NEWS BRIEFS
BACK TAXES DOG
BUTTE DISPUTE
Neighbors of the illegally mined Parvin Butte quarry
want to know how the mine operators can apply for a
state grant of almost a half million dollars while at the
same time one of the mine’s operators, Greg Demers,
reportedly owes about $9 million in state and federal
taxes.
Demers, along with Norman and Melvin McDougal as
Lost Creek Rock Products (LCRP), was mining Parvin
Butte, a scenic butte in rural Dexter, without a site review
permit from Lane County. A letter from attorney Bill
Kloos, who represents LCRP, indicates the mining is
currently at a halt.
In November 2011, LCRP applied for an ODOT
ConnectOregon IV grant asking for $477,286 to build a
“multimodal transfer facility in West Eugene on the Coos
Bay Rail Link.” The reload facility would be “primarily
used to ship construction grade rock to the Oregon
Coast” via rail. That rock, the application said, would
come from Parvin Butte.
Demers was the contact person for LCRP and signed
the application. He checked off “No” in answer to the
question: “Is the applicant current on all state and local
taxes, fees and assessments?” And Parvin Butte neighbors
questioned this when federal tax liens in Demers’ name
came to light. “We do not support the approval of federal
grant monies to anyone who might be negligent in their
taxes,” says neighbor Sharon Latimer.
ODOT spokesman Rick Little says the applicant in
this case is LCRP, not Demers, “Greg Demers is listed as
the contact, not the applicant. ODOT’s review did not
turn up any taxes owed,” Little says.
Demers says that he is not a member of LCRP. He told
OCCUPY AND
ITS INFLUENCES
From bare breasts to ninjas with sidewalk chalk,
Occupy Eugene’s camp might be gone, but its spirit lives
on. And it’s not just the Occupiers who have an issue with
income disparity and want to do something about it; a new
group, “Empowering the 99%,” has formed, inspired by
the issues raised by Occupy Wall Street.
Occupier Brett Diamond, who serves on several Occupy
Eugene committees, attended the Jan. 19 gathering of
Empowering the 99%, which attendees say attracted
anywhere from 200 to 400 people. “Fantastic turnout for a
rainy Thursday night,” Diamond says.
The group shares many of the goals of OE such as
addressing corporate money in politics but is separate,
Diamond says. “The more people we can work with in
order to address the problems the better.”
Empowering the 99% took out an ad in the R-G which
mentioned issues other states have successfully taken on,
such as universal health care in Vermont.
Diamond says the meeting at First United Methodist
Church, which arose out of a Eugene men’s group,
attracted a slightly older demographic than OE. “I don’t
know what will come out of it,” Diamond says, “but I hope
something does.”
Diamond says that Occupy Eugene itself is “alive and
well” with an office at the Growers Market at 454
Willamette Street and space at 7th and Polk called OEV,
Occupy Eugene Five, as it’s the fifth place the group has
moved to. OE is planning a housewarming and volunteer
fair, Diamond says. Members of OE recently participated
in an Occupy Oregon general assembly in Salem and will
continue to work with other Occupations across the state,
he says.
On Jan. 20 the Vagilutionaries, an OE affinity group,
followed up their topless protest at Eugene City Councilor
George Poling’s house with a bare-breasted protest at the
U.S. Courthouse. Six masked women in black pants and
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Goshen and is seeking to get a right to 22 million more
EW “I am a minority member of an LLC that has an
gallons of water a day out of the McKenzie River in order
interest in it but I am not member.”
to sell that water to other nearby rural communities.
Documents obtained by EW show that while applying
Parvin Butte itself may be tied up in these financial
for almost a half million dollars in grant money from the
issues. The state of Oregon might have a claim to
state, Demers appears to owe the state $1,363,054,
Demer’s share of Parvin Butte since the Department of
according to a Dec. 9, 2008 tax lien from the Oregon
Revenue filed its lien on his personal property while
Department of Revenue. The document says interest is
Demers still owned the butte. Demers, however, says “it
accruing at a rate of $466 a day, which adds another half
was never in my name.”
million dollars to the total owed.
According to a bargain and sale deed, Demers as a
The IRS also has a tax lien against Demers for unpaid
grantor conveyed the property, which has been valued at
federal taxes of almost $3 million as of Oct. 19, 2009.
$30 million, to ATR Land, a company in which Demers
Interest compounds on that lien at a rate of 8 percent plus
is listed as the only member on Oct. 14, 2009.
penalties.
A week later on Oct. 23,
The documents also show
according to documents filed
six Lane County property tax
with Lane County, Union
warrants for back taxes, a civil
Pacific Railroad executed a
judgment against Demers for
quit claim deed on the same
$3 million plus interest from
property to ATR, and ATR
Dec. 9, 2009, and six other
conveyed the property via a
federal tax liens for trust taxes
- Parvin Butte neighbor Sharon Latimer
bargain and sale deed to
for $36,000 each. It would
LeeLynn and Wiley Mt. Inc for
appear that Demers owes more
$363,000. That same day the companies then conveyed
than $9 million in back taxes and judgments.
one-third of the property back to ATR “in consideration”
Demers says his tax liens “are under dispute with the
for other properties. Finally on Oct. 26, 2009, ATR
Compromise and Settlement Division of the IRS,” and
executed a trust land deed granting the one-third interest
attributes them to “phantom income” from a now-
to Fidelity Trust National Title as trustee with the
dissolved corporation called Pioneer Resources.
McDougals as beneficiaries.
According to court documents, winery owner Ed King
The ODOT grant application lists LCRP as “a
and the McDougals were also involved with Pioneer.
partnership between ATR Land LLC and McDougal
This is not the first time Demers and the McDougals’
Bros. Investment,” and continues: “The partners also
business dealings have been questioned (see EW
own many land parcels which are related to the timber,
12/9/2010, Freshwater Fisticuffs). They are developers
commercial and residential industries including the
who own land and businesses in Lane County and
Parvin Butte Quarry in Dexter, Oregon.”
elsewhere in the West. They also own Willamette Water
— Camilla Mortensen
Company, a private water company that supplies water to
‘We do not support the approval of
federal grant monies to anyone who
might be negligent in their taxes.’
VAGILUTIONARIES ARE PEOPLE NOT CORPORATIONS
ROB SYDOR
rubber boots painted the letters P-E-O-P-L-E across their
chests in commemoration and in protest of the 2010
Citizens United ruling that allows corporations to make
unlimited donations in elections.
A poster of a protester in black ninja garb holding a
crowbar was used to advertise a Jan. 23 bank protest by
OE affinity group Tango Down. The poster for the “Urban
Ninja Bank March,” which took place at area banks
including Chase, Bank of America and Umpqua, led some
to worry the protest would be violent or lead to property
damage. Chase Bank locked its doors when the ninja
march approached, but the protest itself featured black-
garbed and masked Occupiers, as well as dogs and
children, in games of “Red Rover,” playing with bubbles
and sidewalk chalk and meditation. At one point the ninjas
gathered around a crowbar chanting “ommmmm.”
No arrests were made.
For more information on Empowering the 99%, call
organizer Call Bill Klupenger at 206-1733. To keep up to
date on OE and for listings of its community access
television show go to occupyeugenemedia.org
— Camilla Mortensen
EUGENE WEEKLY JANUARY 26, 2012 7