Tenants of the embattled Forest Glen Senior Residence say they will fundraise to pay a $48,000 water bill, even if eviction notices are served the day after the bill has been paid.

A Thursday meeting at the dilapidated six-story apartment building in Canyonville along Interstate 5 yielded a gathering of four-dozen community members and residents.

The landmark has been in a state of limbo and disrepair since Feb. 9, when some 50 residents and a dozen live-in employees of management company Harmony Active Living were notified that the building would be closing “effective immediately.”

When the closure was first announced, volunteers and community agencies sprang into action, donating supplies and volunteering to cook and clean for the residents, who never received official eviction notices and declined to leave.

Thursday’s community meeting was the second since the closure. A Feb. 22 meeting drew more than 130 concerned community members and liaisons from various government and social service agencies.

Over the past two months, building owner Terry Emmert has not responded to requests for comment, while Harmony Active Living owner Jerry Reeves maintains he lacks the authority to issue eviction notices. On Easter Sunday, March 31, Pastor Max Stafford, director of Winston-based Redemptive Ministries, announced plans to run and possibly purchase the building.

Thursday’s meeting had a decidedly more contentious energy with water service slated for disconnect May 1 and the continued non-response from Emmert. Canyonville Mayor Christine Morgan said city officials issued the water shutoff notice March 20 to help “move things along.”

With so much uncertainty for Forest Glen residents, former Harmony Active Living Manager Rain Clark said Thursday that residents were leaning on what they know to be fact: The water bill is due; residents cannot live in the building without water; and no eviction notices have been served.

If residents pay the water bill, Clark noted, they’ll still have “at least have 90 days” if eviction notices are given.

While Mayor Morgan previously had announced the city would only allow building owner Emmert to pay the water bill, she said in a statement read Thursday by council member Jerry O’ Sullivan that city legal counsel had determined payment could be made by residents.

Morgan’s letter relayed concerns that Stafford is working toward plans for the building that won’t fit zoning criteria and that residents — with 10 days remaining before they’re without water — have resisted rehousing assistance. 

“Agencies include UCAN, Umpqua Health Alliance, Housing Authority of Douglas County, the Department of Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Embrace Senior Advisors and the State Ombudsman’s Office for Long-Term Care; several of these agencies have representatives here tonight and each agency has been on site regularly,” the statement read. “These agencies have been thwarted by former employees and others, telling them they don’t have to move. This has been very confusing to many of these residents.”

Some audience members Thursday voiced concern for residents who are still paying rent, which Clark acknowledged is being collected for use on the water bill. Clark said the funds are in a secure location, monitored by herself, former assistant manager Star Netherton and resident Tim Goldsworthy.

Goldsworthy, who livestreamed the meeting, confirmed that all money orders and checks “that have been written, at this point, are all in my name,”

“I am a retired businessman who used to run multi-million-dollar businesses. I have advocated for more people in this building than anybody. I spent 30 years running multi-million-dollar residences and I ran 30 units of apartments in Roseburg,” Goldsworthy said. “That qualifies me, I promise.”

Clark told the audience that if enough money cannot be raised to pay the water bill, it would be returned to residents. Residents plan a chili cookoff Saturday and will host a silent auction in coming weeks for a 1994 Ford Explorer and a slew of handmade or donated items.

Reeves and Stafford disagreed on the current status of Emmert, who has not returned repeated calls by the Rogue Valley Times. Reeves said Thursday, in a text message to the Times, that Stafford has “no agreement with Terry per Terry.”

Stafford said he would not pay bills for the building, or collect money, until a written agreement is in place. Stafford said Emmert would carry a contract for building purchase if Stafford can produce a $100,000 down payment. Stafford attended the meeting with newly appointed Redemptive Ministries CEO Shane Grimes. 

Stafford said the focus of Redemptive Ministries is to “serve the residents.” Stafford said he spent recent weeks voluntarily assisting with building repairs, preparing available rooms for rent and addressing a bedbug infestation. Prior to Thursday’s meeting, Stafford said he planned for residents to preemptively fill out lease agreements but had directed Clark and Netherton to “hold off for now.”

Stafford acknowledged the confusing nature of the situation at Forest Glen.

“I’m gonna call Forest Glen an elephant, because it is an elephant. And how do you eat an elephant?” he asked the audience.

“You size it up first — and that’s what we’ve been doing, we’ve been sizing this place up — and then start taking one bite at a time,” Stafford added.

He said it made no sense to “close down a facility that is already housing people in a market that is tough to find housing in,” to which several audience members shouted, “Amen!”

“We’ve got a stalemate on who is going to pay the mortgage,” Stafford added.

“And we’ve got a shutoff notice that almost seems like it’s an eviction notice that nobody has received. … A water shutoff notice cannot be an eviction notice and it cannot be a way to clear this building.”

Netherton said her focus was to advocate for residents.

“My No. 1 goal from the get-go, and I’ve stated this time and time again, is to make sure every single person in this building is safe,” she said following the meeting.

“Whether we can find them a place outside here and bring them back later, or whether we can keep them here, our priority has just been to ensure that each and every resident is safe.”