it requested such records on April 27 and Aug. 3.
The McDavises still live at 31 Coventry Lane while the university leases the property. OU has since paid $4,318 per month in rental costs, which totals to about $40,000 in addition to the maintenance costs contained in the newly-released records.
The records show that landscaping and maintenance costs for 31 Coventry Lane from April to August totaled $31,800 and that such costs could total up to $43,200 a year.
The Post is awaiting further comment from the university regarding the records and presidential housing.
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