City meeting brings optimism to citizens

It seemed as if a fresh breath of air blew through city hall last Thursday, October 11, during a meeting scheduled by the new head of planning and community development Eric Porter.

The meeting was organized to address the concerns of 64 local businessmen, contractors and developers who have expressed frustration with the manner in which the city conducts its business.

Porter is reaching out to those who have been the most vocal in criticizing the city, especially its planning department. Many expressed appreciation that Mayor Brad Boyd served as moderator during the meeting.

"I was particularly pleased that the mayor showed up and that he handled the meeting. He seemed to recognize that many of us came from larger communities and expect the same level of professionalism that we are used to," said Peter Storton, co-owner of RE/MAX Town & Country Realty.

Although some caution and concerns were expressed that the city's new approach is too little too late, a general feeling of optimism about the new director of planning and community development was aired by the majority of those present at the meeting.

"I feel confident that after meeting him he has the maturity and experience to do the job, and certainly in my view he is the best we have had in doing that," said Storton, whose comment fairly well summed up the majority view.

Porter intends to make some major changes; he was asked point blank if he has the budget to bring about the changes that he is proposing. His answer was a confident "yes," which brought a noticable expression of relief from the crowd who had gathered for the meeting.

Fourteen changes were outlined that are either already underway or will be started in the near future. First on the list is filling the open senior planner position. Interviews have been scheduled and Porter is encouraged by the quality of those who have applied.

Historically, information provided by planning has been cryptic. To solve this problem nearly all planning and building forms are being revised to simplify the application processes and provide easy-to-understand forms. A new, free-of-charge procedure has also been added to help developers discover hidden and costly pitfalls with proposed projects before becoming too deeply committed. (See "Change emerges in city planning," The Nugget, October 10, 2007, page 11.)

Tasks have been shifted internally to increase efficiency, and a one-business-day return call policy has been instituted. Draft decisions will now be issued prior to final decisions, which will allow developers to understand what is coming so that they can avoid, as much as possible, any costly mistakes.

Internally, weekly staff meetings are being instituted to discuss projects that are in the works to insure that all people involved are aware of progress or problems. Changes are also being initiated to make the land use process more understandable and new handouts and maps will be available at the front desk.

Sisters will now attempt to develop a closer relationship with neighboring jurisdictions, including Bend, Redmond and Deschutes and Jefferson counties. By opening up these lines of communication, it is hoped that developments in the surrounding areas that could affect the community of Sisters will now be discussed in a more open forum, allowing potential problems to be addressed before they develop.

Porter is approaching both FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the Department of Homeland Security to attempt to find Federal assistance with regards to the threat of Carver Lake. (See "Lake threat looms above Sisters," The Nugget, August 1, 2007, page 1).

Consensus of those attending the meeting is that the outlined changes in city operations should address the vast majority of concerns previously expressed by the area's business community.

"If he can carry though and deliver what he has indicated, many of the problems that we have faced will no longer be an issue," said Curt Kallberg, a local developer.