Hot showers and a functioning kitchen will continue into the near future for residents of the embattled Forest Glen Senior Residence in Canyonville after an 11th-hour utility bill payment.

Less than 24 hours before city officials were set to shut off water and sewer service to the six-story structure along Interstate 5, property owner Terry Emmert paid nearly $50,000 in past-due charges.

Mayor Christine Morgan said in a release that a cashier’s check for six months’ worth of delinquent water and sewer bills — due Wednesday — had been deposited into the city’s utility drop-box after hours on Monday and was officially verified Tuesday morning.

City officials issued the shutoff notice March 20, Morgan said at the time, to “help move things along.” Building residents have faced a slew of uncertainties since Feb. 9, when some 50 residents and a dozen live-in employees of Harmony Active Living LLC, the company then managing the property, were notified that the building was closing “effective immediately.”

A set of community meetings followed, with local and regional social service agencies, city officials, volunteers and other entities offering assistance. Community members stepped in to help cook and clean and donate food and other supplies.

Former property manager Jerry Reeves, who said he founded Harmony Active Living to help Emmert run the facility, issued the closure notice but said he didn’t have the authority to issue eviction notices, leaving residents in limbo.

Emmert has not responded to requests for comment. An employee at his office, Emmert International, told the Rogue Valley Times on Monday that they “won’t be providing any information.”

On Easter Sunday, March 31, Pastor Max Stafford, director of Winston-based Redemptive Ministries, announced plans to run and possibly purchase the building from Emmert. At an April 18 community meeting at Forest Glen, Stafford said he had made progress on an agreement with Emmert while residents vowed to fundraise to pay delinquent utilities: They held a chili cookoff and a silent auction, and still plan to throw a yard sale.

Mayor Morgan told the Times on Tuesday that city officials remain “very concerned” about the condition of the building and long-term stability for residents.

As a last-ditch measure to render assistance prior to the utility shutoff, half a dozen social service agencies visited Forest Glen on Friday, going door to door and urging residents to accept offers of alternate housing. Morgan said the ongoing efforts to “save Forest Glen,” and the efforts of former management, had “thwarted residents from accepting more stable housing.”

“When Canyonville’s City Council voted to terminate water service on May 1, that date was chosen to give the residents 45 days to secure new housing. Several residents have now been rehoused, but many others have moved in,” Morgan said.

This week, building tenant Tim Goldsworthy announced that Redemptive Ministries had appointed him chief financial officer. Goldsworthy, who has posted Forest Glen updates to social media, said the ministry hoped to finalize a lease-to-purchase contract with Emmert soon, and that residents were breathing “a sigh of relief” with the utilities paid and the eviction threat now gone.

“Everybody here is just so relieved and elated at this point,” Goldsworthy said. “Our plan is to fill the building up and move forward in a sustainable way.”

Goldsworthy said prior managers had been let go — including former building manager Rain Clark and former assistant manager Star Netherton — and that he would be running the Forest Glen office and “handling all monies from here on out.”

Goldsworthy said priorities for new management include filling vacant rooms, addressing a bedbug infestation and making repairs to the dilapidated facility. 

“We still need some community support for a while. Once we get all the rooms filled up, it’s going to be profitable and sustainable for everybody,” Goldsworthy said.

“We plan to keep it low-income. We’re going to try to dedicate a floor to women and children, so they have a place to be safe. The biggest change, overall, is going to be that the management that was here … isn’t. And that’s going to be a positive. We had some issues of rudeness or aggressiveness towards the community. That’s all coming to a halt, and I will now be the public face of Forest Glen.”

Morgan said future water bill payments will only be accepted from Emmert until someone else presents a lease to the city. Morgan said Stafford had preliminarily discussed plans for the building but that city officials would have final say on zoning restrictions.

In addition to Stafford and himself, Goldsworthy said Redemptive Ministries CEO Shane Grimes and COO Jason Doan would help manage the building. All but Stafford currently live there. Goldsworthy called his new role as CFO and the changes underway at Forest Glen “the next, best chapter of my life.”

“I’ve had residents cry, they’re so relieved. I’ve had residents hug me,” he said.

“I think everybody thought these were a bunch of senile old people who were gonna just fold up and walk away. I am so happy that our residents can finish living their lives here. With Max’s help, and (Emmert) believing in us, we can now make it happen.”