News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
In the wake of numerous queries raising questions and concerns about a proposed amphitheater project in Sisters, Mayor Brad Boyd sat down with The Nugget to provide some clarity to the proposal.
The city has put down a $25,000 refundable deposit on 11.5 acres within the city limits for a city amphitheater and parking. The property is located in two places: on the southwest corner of Locust Street and Barclay Drive, extending west to Larch Street and, separately, immediately north of Barclay Drive and west of the former Conklin House. The deposit is fully refundable for a 150-day period, which allows the city to conduct its due diligence.
"People may be concerned that we haven't given them a hard-and-fast dollar figure on how much this is going to cost," Boyd said.
He said that such numbers are in development, now that the potential site is "tied up," because it requires site-specific study to come up with accurate numbers.
"We're coming up with preliminary drawings that will allow us to come up with accurate cost estimates," he said. "That's part of the 150 days. We've got to get that work done."
Boyd pointed out that a private developer would most likely have done all of this work before rolling out a project. Being a public entity, the city had to disclose its plans as soon as they encumbered the property.
In response to questions raised in letters to The Nugget, Boyd lined out the plan for financing the project. He emphatically stated that the funding won't come from strategic reserves, as concluded by one letter-writer.
"We're not using any money from the strategic reserve fund for this project," he said.
The city will provide approximately 10 percent of the funds through urban-renewal dollars. Another 45 percent will have to come from fundraising, with the rest covered by bank loans.
"The city can incur the debt without going to the voters," he said.
That said, Boyd insisted, "We're not going to incur debt if the project can't pay the debt back. We're being very, very, very conservative with our projections with the amphitheater. We're not going to encumber the city and the taxpayers with a white elephant that they're going to be paying for for years."
Boyd further noted that the city is not getting into the entertainment business. Community groups and/or professional promoters would handle the bookings for the amphitheater, and local restaurants would have the opportunity to be tapped for food
services.
"We're not going to be in the food-service business; we're not going to be in the ticket-selling business; we're not going to be in the promotion business," he said.
The mayor said there will be a community workshop to reveal and talk over the details of the plan, but it won't come until the city is ready to go into fundraising mode for the project.
"Probably at that time, as we start our fundraising, we can have that public meeting," he said.
In the meantime, he encouraged those with questions or concerns about the project to contact him or City Manager Andrew Gorayeb. Contact information for both is available on the city's website at http://www.ci.sisters.or.us. The main phone line at City Hall is 541-549-6022.
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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