News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters buinsess people spent their mornings digging out in the wake of winter storms.
The snow moved into Sisters fast and stayed for several days. The first major snowstorm of winter impacted almost every resident and activity in the Sisters area.
A fairly light snowfall came at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend followed by two days of rest. On Wednesday, November 30, the snows came again, this time quickly dumping between four and seven inches of the snow, depending on where you were. That night, the snows fell again, bringing another four to seven inches by morning. Snowfall continued intermittently into the weekend.
Sisters schools first called for a two-hour delay last Thursday, December 1, but quickly changed to a closure because of driving conditions. The closure continued on Friday as more snow fell.
“We always have a major concern for the safe operation of our busses,” said Angi Gardinier, transportation supervisor for the Sisters School District. “In addition, we have some students driving to school on their own and we are concerned for their safety too.”
Gardinier contacts the school superintendent early in the morning as a storm develops and they determine if driving conditions should result in a school closure.
Sisters school busses use a rotary tire chain system. The driver pushes a button, the tire chain drops down onto the tire and spins around to be installed.
The Sisters Ranger Station also was closed on both Thursday and Friday.
“Deschutes National Forest offices follow the lead of local school districts,” said Jeff Sims of the Forest Service. “When local schools close, so do local Forest Service offices.”
Some Sisters businesses opened later than usual during the storm while others enjoyed a brisk business during the storm.
“Once the snow came, we had people coming in the door fairly steady,” said Brad Boyd, owner of Eurosports.
Firefighters fighting last Wednesday’s house fire in Sisters were not greatly affected by the weather, according to Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Marshall Dave Wheeler.
“That happened before the major snowfall,” Wheeler explained. “However, we are now responding to every emergency call with four-wheel-drive vehicles and our engines have been chained up.”
Within the City of Sisters, crews had just cleaned up the weekend snow when the next storm hit.
“We had most of our public works staff out every night last week,” City Manager Eileen Stein said. “At the same time, we were working hard to do our regular utility maintenance and garbage pickup under some difficult conditions. We are asking businesses to make sure that snow is cleared from their garbage dumpsters. It can take twice as long as normal if city workers have to first clear snow from dumpsters.
“This wasn’t a particular heavy snow, but it was a significant snowfall that came rapidly,” Stein added.
Late each day, Public Works Director Gary Frazee checked the weather forecast and decided if plowing would be needed overnight. If it was needed, he and two or three of his crew would start plowing at 11 p.m. and would finish plowing all city streets by 4:30 a.m.
“To finish the job by morning, city crews leave snow berms across driveways,” Stein explained. “They have to do this to meet a deadline so that private contractors can start plowing private parking areas and driveways. Their focus is on clearing travel lanes and getting finished in time.”
Because the curb extensions make it difficult to remove snow, Stein asked businesses to help by having their contractors move snow from these areas.
“It is difficult for ODOT crews on Cascade Avenue and the city crew for all other streets to get into the on-street parking areas,” Stein added. “For this reason, some business owners will direct their contractors to also remove the snow from the on-street parking area in front of their businesses. Please understand that the snow removed from these parking spaces, particularly on Cascade Avenue, needs to be removed from Cascade Avenue. It certainly shouldn’t be plowed back into the travel lane.”
Stein also stated that when snowfall is really heavy, the accumulated snow piles become attractive to kids and their sleds.
“This is dangerous and could lead to unfortunate accidents with vehicles,” she said. “Gary will try to help people get those piles removed.”
In an e-mail to the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, Stein thanked Sisters businesses for efforts in cleaning sidewalks and for their patience during periods of heavy snow. She also praised Frazee and his crew for their hard work.
“By the end of the week, we had some pretty tired people getting the job done,” Stein said. “They’ve put in a lot of overtime this week, so if you see them, please tell them how much you appreciate what they do for you.”
ODOT and Deschutes County road crews also had their hands full opening up roads and keeping them open as snow continued to fall.
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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