News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The City of Sisters is sending out a questionnaire asking business owners to decide whether to create a new parking lot, more on-street parking, or a combination of both. The questionnaire was approved at the Thursday, September 12 meeting of the city council.
The city has $118,873 in its parking district fund dedicated to parking improvements. The city hopes that the questionnaire will kick start an effort to create new spaces in the near future.
"There are a lot of people out there who want to know what's going on and why we haven't done anything," Councilor Jean Cooper said.
According to City Administrator Barbara Warren, the options propose parking lots on land that is currently on the market or available, as well as on-street sites.
The first option proposes a parking lot on either Main Avenue, Cascade Avenue or on Fir Street where City Hall now stands. Building a parking lot would cost more than the parking district has in its coffers; the additional costs would have to be financed.
Option 2 would use the $118,873 to build approximately 100 new on-street parking spaces around the city. Street parking costs $1,200 per space.
The third option includes the City Hall parking lot plus 54 on-street spaces around Sisters. That option would cost about $163,583 more than the $118,873 in parking district funds. That amount would have to be financed by a loan extending to the year 2032.
A fourth option, proposed by Councilor Gary Miller, would create 54 new on-street spaces for about $64,800, leaving $54,073 in the parking fund for future use.
By itself, a parking lot where City Hall now stands would provide 34 new spaces at $6,046 per space. The property cost is $195,000, not including demolition of the city hall building.
The city has declared the city hall site surplus property so it can be sold. The city plans to remodel the former Memory Lanes Bowling Alley, which was donated to the city, for a new city hall.
A lot at 370 E. Cascade next to the Ski Inn would provide a total of 53 new spaces -- 40 on-site for $4,621 per space and 13 on the street. The land cost is $159,600.
The Main Avenue property would cost $129,500. The site would provide 33 on-site spaces for about $4,533 per space and nine street spaces.
According to Warren, the city has not selected a favored alternative.
"We didn't make any recommendations," she said. "We wanted the recommendations to come from (the business owners in) the parking district."
Warren said she hopes to get completed questionnaires back by Friday, September 27. The use of parking district funds will be on the October 10 city council agenda, she said.
Also scheduled is a public hearing on the proposed sale of the city hall property.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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