News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The City of Sisters started sending out certified letters January 2 to property owners whose sidewalks are damaged or have fallen into disrepair. The city identified 34 properties with damaged sidewalks; the letters informed property owners that they need to have their sidewalks repaired by June 1.
City ordinances hold property owners responsible for maintaining sidewalks adjacent to their property.
Some Sisters citizens have expressed confusion about what they have to do because the letter told them they must replace their sidewalks. Some of the sidewalks have only one or two trouble spots.
City Administrator Barbara Warren made it clear that the city's intent was "absolutely not" to force property owners to completely tear out and replace a long stretch of sidewalk if it only had a small trouble spot.
"There's a number of sidewalks that just have a spot that needs to be repaired or replaced," Warren said.
However, many will have to be completely replaced.
Warren told The Nugget that Public Works Director Gary Frazee will contact the affected property owners with a diagram of the areas of their sidewalk that the city believes need attention. However, the city will caution property owners that there may be other unidentified spots that need repair and action on them is up to the owner.
Warren and Frazee said the city didn't originally identify specific problems on each sidewalk because Sisters doesn't want to assume liability if someone falls later on a spot that wasn't identified. And Frazee is also reluctant to give advice on methods of repair.
"Fortunately, the majority are self-explanatory," said Frazee.
If a property owner is not sure what they need to do to comply with the city's order, Warren said, they should contact Frazee.
"They can contact Gary and he can go over it," Warren said.
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.
Reader Comments(0)