Progress on economic development agreement

The Sisters City Council in their Thursday workshop put finishing touches on an agreement with Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) to house the Sisters economic development manager's position, currently held by Patty Cordoni.

The final agreement will be reviewed in the February 28 workshop at 6 p.m., and if found agreeable, could well be approved at the council meeting immediately following, at 7 p.m.

In a new development, Councilor McKibben Womack reported that the Deschutes County Commissioners may be willing to contribute up to $30,000 to the EDCO/Sisters agreement. This would allow the Sisters economic development manager's job to become a three-quarter or full-time position. The county's contribution could match the city's budgeted $30,000 funding of the manager's position. The county is considering making a similar contribution to La Pine's economic development efforts.

"I think the expectation of the county ... is let's get this thing going in La Pine, and get a three-quarter to full-time person in Sisters ... let's get an injection in there for a couple of years while you build up private-sector (monetary) support," said Roger Lee, executive director of EDCO.

The draft EDCO agreement was prepared by councilors David Asson and Catherine Childress, and received strong support from the councilors. At Mayor Brad Boyd's request, Lee agreed that if he had the completed contract by March 1, EDCO could have the position staffed by May 1.

Boyd requested that the $7,500 annual EDCO membership fee be included in the city's contract with EDCO. It was agreed that the contract would be three years and would include a seven-person oversight advisory board. Membership recommendations to the advisory board will come from both the city and EDCO. The council and EDCO will then agree upon the final board members.

Councilor Asson said, "This is to be a working board, not simply an advisory board. This needs to be a real strong idea-generating body."