News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The City of Sisters is waiting for the feds to put a few million dollars on the table for Sisters' sewer system.
City officials and project engineer Dick Nored met with representatives of the Oregon Economic Development Department and the Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday, November 10, to line up grant money for the $12 million project. About $5 million must be funded by grants.
But, according to Mayor Steve Wilson, getting commitments is a slow process.
"Everyone waits for the largest lead agency to declare their position," Wilson said.
That agency is the federal Rural Economic and Community Development agency, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Rural Development is the largest key player," Wilson said. "In the next few weeks, they're going to decide how much and what fee schedule they're going to commit to."
The city hopes to get a total of $3 million dollars in grants from Rural Development, though the total may be spread across two or three years, Wilson said.
Once Rural Development commits, other agencies, such as the Oregon Economic Development Department should fall into line, according to Wilson.
"It really becomes a game of dominoes," he said. "Everyone in that room is commited to making the sewer system in Sisters a reality."
According to Wilson, the Department of Environmental Quality will provide impetus for OEDD to provide grant funds, citing community health as a reason the sewer needs to be completed.
"DEQ agreed in the meeting that they won't mince words any longer that there's a clear, documented health need in Sisters," Wilson said.
Walt West of the DEQ office in Bend, confirmed that the agency is clarifying it's position for OEDD.
"Because of the age and density of the existing system, we believe that this poses a threat to human health," West told The Nugget.
Sisters could also use "national pooling" of rural development funds. According to Wilson, pool funds come from communities that have money allocated to them, but no projects to spend it on.
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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