City seeks annexation of parcel

The City of Sisters will ask voters for approval to annex 4.34 acres located north of Barclay Drive just west of Conklin’s Guest House Bed & Breakfast. The property is currently owned by Richard Carpenter.

Approval of the measure on the May 17 ballot would not assure automatic annexation. According to the Explanatory Statement for the County Voter’s Pamphlet, “Before annexation could occur, the property would also need to receive approval through a separate land use planning process for inclusion in the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary. That process would require one or more hearings and planning approval in accordance with state land use planning laws and the City and County Comprehensive Plans.”

The property is currently zoned Exclusive Farm Use (EFU). Upon annexation the property would be zoned Light Industrial (LI).

The property is surrounded on the south, west, and north by property that is now within the city limits. The Conklin property, to the east, was approved by city voters for annexation in 1998, but has not yet been annexed.

A map of the proposed annexation area will accompany ballots in May.

At a Town Hall meeting on Saturday, March 19, Councilor Judy Trego asked that state representatives amend a bill currently before the legislature that would put a moratorium on such so-called “island annexations.”

The bill stems from efforts by the city of Beaverton to annex the Nike campus.

Trego said the city of Sisters doesn’t want to get caught in the fallout from that bill, unable to annex a property that the owner and the city both want within the city limits.

Other city news:

Planning and Community Development Director Bill Adams presented a draft adoption schedule for the revised Comprehensive Plan. He noted that the first public hearing will be in April and that final adoption by the Deschutes County Commission will be in August.

Emma Sivers, City Finance Officer, has recommended the purchase of financial and utility billing software from Tyler Technologies — INCODE Division. The current H.T.E./CitySoft software system is out of date and no longer supported by H.T.E.

Five proposals were received for a new software system ranging from $20,000 to $113,885, with annual support fees up to almost $15,000. The INCODE system will cost $58,150 with an annual support fee of $4,500. The Fiscal Year 2004-05 budget for this purchase is $60,000.

According to Sivers there are ample funds in the General, Water, Refuse, and Sewer Funds to cover the software and any hardware upgrades required to implement the new system.

The recommendation for the system is based on recommendations from other municipalities that are currently using the system.