News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters City Council is demanding that the Sisters Ranger District pay a $98,948 sewer bill before being allowed to hook up to the municipal system.
The council rejected a Forest Service proposal to pay $16,140 for sewer hookup at its Thursday, August 9, meeting.
That amount, offered in a letter from Bill Anthony, Sisters District Ranger, covers only equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) hook-up charges; Anthony rejected a $71,848 charge for a line running to the East Portal kiosk and restrooms and a $9,240 charge for re-aligning a main line across the Forest Service site.
Mayor Steve Wilson, in a workshop prior to the council meeting, said he considers the $98,948 figure "non-negotiable."
"We've already given them (the Forest Service) a break because we wanted to wrap this up," he said. "I'm literally sick of talking about this."
The city and the Sisters Ranger District have been wrangling over the sewer bill for months and the figures have changed repeatedly.
The city originally charged the district $250,669.26. That bill launched a series of sometimes intense discussions about the city's methodology in determining the charges.
The original charge was based on an estimated water usage of 35.29 EDU (equivalent dwelling units) on the compound.
After metering the site for several months, and after several re-calculations, the city came up with a new figure of 17.86 EDU. Hook-up charges are calculated at $1,000 per EDU.
The city backed off additional systems development charges because, according to Wilson, the Forest Service "successfully made their case" that the compound was included in the original project map.
The city also eliminated most charges for the main line running across the Sisters Ranger District compound.
The district was requested to pay for extensions and modifications to the line that were made specifically for the benefit of the Forest Service.
Acting District Ranger Mike Hernandez told The Nugget that the Forest Service proposal is based on its understanding of how other businesses have been treated.
He said the district's interest is in being treated in a "fair and equitable" manner.
The Forest Service argues that other businesses existing before November 1, 1999 were not charged for main line construction, so the Ranger District shouldn't have to pay for main line construction to the East Portal kiosk and restrooms.
"We need information on why we're being treated differently than everyone else and we've never received that information," Hernandez said.
According to Mayor Wilson, the Forest Service is using the wrong date for inclusion.
He dates the cut-off point back to 1997, before the kiosk was constructed.
Hernandez was not sure what the Forest Service's next course of action would be.
"We've never been faced with (the city saying) 'this is the bottom line,'" he said.
If the $98,948 figure is, indeed, the "bottom line," Hernandez indicated, the Forest Service will have to decide whether to pay the bill and hook up to the system or to opt out and use septic systems.
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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