FRESHWATER
FISTICUFFS IN COURT
Timber barons can speculate on trees, land barons can
speculate on selling properties but the West is not supposed
to have water barons. It’s illegal under Western water law
to speculate on water. An Oregon administrative law judge
has ruled a private company would be speculating on the
waters of the McKenzie River if granted its application for
22 million gallons of water a day out of the river.
On April 27, the judge recommended to Oregon’s Water
Resources Department that Willamette Water Company’s
water right application be denied.
Administrative Law Judge James Han wrote in his
ruling that “the preponderance of the evidence established”
that the company’s application was speculative because it
had no contracts to sell water, had not shown it would
obtain them in the future and was applying for more water
than it could show it would put to “actual beneficial use.”
WWC said it would sell water to rural communities
such as Cottage Grove and Creswell, but the judge wrote
that Willamette Water Co. didn’t show it had land-use
compliance for water lines and other needed facilities.
The conservative majority on the Lane County Board of
Commissioners voted in October 2011 for a resolution in
support of the water bid. Commissioners Pete Sorenson
and Rob Handy voted against it.
“I think round one goes to the river, but we don’t
control how many rounds this fight will go,” says John
DeVoe, executive director of WaterWatch of Oregon. The
group has been fighting WWC’s permit application for 34
cfs (cubic feet per second), which was filed in 2008, for
several years.
Judge Han’s proposed order will go to the Water
Resources Department (WRD), which could choose to
reject or amend the order. A decision is expected soon.
DeVoe says he hopes that the WRD “will see the
wisdom in the judge’s order and act accordingly.”
WaterWatch attorney Lisa Brown says that though the
argument had more nuances, “At the core of it we just
argued there’s not a need for this water and that type of
speculative proposal is not allowed under the code.”
If the permit is denied, WWC could still appeal that
ruling. The company’s attorneys did not respond to a
request for comment before deadline.
Willamette Water Co., which currently has a small 4 cfs
permit and serves Goshen, was purchased by Greg Demers
in August 2006. In a December 2009 Water Utility Annual
Report, the corporation listed two stockholders — Demers
and Melvin McDougal. Greg Demers was listed as the
company’s president, and Jeff Demers as the director of
operations. WWC has shared administration, offices and
other goods and services with Frontier Resources LLC,
which Oregon’s Corporation Division says is made up of
Greg and Jeff Demers, as well as Ed King of King Estate
Winery. The Frontier and WWC currently share a mailing
address, according to the corporations division.
The McDougals and Demers own thousands of acres of
land around Lane County and are involved with a dispute
with Lane County over their company’s (Lost Creek Rock
Products) mining of Parvin Butte (see story this issue).
— Camilla Mortensen
THE KEYS TO
CAPSTONE
As the City Council’s vote on the 10-year Multiple-
Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) for the proposed
1,200-student Capstone project nears, Eugeneans are
piping up about potential impacts on the livability of
downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.
One of these elements is a plan to protect the residents
of Olive Plaza. Barbara Goldberg lives in the 12-story
apartment complex for low-income seniors, located next
door to what could become housing for 1,200 college
students. Goldberg stresses that she and her neighbors
aren’t vilifying the “normal, exuberant behavior” of
college students, but they fear that even after the 12-hour-
day, six-day-per-week construction phase is over, the
large-scale student housing is just “not a good match” for
a building of elderly people, many of whom have
compromised respiratory conditions or other health issues
and can be unsteady on the sidewalks.
Goldberg says that if the Capstone project is built, it
needs to be done in a way that recognizes the huge
obstacles the neighboring seniors would face if forced to
find other affordable housing. Goldberg suggests that air
conditioners with HEPA filters would be a start during the
construction phase, followed by the strict enforcement of
noise issues and sidewalk rules prohibiting bikes and
skateboards. “How can Capstone declare a successful
project if we’re miserable?” she asks.
Sherrill Necessary, a downtown neighbor, supports the
project with reservations, and says she’s heard similar
concerns from other neighbors. “If you take care of Olive
Plaza’s concerns, you’ve addressed the concerns of other
residents,” she says.
Necessary says she likes the fact that the Capstone
project will cover surface parking lots and add people to
the area instead of cars, and she thinks retail will naturally
follow the students into downtown. Still, she says that to
make it a “good project for all,” the city has to learn from
other communities and the West University neighborhood
to prevent problems.
Paul Conte, a neighborhood advocate, says that
amending the MUPTE and/or city code to include standards
of facilities, video monitoring, staffing, lease terms would
help protect the Capstone project’s neighbors, but to make
it work, those standards “need to be legally enforceable.”
He says other provisions might need to be made to prevent
the expansion of the Barmuda Triangle into residential
neighborhoods.
Jamin Aasum, an architect who lives in the South
University neighborhood, says he’s concerned about the
huge influx of students into downtown at once, especially
when what Eugene is “longing for is a real downtown that
caters to the whole community.” Aasum says he can’t
imagine that this particular project would be in Eugene’s
long-term plan.
“It’s another example of people wanting so much for
downtown to be developed they just jump at anything and
not really have a vision for what should be there in 20 or
30 years,” he says.
Zechariah Heck, a UO senior double majoring in
political science and planning, public policy and
management, says he can see the project revitalizing
downtown Eugene and providing much-needed downtown
housing, but he’s concerned that a student-only facility
isn’t ideal.
“I think this project can be a net positive for the whole
community, but with that said, there’s different ways that
this could be going about,” Heck says, “and one would be
just taking down the whole student housing and having the
developer look for a focus on mixed housing, and that
would alleviate concerns about having a monoculture.”
For more on Capstone and the MUPTE, see wkly.
ws/19j and eugenecat.org
— Shannon Finnell
sports
EMERALD CITY ROLLS
OVER SAN FRANCISCO
Saturday, April 21, the Emerald City Roller Girls all-star Skatesaphrenics took
on the San Francisco ShEvil Dead in Eugene. Using strong pack control to pile
on the points during the ShEvil Dead’s many trips to the penalty box, the
Skatesaphrenics dominated from start to finish winning 206-102.
Prior to the bout, there was concern ShEvil Dead might feast on the brains
of Emerald City scorers, but the opposite proved to be true. Emerald City
scorer-in-zombie-makeup Bullet Brains feasted on the ShEvil Dead defense
racking up a game-high 86 points. She was aided by great blocking from
Emerald City President Rex Havoc (pictured), who finished with 24 attacks on
ShEvil Dead jammers. ShEvil Dead’s scoring was led by Al Gory, but the
inconvenient truth was her 49 points were not nearly enough to help her team
to a victory.
The second bout of the night was between two Emerald City home teams:
the Andromedolls versus the Flat Track Furies. The Andromedolls used strong
walls, anchored by co-captain Agent Orange, to stop the Flat Track Furies’
scorers. Andromedolls rookie jammer Sham!Pain had a break-out game scoring
28 points. The Andromedolls earned a spot in the June 9 Emerald City
Championship game with their 103-60 victory.
A portion of the profits from the bout went to support Lane County Animal
Services, which was in attendance with adoption-ready pets. Lane County
Commissioner Pete Sorenson, champion for LCAS and the Lane Events Center,
blew the starting whistle for the first bout.
You can next catch the Emerald City Roller Girls in action May 19 at the Lane
Events Center. Visit emeraldcityrollergirls.net for more info. — James Brains
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Skatesaphrenic blocker Rex Havoc helps teammate Ophelia
Melons (88) block the ShEvil Dead scorer Sweet Thunder (111
in black) while simultaneously giving Skatesaphrenic scorer
Jala Pain Yo (44) a ‘whip assist’
EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 3, 2012 7