Letters to the Editor 11/19/2014

To the Editor:

I want to thank Tim Davis for his letter in last week's Nugget. It was a timely example of why respectful dialogue among competing interests and beliefs has become a thing of the past. As an opponent of the USFS/STA-sponsored paved trail proposal between Sisters and Black Butte Ranch, it reminded me of the reasons citizen activists continue to stand up and speak out.

It seems the folks who want the trails don't have much of a desire to engage over the issues. I don't know if Mr. Davis attended any of the four resolution meetings the USFS held to address project objections. I don't know if Mr. Davis bothered to read the documents submitted by any of the objectors. I don't know because his letter did not address any of the issues, and there are many. All Mr. Davis did was resort to name-calling.

Now, in addition to being having been called "selfish," "shrill and strident," "insubstantial minority" and others as nasty, we are also "NIMBY." Thanks Tim, I am encouraged by such demonization. It reminds me why I fight.

Mr. Davis also spreads more of the usual hyperbole. On this occasion he references the examples in Seattle, the Burke-Gillman, and Leadville, the Mineral Belt trails. Having lived in Seattle for 28 years, and having commuted by bike along the BG, I can attest to its great popularity and use. But Mr. Davis fails to mention that both trails began as railroad lines that sat abandoned for years. They were not cut as a 20' swath through pristine forests that are known wildlife habitat and deer/elk birthing areas, but a reasonable reuse of land previously scarred.

Name-calling will not address any of the issues that are still front and center on the table.

Ed Protas

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To the Editor:

I was born and raised in Oregon.

As a child we came to Sisters every weekend. My parents, (who were physicians) were on the Hoodoo Ski Patrol. Sisters is named after the Oregon county from which the Camp Polk's commanding officer hailed.

I have noticed over the past few years a strange but, to me, alarming trend. This is SISTERS! Sisters, Oregon. The town is called Sisters. I don't remember voting on a name-change to "Sisters Country."

Let's not confuse our visitors.

Carin Baker

I live in SISTERS, Oregon

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To the Editor:

The way the City of Sisters plows the roads when we have snow just makes things worse and more dangerous, not safer.

When you have just a few inches of snow, you should not plow the roads. A soft layer of snow is not hard to drive through. Scraping off the top layer of soft snow leaves a hard, icy, slippery surface, which is dangerous to drive on.

When more snow falls, like it did last Thursday night, continued plowing made things even worse. Instead of removing the snow, like most cities do, Sisters just plows the snow off to the side of the roads, burying the sidewalks and forcing people to walk on the narrow, icy roadway with cars. That makes walking on the roads very

dangerous.

The large bank of snow at the edge of the road made by the plows blocks driveways making it impossible to get your car out of your driveway. Last winter many driveways in Sisters were blocked for weeks by the large icy, hard piles of snow left by the plows. This is especially bad for older people who cannot physically clear their driveways, trapping them in their houses.

Remove snow. Don't plow it off to the sides of the roads, forcing people to walk on the road and blocking driveways.

J. Thomas Jeffrey

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To the Editor:

No. No...No!

Mr. Sweet, my first letter to The Nugget expressed what a disaster the roundabout was in Rocklin, CA, and how efficiently our signal had worked through our construction phase in Sisters.

My last letter was a reiteration of a roundabout being a "stop sign" for semis, and the fact that ODOT has said they will listen to and further discuss with the community the fate of our intersection.

Maybe there's hope we won't be stuck with a whirligig!

Sue Durbin

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To the Editor:

I realize the City is interested in getting more people to stop and spend their money in Sisters, but I hope catering to tourists won't be at the cost of alienating the people who live here as if they don't matter. I'm speaking about Creekside Campground, which happens to be an integral part of a neighborhood bordering it on two sides. Consider how you might feel about having a campground across the street.

What was heard from a number of homeowners who attended the Parks Advisory Board meeting last month was that the problems that come along with the campground are making their lives miserable -the noise and loud music, the dogs running loose leaving their feces on lawns, the laundry hanging on clothes lines visible from their front porches, the large motor coaches that miss the campground entrance and end up blocking the streets or parking on the streets overnight to avoid the fees, etc.

To these homeowners, the idea of adding more hookups translates to even more motor coaches, more noise, more pollution, more dog incidents, more congestion. Redoing roads, cutting down more trees, adding more hookups to accommodate more motor coaches and pickleball courts for visitor recreation aren't as appealing to these homeowners as they might be to visitors who stay a few days then move on.

How do we balance the two interests?

Campground revenue increased 60 percent this summer to $133,704 and, according to staff, there's no reason to think that won't continue, even go up, under the present conditions, as long as the visitor experience is positive. How excited would you be as a tent camper with wall-to-wall motor coaches?

That money goes into the general fund, not back into the campground for repairs and improvements. They're talking about seeking grant funding and finding loans to pay for the proposed improvements. What is the best use of campground income? Is increasing the revenue stream from the campground even a priority? If so, who wins?

The Parks Advisory Board wants your input while they are writing their new Master Parks Plan, and considering improvements to Creekside Campground and city parks. If you want your voice heard, I encourage you to write letters, attend meetings, talk to your neighbors, get involved, speak up. This isn't a done deal yet.

Diane Goble

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To the Editor,

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for planning and attending my retirement party on November 10, 2014.

The Belfry is a beautiful venue for such an event. The food and cakes were amazing and the music was wonderful. Your kind words and cards were so thoughtful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who made this moment so very special.

My heart is full!

Angi Gardinier

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To the Editor:

Response to Tim Davis and Bjarne Holm:

Seattle 2013 population - 652,405

Anchorage 2013 population - 300,950

Deschutes County 2013 pop. - 165,950

Sisters 2013 pop.: - 2,174

Obvious answer for you is to move cause Sisters isn't like where you came from - or pay for a paved trail yourself!

Just cause a select few in the area insist on having their way is not grounds to ask me to pay for your desires.

Roger Engstrom

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To the Editor:

We have been a part of the Sisters community for over 10 years now, and it is a wonderful place to live. We count ourselves as very fortunate, as do so many of the people who love to visit and vacation in Sisters. A big part of the allure of Sisters is the town's casual ambience and its uniqueness. There's no other town quite like it!

Ever since we've lived here, we've worried that there is no city code in place to prevent big chain restaurants (aka formula foods) and businesses from moving into downtown Sisters and turning our town into Anywhere, USA. What a travesty that would be!

This was all brought back home to me this past week. There is a little town in Mexico, on the eastern coast, where we have been going for about 20 years - a casual, laid-back community with a few unique little markets and stores. Sadly, this is changing as I write. There is a big store about to open up right where you first drive into town - it's an OXXO, which is something like a 7-11 here. Akumal (the town) was not proactive and did not have the foresight to be able to prevent this.

OXXO stores are bold and ugly, and therefore the ambience and casual charm of Akumal will be forever changed - not to mention the effect this will have on the little stores that have always been there. It's a very sad thing.

My point is this: we have the ability in our town to be proactive and to make sure that Sisters keeps its unique small-town feel. This is what keeps people coming to visit, vacation, recreate, and want to live here. We need to do something NOW to prohibit these big chain/formula food stores from coming into our downtown. Let's have some foresight as a community and take control of what we want our town to be like in 10 or 20 years. Do we want to just stand by and let ourselves become Anywhere, USA??

The city planning commission will be holding a formula foods establishment workshop at the start of their meeting this Thursday, November 20 at 5:30. Current city code has absolutely nothing in place to stop big chains/ fast foods from moving into our downtown core. Also, the highway corridor (out by Ray's and by the FivePine campus) is currently open to the development of several more of these large chain establishments. If you're interested in preserving Sisters, with its unique charm and ambience, please come to Thursday's meeting - we all have the opportunity to be heard.

Lynne and Sage Dorsey