News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The East Cascade Realignment Project is almost done. The City of Sisters plans a ribbon cutting ceremony where the newly 90-degree intersection meets Cascade Avenue at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The $233,000 project brings East Cascade Avenue into Highway 20 at a 90-degree angle instead of the oblique, westward-facing angle of the original intersection. It also moved the intersection to the west.
The city saved $220,000 on the project, which is funded through City of Sisters Urban Renewal District funds, in part thanks to a slowdown in the construction industry, which made the bidding climate much more favorable.
The city also saved by handling drainage for the project in-house. The city saved still more by doing its own landscaping, much of which was completed last week by city crews.
According to Public Works Director Brad Grimm, the contractors' estimate for the landscaping project was $20,000. The city put out $3,050 for materials and used its own staff to handle planting and laying of sod (Associate Planner Laura Lehman took an afternoon away from her desk to pitch in on the planting).
Accounting for city labor costs of $2,920, the city saved a total of $14,030, Grimm reported. There was an additional $5,712 saved by Grimm handling the inspection of the project, for which he is qualified by his past position with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Grimm told The Nugget that he is reporting regularly to the city council on savings the public works department based on reallocating labor from garbage pickup to other projects. Overall savings through reallocation of the work force was a key element in the decision to give up the city's garbage hauling duties and franchise them out to High Country Disposal.
Grimm reported at the last city council meeting that the department has saved a total of $39,268 through handling projects that would have been contracted out themselves and by repairing some equipment that was scheduled to be replaced.
The number is high due to the savings in a major project, but Grimm expects savings to continue through in-house maintenance of vehicles and staff labor on other projects.
For example, in lieu of a cash contribution, city crews will install cluster mailboxes provided by the post office to serve the south side of Sisters.
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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