Speeding a problem on new road

Deputies are keeping an eye on the new McKinney Butte Road. photo by Jim Cornelius

Speeding has been a concern on the newly built McKinney Butte Road, which is used by cars traveling to Sisters' middle school and high school and various churches.

Sergeant Marvin Combs told the Sisters City Council on Thursday, December 11, that the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office gave out five citations in November for speeding during only one hour of monitoring the road before and after school.

He said most of the citations went not to students but to teachers and parents who were late for school and for picking up their children.

"It's an area we will monitor from time to time," Combs said. "That's a lot of tickets in a short period of time. I thought it was interesting that it was not the kids doing the speeding."

He said many of the citation were for traveling 15 to 20 miles per hour over the 25-miles-per-hour speed limit.

The city council voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to accept the completion of McKinney Butte Road from Trinity Way west to the Sisters High School property line.

The groups that funded the construction of the street and the nearby sewer and water lines -- the Sisters School District, Three Sisters Fellowship, Sisters Community Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and McKinney Butte Ranch -- will receive a partial return of the bond money they gave the city for the project.

Neil Thompson, city planner, said the city will probably add more crosswalks on McKinney Butte Road as the area develops. He said the crosswalks will be visible to oncoming cars and will slow traffic.

In other business, the council approved the Canvass of Returns for the November 4 election, which approved changes to the Sisters City Charter.

The new charter allows the mayor to have a vote on the city council, whereas before the mayor could only vote to break a tie. The mayor will begin voting at the next city council meeting.

The new code also called for the city to appoint a city manager to replace the existing position of city administrator.

The city council voted unanimously Thursday to appoint Eileen Stein, the former city administrator, to fill the position.

The change requires the city to have a manager; previously, the council could have run the city directly.

In other business, Gary Frazee, public works director, told the city council that Tewalt and Sons would dig a bore pit and begin boring into Jefferson Street this week.

The construction will install a 12-inch water line for the Timber Creek subdivision on Jefferson Street from Locust Street east to the highway.

The city council awarded the $59,600 bid to Tewalt and Sons for the project last month because they were the low bidder.

Frazee said he wanted the construction to start before bad weather sets in.