News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Nineteen Sisters property owners will have to wait to hear whether they have been approved for grant funding to assist with exterior improvements to their commercial properties in downtown Sisters.
The Sisters City Council on Thursday, with Mayor Chris Frye absent, tabled the grant applications that were before them after councilors David Asson and Nancy Connolly raised concerns about whether the grants were in the public interest and whether other uses for urban-renewal funds might be more appropriate.
The Council had previously allocated $100,000 for the grants, and the City of Sisters had called for applications in February. Funds for the grants come from tax dollars paid by property owners of the Urban Renewal District, which basically encompasses the downtown commercial district of Sisters. The grants are matching reimbursement funds for up to 50 percent of the cost of façade and site improvements (up to $10,000) and up to 50 percent for signage with a $1,000 cap. There is also a $500 reimbursement grant for design costs.
Property owners were required to submit three bids for a proposed project as part of the application.
Twenty-one properties applied; two were found ineligible, one because it was outside the Urban Renewal District and one because the bids were not completed.
"I have serious concerns that it is not in the public interest," Councilor Asson told The Nugget. "I think some of the projects are more building upgrades instead of controlling blight."
Urban renewal districts are usually formed based on a finding of "blight" in an urban area. However, grants have been issued in Sisters that have a more extensive reach than rehabilitating specifically "blighted" properties. The small-project grants are "designed to encourage private investment by commercial property owners and tenants. The goal is to improve the appearance of businesses through façade rehabilitation and restoration that emphasizes uniqueness and historic value."
Proposed projects include work such as replacing or repair of siding, replacing decking with pavers, building a shade structure, some landscaping and handicapped access work, exterior painting and signage. Both Connolly and Asson expressed discomfort with funding signage, though signage was included in the grant criteria that was sent out to the public.
"Yeah, they do need signage," Asson said, "but to me, that's a business expense, not urban renewal."
At Thursday's meeting, Connolly noted that one property owner has gone "to the well" multiple times for grants and questioned whether there should be some sort of cap on that. McKibben Womack said he had no problem with the owner of multiple properties seeking multiple grants.
A larger concern for Connolly is what sort of projects urban-renewal funds should be used for. She noted that urban-renewal funds could also be used for off-street parking and land acquisition for multifamily affordable housing.
"Do we value off-street parking and multifamily residential housing less than this kind of urban renewal and is this the route we've taken because it was a clear policy or is this the only option that was presented to us as an urban renewal project?" she said.
City Manager Andrew Gorayeb noted that "this process of doing grants was at the behest of the URA (Urban Renewal Agency)."
The Sisters City Council acts as the City's URA.
Asson acknowledged that he voted in favor of similar grants that were issued along Cascade Avenue, though he said he had concerns about those as well. However, he felt that the Cascade Avenue rehabilitation projects had put property owners and businesses through a lot.
He also acknowledged that property owners had gone to considerable effort to make their applications at the City's behest and recognized that some of those property owners were concerned about the last-minute tabling of the grants.
Still, he wants more time to look at the program and square the conflict he sees between the public interest and businesses getting help. He also said that he is not determined on voting against the grants.
"It's not black and white," he said. "It's a tough decision."
The Council is expected to address the issue in its Thursday workshop. The agenda calls for an official meeting of the Council acting as the URA at 8 a.m., which means the Council can vote on approval.
"The next step is that I put it on the agenda for this next Thursday's workshop, and I intend to ask why these grant applications were tabled," Mayor Frye said. "I then hope to move forward with these applications with the money that we as a Council decided to make available and award those applicants who meet the criteria for which this grant was established."
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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