Sam & Ellen Asher
1347 Golden Avenue, Eugene, OR 97404
Bowman dirt pile issues Bowman fence issues Hole in Sam's truck Visit from the Sheriff Brian uses the K word Missing compost bin Hurled Screw Driver Brian poisons our dog
Memorial Day through Labor Day of 2003
re: Al & Helen Bowman property dispute
Al & Helen Bowman Home: 1375 Golden Avenue, Eugene, OR 97404 541-461-3999
Business: Advanced Transmission Service, 905 West First Street, Eugene, OR 97402 541-683-8174
May 23, 2003
Neighbor Al Bowman, in the process of excavating and cementing his driveway and back yard, asks me if I'd like 2 or 3 inches of gravel where our front lawn meets Golden Avenue. He had a couple of guys with a small backhoe working for him at the time and said he'd be glad to give us this gravel and the guys would even put it in neatly and compact it for us. I thanked him and said that would be nice of him, we'd appreciate it.
After a while Ellen came and got me. She was upset about what they were doing. The guys with the backhoe were making an ever growing pile of gravel on our front lawn (see pictures). I asked them to stop, but they said they were under orders from Al (who had gone out) and would not stop. They continued to deposit gravel on our property. When Al finally returned the guys were finished. I asked him about this mass of gravel and he said I'd agreed to it. "Well I said they were going to compact it for ya. What'd you think?" That's a reasonably exact quote of what he said at the time of my first confrontation with him on this subject. He also said, somewhat jokingly, that I was lucky he wasn't charging me for the material and the labor.
June 20, 2003
I asked Al when this pile was going to be removed. Al again said that I'd agreed to it by accepting his explanation of "having it compacted." I told Al that if I'd thought this was his intention that I'd have never agreed to having any gravel at all in the first place. Al just shrugged, shook his head and said it wasn't his problem if I didn't know what he was talking about. I then asked Al when this gravel would be removed and he said the person who was first going to take it (for a barn or something) had changed his mind and no longer wanted it, but that there was another person who wanted it and would bring over a tractor and would be removing it piecemeal. This would start on June 24, 2003 with all the material being gone by "the end of that week".
June 23, 2003
I asked Al again if the gravel would be gone by the time he said, hoping that the gravel might actually be gone by then. Al reiterated that the person would be bringing his tractor by on the afternoon of the 24th. The tractor would be here for the duration of however long it took to remove the gravel but that the gravel would all be gone by the "end of the week". I then asked Al if that meant the gravel would all be gone by Friday. "Yes," he replied.
June 27, 2003
As of this date the gravel is still here and we're getting estimates from excavators for the removal of the material and from landscapers for any needed repair work on the property. Obviously we'd want Al to pay for any and all expenses we incurred.
At this point we put a sign into the pile of gravel and dirt that said:
"How much longer will this ugly pile of gravel be here?
log on to
the web page url
to find out"
5/23/2003 view from our front porch looking toward Golden Avenue
5/23/2003 view from Golden Avenue looking from Southwest to Northeast
5/23/2003 view from Golden Avenue looking from Northwest to Southeast
5/23/2003 view parallel to Golden Avenue looking from South to North
5/23/2003 view of Photinia bush at Northwest corner of
our property that touches Al bowman's property
6/27/2003 view from Golden Avenue looking from Southwest to Northeast
August 28, 2003 Update:
By this time, with the help of people in the neighborhood (and beyond) who had seen the pile and/or the website, Al was prevailed upon to take some action. During the week of August 24 - 30, 2003 Al and some other people made progress in removing some of the gravel. The results can be seen in the following photographs taken August 29, 2003. Unfortunately our parking area had not been restored. There was still too much gravel. It was another month or so before he finally got it all cleaned up.
Al was more encouraged to actually move the gravel after we posted an add saying simply, "Free Dirt - 1347 Golden Avenue in the River Road area of Eugene, off Horn Lane. Bring a truck and take all you want." Al objected that we couldn't give away his gravel. I reminded him that it was on our property and that, "Possession is 9/10 of the law." The remaining gravel was gone the following weekend.
8/29/2003 view parallel to Golden Avenue looking from South to North
8/29/2003 view from Golden Avenue looking from Southwest to Northeast
8/29/2003 view from Golden Avenue looking from Northwest to Southeast
8/29/2003 view parallel to Golden Avenue looking from North to South
Bowman dirt pile issues Bowman fence issues Hole in Sam's truck Visit from the Sheriff Brian uses the K word Missing compost bin Hurled Screw Driver Brian poisons our dog