News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 54
The skateboard facility in the Sisters Industrial Park may be moved to a city park. Approval of a roof for the skateboard "half-pipe" in the industrial park was stalled Thursday by the Sisters City Council so an alternate site can be considered. The skateboard facility is sponsored by the Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation which had requested permission from the city to install a roof to protect the half-pipe from winter weather. The facility is presently located on a street in the industrial park. City... Full story
Developers of two pieces of property on the outskirts of Sisters' city limits have applied for city water services to be delivered their properties. Attorney Liz Fancher has filed an application for city water service to the proposed Les Schwab Tire Store and portions of Pine Meadow Ranch that are slated for development. According to Fancher, the water service extension is being made at this time so Fancher's clients, PMR Dev., Inc., "can proceed with plans to develop this commercially zoned property." PMR Development has a... Full story
Sisters police officers are working with the Sisters City Council to hammer out a policy on overtime accumulation. The issue of pay for "comp time" blew up into a dispute between City Administrator Barbara Warren and Sisters Police Chief David Haynes last month that lead to the temporary resignation of the police chief. Warren asked for a council workshop on the matter after the dispute. She said that the heart of the matter is an unusual buildup of compensatory time in the police department and a vague city policy dealing... Full story
A U. S. Forest Service grant, if approved, will give Sisters what it needs to qualify for a Department of Environmental Quality permit to build a city sewage treatment facility. The Sisters City Council last week authorized City Administrator Barbara Warren to proceed with an application for a $110,000 grant that would be used to hire an engineering firm to finish a waste water treatment facility study for the city. Warren said she has discussed the matter with Forest Service representatives and she is confident the city... Full story
Two city staff members put some heat on the Sisters City Council last Thursday night, letting them know they were fed up with delays in getting a new city hall. Sweltering in the summer evening heat at the July 11 council meeting, City Recorder Bernadette Sorensen said, "If we are not going to be moving soon, can we do something so we can work?" Sorensen said the staff has no place to store records, that the building, even early in the morning, is uncomfortably hot in summer. Police secretary Pat Davis addressed the council... Full story
An initiative petition from the "Committee to Save Sisters" proposes that no land be annexed to the City of Sisters without a favorable vote of the electorate. If sufficient signatures are gathered, the matter will be placed on the November 5, 1996 general election ballot. Under current law, annexations can be made by majority consent of the council. The Committee to Save Sisters has appeared at several city council and planning commission meetings, primarily objecting to elements of the city's comprehensive plan, currently... Full story
Sisters Police Chief David Haynes will probably keep his job after a stormy week in which he turned in his badge in a dispute with City Administrator Barbara Warren, then withdrew his apparent resignation. Following an executive session of the city council on Monday, July 1, Warren indicated that the city would probably not accept Hayne's resignation and would retain his job. On the advice of City Attorney Geoff Gokey, she would not comment on whether Haynes would be disciplined. Warren said a dispute came to a rapid boil on... Full story
A citizens' group has appealed a zone change ruling on the proposed Pine Meadow Ranch development just west of the Sisters city limits. The Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County filed an application late last week to appeal the recent decision by county hearings officer Karen Green which favored a zone change on 50 acres of the ranch. The application was signed by William H. Boyer, Sisters. The zone change would take the land out of an urban area reserve classification and change it to urban area standard... Full story
Imagine a home constructed largely of Styrofoam pellets that can be built quickly with less labor, insulates twice as well as wood-frame construction and can be covered with stucco, wood siding or brick veneer. You don't have to imagine. Just drive out to Buck Run and take a look at John and Sarah Rahm's new 3,200 square-foot home, now under construction. The primary building material is preformed "grids" of a product called Ener-Grid. It is made of 86 percent recycled Polystyrene and 14 percent Portland cement. The grids... Full story
Sisters will have to wait a little longer into lawn-watering season to establish new water rates. A resolution setting new water rates was tabled by the Sisters City Council Thursday until the June 13 council meeting. The delay was ordered to permit the addition of language requiring a $10 water account transfer fee. Persons signing up for city water will be required to pay a $10 "transfer fee" when new city water rates become effective July 1, if the city council approves the water rate resolution on June 13. Presently,... Full story
The development of 50 acres of the Pine Meadow Ranch moved closer to reality last week with the approval of a zone change and comprehensive plan amendment by Deschutes County Hearings Officer Karen Green. The land lies just outside the west city limits of Sisters on the south side of McKenzie Highway. Pine Meadow Ranch Development Co. requested the zone be changed from UAR-10 (urban area reserve) to RS (residential standard) and RH (residential high density). The company plans to build between 150 to 200 dwellings eventually... Full story
As the summer season approaches, the City of Sisters is moving closer to establishing new rates to charge for water. The Sisters City Council, in its May 9 meeting, directed the city administrator to draft a resolution establishing new water rates to be presented to the council May 23. The city has been wrestling with the issue of water rates since the completion of the new water system last summer. With new rates established based on the metered system, many Sisters residents saw their water bills leap dramatically. The... Full story
More than 70 percent of the residents of Sisters will be changing their addresses July 1. Massive exodus? No. The city administration has decided it is time to straighten out some of the confusion and make right some of the street numbers in town. Like City Planning Director Neil Thompson says, "You can no longer call for emergency help and say `come to the Johnson house.' " There have been problems sometimes getting emergency vehicles to the right address. There have actually been a couple of cases in which residents moved... Full story
The proposed Sisters Comprehensive Plan is scheduled to be reviewed in an informal workshop by the Deschutes County Planning Commission at 7 p.m., May 9 in Hearing Room "A" of the county offices in Bend. The Sisters Comprehensive Plan, which has been under study since 1990, was sent to the county in January for informal review. It was later revealed that the county's formal stamp of approval is required by a joint, city/county Urban Growth Management Agreement. The oversight came as a surprise to both entities and no county s... Full story
Funds to complete the refurbishing of the new Sisters city hall were included in a budget proposed last week by City Administrator Barbara Warren. The proposed budget sets aside $421,500 to pay for remodeling the old bowling alley building donated to the city by the late Joe Fought. Estimated costs to do the job range from $40 to $50 per square foot, or from $368,000 to $460,000. The 9,200 square foot building is located at 355 Adams Street. Warren said the $421,500 would come from several sources: $95,000 from a general... Full story
New water rates will not be determined until after the Sisters City Council has heard from the public. That decision came after the council reviewed recommendations of engineering firm H.G.E., Inc. during a workshop last week. A public hearing is scheduled for the May 9 city council meeting. If adopted by the council, the recommended rates for basic service to single family homes will not change--$16.50 a month for up to 10,000 gallons of water and $6 for the loan retirement. The price for each 1,000 gallons over 10,000... Full story
Implementation of a plan to add on-street parking spaces in the Sisters commercial district was delayed February 11 until the city council holds a workshop February 18 to discuss the future of the parking district concept. The plan, if approved, will use revenue generated by the current parking district ordinance fees and assessments. Mayor Dave Moyer said the parking development plan identifies 43 locations in the parking district in downtown Sisters. Most of the sites will require widening the paved surface of streets and... Full story
A zone change ruling that could permit development of portions of Pine Meadow Ranch is expected April 16. Commercial and residential development is planned on about 60 acres of the ranch within the Sisters Urban Growth boundary if the zone change request is granted. The request was made by P.M.R. Development Co. The land, which lies just west of the Sisters city limits, currently is in an urban area reserve zone, a zone designed to limit development or prohibit zone changes until a time when it is deemed appropriate to... Full story
In discussions on how to revise Sisters' parking district ordinances, the Sisters City Council entertained the idea of dispensing with them. They may do both. The council passed two ordinances designed to clarify the city's parking district assessments and "park-in-lieu" fees in their March 28 meeting. The ordinances were adopted with the understanding that the council would immediately schedule workshops to deal with questions still plaguing the parking district -- including the possibility of abandoning the parking... Full story
After two postponements, public hearings were held by the Sisters city council March 14 on two ordinances intended to clarify confusion about the city's "parking district development fees" and the "parking development in lieu fee." The confusion was not resolved, however. City Attorney Geoffrey Gokey brought the ordinances stamped "draft" to the meeting with the idea, he said, that the council would look them over, comment, and he would put them in final form before any hearings would be held. Gokey said the revisions are... Full story
A request to take about 80 acres of Pine Meadow Ranch just west of Sisters out of an urban area reserve zone and rezone it for residential development was continued during a public hearing before a Deschutes County hearings officer in Bend March 5. Hearings Officer Karen Green continued the hearing until April 2 after hearing arguments for and against the zone change. The continuance came at the request of opponent Howard Paine of Sisters. Paine said the opponents to the zone change (and comprehensive plan amendment) had not... Full story
Just when everyone believed they had heard the last of the Sisters Comprehensive Plan for awhile, it's back in the news because of a procedural error. It was former Sisters planning director Leslie Bangs who called the city's attention to the fact that Deschutes County representatives had not been formally invited to review certain aspects of the Sisters Comprehensive Plan as required in a joint management agreement between Sisters and the county. The county must concur on land use issues concerning those lands in the city's... Full story
Some Sisters businesses seem to be showing anarchistic disregard for the city's sign ordinance. Getting businesses to comply with the ordinance has proved frustrating for City Planning Director Neil Thompson. "I don't want to make any secret of the fact that enforcement (of the sign ordinance) is one of the most distasteful elements of my job," Thompson told the Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission in their Wednesday, February 21 meeting. The sign ordinance attempts to provide an enforcement tool for maintaining an 1880s... Full story
The point of land where Highway 20 meets the McKenzie Highway in Sisters may become a new "gateway" park and information center for the McKenzie Highway Scenic Byway. The Sisters City Council is studying a proposal by the U. S. Forest Service that asks the city to help maintain a facility which would include an unmanned kiosk containing information on the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway, plus items of interest to travelers in the Sisters country. The facility would be constructed this summer. Mike Hernandez of the For... Full story
The celebrated case of the state versus Diane and Dennis Nason of Sisters concluded last week with the sentencing of the couple on charges of racketeering and forgery. Except for each serving 60 days in county jail and performing community service, the Nasons will be free under five years probation. The sentencing hearing began on February 12 in a courtroom that was a strange blend of calm, tension and even joviality. There was an atmosphere of "business as usual," the kind that evolves from a very long trial. Most of the... Full story
