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This cant be good.....

5K views 36 replies 17 participants last post by  jj103.5 
#1 ·
#6 ·
With the attention given the complaints, if there was any legitimacy to the charges he would be gone or so charged. He hasn't been.

Charges are one thing - validity of the charges another.

Point blank, there is not one agency in Pennsylvania that would not hire him to handle land and mineral issues in a heartbeat. Beyond the gas issues he is responsible for to the GC, he has been the catalyst for many other land issues and additions.

It is also very true that the no surface agreements the GC has with drillers runs back to Capouillez. As does the GC receiving the highest royalty rates of any government agency in the state. Nearly double what other agencies get.

He delivers consistently for the GC and sportsmen be it gas or mineral issues, land deals and land swaps and or donations.

This is an old story having begun some four or five years ago. My guess is the court case provided new fodder.

In the end, my guess is he will leave the GC and sportsmen will be for the worse of it.

Until then, the state will continue to investigate charges and take any required legal action if warranted. So far, it appears that has not been required.
 
#9 ·
Bluetick said:
With the attention given the complaints, if there was any legitimacy to the charges he would be gone or so charged. He hasn't been.

Charges are one thing - validity of the charges another.

Point blank, there is not one agency in Pennsylvania that would not hire him to handle land and mineral issues in a heartbeat. Beyond the gas issues he is responsible for to the GC, he has been the catalyst for many other land issues and additions.

It is also very true that the no surface agreements the GC has with drillers runs back to Capouillez. As does the GC receiving the highest royalty rates of any government agency in the state. Nearly double what other agencies get.

He delivers consistently for the GC and sportsmen be it gas or mineral issues, land deals and land swaps and or donations.

This is an old story having begun some four or five years ago. My guess is the court case provided new fodder.

In the end, my guess is he will leave the GC and sportsmen will be for the worse of it.

Until then, the state will continue to investigate charges and take any required legal action if warranted. So far, it appears that has not been required.
Bt

I guess I guess I see it from the standpoint of the PGC having complete autonomy. Most government institutions would never allow something like this to be happening.
Could someone with the same title working for DCNR be allowed to do what this guy is doing? Absolutely not!
 
#10 ·
End of the day there are the ethics laws and commission of the state. Regardless of the agency or state office / activity - these laws apply. From the article and elsewhere before, as this is not a new issue, no one has found any ethics violation.

It is what it is. Personally, I would rather it not be occurring either. It does have the look of impropriety. however, that said, the law is the law. If the IG and or the Ethics Commission have no issues - all we have left is subjective and personal opinion.
 
#12 ·
Great piece of investigative journalism!
Not really? Not the first media coverage of it, either.

Also fairly common knowledge 'mongst those that keep an eye on the Game Commission folks and goings-on in the gas lease news.

Not saying it's right or wrong, merely pointing out that there have been previous articles published about his dealings with lease holders.
 
#14 ·
The guy is a first class wizard at handling both land deals on additional SGL acreage and negotiating good terms for drilling on PGC lands. Such as the "no footprint" deals, where SGLs don't actually have well pads, but PGC benefits from the gas beneath them being tapped.

He's been an asset to the agency for years, whether his "side deals" look good to his critics, or not?
 
#17 ·
So lets say the guy was a carpenter for the PGC, does that mean he couldnt do carpentry outside the PGC? This is what the guy does, if he can make himself rich by doing it, more power to him!
 
#18 ·
He claims that he can separate his knowledge and dealings of his Commonwealth work with his consulting work. Not sure I buy that, but, more power to him. He has had to defend his work and has been found not in violation of any unethical behavior, but when I worked for the Commonwealth I had to divest ALL of my earned stocks and such before taking the position. Even though I would not be dealing with the company whose stocks I owned. I was hired and had to have 8-10 years experience for the job. Since I worked in the industry, I had some stocks from a retirement plan with my former company.
All that being said, this is old news that has been known in the Commonwealth for some time by those who have to sign the ethics paperwork.
 
#19 ·
Pretty shady stuff. He is absolutely exploiting the knowledge gained through his PGC dealings with the gas companies to make money. And tons of it. The only reason he knows exactly where they want to put wells and how much they will pay is because of his dealings with them as a PGC employee. It's not a guessing game when he solicits customers. He knows the areas where he will make money and whose doors to knock on.
 
#20 ·
I met Bill over 5 years ago, had some conversations with him, and attended one of his seminars. He knew his stuff about NG leasing back then, when most had no clue what they were dealing with. He was very good back then at making the PGC good deals, as well as private land owners, and certainly did well for himself along the way.
Keep in mind, on the private side, he deals with large tract's of land comprised of several land owners. So whether he is negotiating for a large tract of PGC land, or private land, he learns something with each deal. It is not a one way street, the knowledge he obtains is all put toward the next deal, be it PGC or private.
I am not saying that what he is doing is not a "gray" area, but several examples can be given for either side.....and have been.
As far as the club in Lycoming County, I have seen the same type of remorse around here. People signed the lease, all happy with it. Then a few years down the road they change there mind and want a better deal.......buyers remorse kind of thing. You can't blame Bill for that. He was up front about his deal, and his percentage of the deal when he spoke around here. To be honest, his percentage of the royalty's was what kept me from signing with him.
He also never mentioned the PGC , or the fact that he worked for them when speaking to me, or during the seminar I attended, so he wasn't using his job as a prop back then.
To summarize, I believe he has helped the PGC get better leases, helped private land owners get better leases, and certainly helped his own net worth along the way.
 
#21 ·
If he had touted his PGC experience to private parties, then that would have possibly amounted to unfairly/unethically exploiting that connection to garner more clients?

Buyer's remorse can be more correctly called jealousy over a neighbor's good fortune at getting better terms than "you" had gotten, with a more current lease in many cases? A lot of that going around, where my camp is.

Most of my camp neighbors were already leased when the Marcellus Shale boom got rolling. Myself and some of the others without leases, were eventually offered as much as $2500 per acre during the peak period, while most of those under current, pre-Marcellus leases were only signed at $50 per acre, or less. Although most of the newer leases wound up more in the $1500-$2000 per acre category, once things settled out a bit. My $2500 offer included pipeline ROWs, too.

So not hard to figure out why us johnny come latelys were held in low esteem by those who had gotten far less for their older leases?

I never got a penny, because it turned out "my" O/G rights had been separated back in the 1930s.

Something I wasn't even aware of until Marcellus leases began, mostly because there was an existing gas lease on the property when dad acquired it in the 1970s and that company bugged us often about renewing it, when it had expired back then.

When leases ran to just a few bucks per acre in the 70s, apparently companies just signed folks up, whether they actually owned their O/G rights, or not?

And yes, lots of rural folks signed leases and had no clue what they were getting into, or what the current prices might've been at the time. So someone like Bill C. would've been a valuable asset to them at the time?

And if you're selling services with a value to others, then ya get to benefit from offering that service.
 
#22 ·
It is what it is. Personally, I would rather it not be occurring either. It does have the look of impropriety. however, that said, the law is the law. If the IG and or the Ethics Commission have no issues - all we have left is subjective and personal opinion.
Old news, maybe, but first I've gotten wind of it. My thoughts... very stupid of the PGC to put him in the position they did. A very easy remedy . Don't put him in charge of O&G leases for a state agency when his PRIMARY job is to negotiate the same leases for the private sector. Anybody that doesn't see how that could be a conflict, or at the very least, raise suspect questions, has their head buried.

I'll say this, the guy really must have a "passion" for helping sportsmen and wildlife to put up with a 40 hour/week state job at $75,000/year, when he could be using those hours negotiating deals that net him millllllllllions........... well, unless...........
 
#23 ·
He does have a passion for hunting and wildlife. That passion has resulted in some very large additions to our game land system. That along with the highest royalty rates in the state. He is also the lead person in making sure that actual game land property is not drilled on if at all possible. Then, even when the surface rights are not owned by the GC - he is making sure the disruption is as light as possible with restoration standards in place to make it better than before... or as close to that as possible.


If anyone has been watching and applauding the recent additions, land swaps, and other land deals at the quarterly meetings - you have this guy to thank. That entire section, with him at the lead is making a huge difference for all of us.

He is also a great guy to talk to. Knowledgeable, open, and very approachable.
 
#24 ·
Fleroo said:
It is what it is. Personally, I would rather it not be occurring either. It does have the look of impropriety. however, that said, the law is the law. If the IG and or the Ethics Commission have no issues - all we have left is subjective and personal opinion.
Old news, maybe, but first I've gotten wind of it. My thoughts... very stupid of the PGC to put him in the position they did. A very easy remedy . Don't put him in charge of O&G leases for a state agency when his PRIMARY job is to negotiate the same leases for the private sector. Anybody that doesn't see how that could be a conflict, or at the very least, raise suspect questions, has their head buried.

I'll say this, the guy really must have a "passion" for helping sportsmen and wildlife to put up with a 40 hour/week state job at $75,000/year, when he could be using those hours negotiating deals that net him millllllllllions........... well, unless...........
What guy would you want to manage your 401k?
Should we have the most knowledgeable, most experienced guy doing the leases for the PGC, the one who by far and away gets the best deal? Or should we dismiss him ecause he makes a good living on the side....just like a state welder, plumber, truck driver...etc...etc...

The state gets a great 40 hours out of him, he gets another 40 on his own time.....and own dime....

Tell me you wouldn't do the same given the opportunity.........

He gives the PGC its money's worth and then some, and he has already made himself millions....he doesn't need the PGC job......but the PGC sure benefits from him being there........so tell me how we as sportsman are loosing in this deal ?

Big difference between being jealous of ones success, and realizing that even though they are personally successful, they are also helping the PGC...........even though they don't need to........
 
#25 ·
I signed a lease that Bill put together and there was times I thought he was the bad guy and told him so but as time went by and he kept explaining things that turned out to be true I gained alot of respect
for him. Yes he does take a percent of the royaties and of the lease money but I wish I had talked to him before I signed the lease on our other farm because his cut would have been cheap. No one to blame but myself for signin to quick.But puting the lease money aside I feel worse about the details of the lease then I do about the money because if there is one thing Bill did was got some things in our lease that many people didn't get. I guess I would say he earned his cut, the only thing I wish we had done was put an ending date to his cut, say someday comes he or his company is not around to handle problems that we have then his cut should quit.
 
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