News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Lon Kellstrom is the new mayor of Sisters.
Kellstrom, Jerry Bogart and Pat Thompson took the oath of office as Sisters City Councilors on Thursday night, at the start of the council's regular meeting.
The new council unanimously elected Kellstrom mayor and Bill Merrill as council president. Kellstrom acknowledged the service of Brad Boyd and Shawna Bell, who stepped down from the dais as former councilors.
Kellstrom, Bogart and Thompson ran for election on a platform of encouraging economic development and they had an immediate opportunity to tackle an economic development issue.
The City of Sisters has selected two capital projects to be placed on a list for possible funding through federal economic stimulus legislation. The projects are an upgrade to the city's Well #2 and construction of a transmission line from the municipal wastewater plant to disposal grounds on city-owned land purchased from the Lazy Z Ranch.
The projects were the only projects available that met the criteria of being ready to go in 90 to 180 days.
That did not sit well with Thompson, who grudgingly approved the selection of the projects. He argued that the city should have an urban plan in place with larger projects on line to be funded. In a workshop prior to the council meeting, he likened the two selected projects to "a five-year-old kid asking for a stick of gum for his birthday instead of a pony."
Thompson said that he would prefer to see the city get funding to upsize sewer lines to serve future development on the Forest Service headquarters property and in future phases of developments like Hayden Homes. He acknowledged that planning is not in place for such an action and that the future of the Forest Service property is in limbo.
"It's a timing issue," Kellstrom said.
In the workshop, City Manager Eileen Stein told council members that a list is being compiled locally by the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC).
"Everybody is scrambling to put together a list of projects that could be put forward as economic stimulus, but the rules are not known," she said.
Favor seems to be leaning toward projects that not only create jobs, but also provide long-term economic stimulus to the community. Creating an industrial park would fit that criteria, but Stein noted that private developers have already created two business parks in Sisters.
Road projects were taken off the table because "the expectation is that federal dollars will flow through ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) somehow," Stein said.
Stein also noted that she has been in discussions with the City of Redmond about a joint application for "enterprise zone" status. Redmond currently has that status, but it is set to expire this year and the city could reapply in partnership with Sisters.
Enterprise zones offer tax and other incentives to revitalize economically distressed areas.
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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