Published: February 19, 2013 12:00AM, Today
Lane County developers Greg Demers and
Norman and Melvin McDougal
have emerged as the victors in the latest legal battle over their
mining of gravel
at Parvin Butte, off Highway 58 near Dexter.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals, in a
decision earlier this month,
agreed with Demers and the McDougals that they don’t need a site review
permit from Lane County in order to carry out their mining plans.
For the rest of the story, click on:
Demers makes things happen
The
recent Register Guard “Demers file” articles — especially the one
appearing on the cover on Feb. 20
— paint a blatantly skewed picture of the personal character of Greg
Demers. I have known Demers for
years and have always found him to be a good man. His generosity to the
community has been enormous:
in addition to single-handedly building a church and school in Veneta,
he has supported many organizations
such as Relief Nursery, Sacred Heart Foundation, and Children’s
Miracle Network.
Additionally,
I
remember
how
Demers
stepped
up
to
rescue
the
Campfire
Girls’
Wilani
Camp
from
bankruptcy in 1999. He bought most of the camp for over $300,000,
leased it back for a pittance, and
also donated $300,000 to refurbish the camp — all of which were
instrumental in allowing the decades
-long tradition of kids’ camping to continue.
Despite
that history, the reporting painted Demers as if he were nothing more
than a financial “speculator”
with secretive business entities. By contrast, the person I know is
investing in visionary ventures
including an intermodal facility that has the potential to bring much
needed economic activity to Lane County.
Yes,
successful entrepreneurs sometimes have sharp elbows; however, they are
also human beings
who have their own challenges and adversities. The difference is that a
person like Demers makes
things happen — which is exactly what Lane County desperately needs
now. At a minimum, fairness
demands that Register-Guard readers hear the “rest of the story.”
Janice Standeford
Eugene