Letters to the Editor 04/22/2015

To the Editor:

In connection with Jim Anderson's column and the article about Deschutes Land Trust's recent acquisition of Aspen Hollow Preserve along Whychus Creek, I would like to remind readers about the live camera feed at http://www.goldeneaglecam.com.

The telescope and camera observe the nest activity from about a quarter-mile away across the canyon. The chicks are getting quite active now and are great fun to watch (see photo page 29).

The female is Petra, and the two chicks have been named Fluffy and Goldy by the children in SPRD preschool.

Jim Hammond

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To the Editor:

Tonight (Tuesday, April 14) at the informational open house concerning the Highway 20/Barclay intersection, I found out that the Sisters City Council will make the final decision on whether a roundabout or a signal will ultimately be placed at this intersection.

Having experienced a signal at this intersection during the Cascade Street [sic] facelift, I implore the City Council to ask the citizens within the Sisters School District to vote on whether they want a roundabout or a signal.

Judy Bull

s s s

To the Editor:

I just read that ODOT is going to install the first traffic light on Highway 97 in La Pine. The primary stated reason was to improve safety. I believe the same solution should be used in Sisters.

I noted in a previous letter to The Nugget that the incidence of close calls at the Highway 20 and Barclay Road intersection seemed to me to be less with the temporary traffic lights in place.

I believe that traffic lights are the best solution at this intersection rather than a traffic circle. Lights are used successfully on Highway 97 north of Bend in more complex intersections than in Sisters. There is no other traffic circle on a highway in Oregon so we are not yet as accustomed to their use - especially involving large trucks - than in some other regions of the country. Despite favorable results in the recent mock-up traffic circle tests, I feel that real-life situations involving a number of vehicles could have different results.

There is certainly a major cost saving using traffic lights as all the needed lanes are in place. Also, could a traffic circle be installed without major expenses involving the new bank on the corner of this intersection? In addition, traffic lights can provide some breaks in traffic on one lane for people turning left onto Highway 20 from Ray's.

E. Paul Janssen

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To the Editor:

I am sending this along, gathered from a transportation engineer, City of Bend.

"The City of Bend stands by roundabouts for enhanced safety and operations. Nationwide, worldwide, there are simply more crashes at traffic signals than at roundabouts, and those crashes are more severe at traffic signals than at roundabouts. Fatal crashes occur at traffic signals, they do not occur at roundabouts.

"Our first roundabout was installed on a state district-level highway (Century Drive at Colorado Avenue) in November, 1999. We have 26 (soon to be 28) single-lane roundabouts, 5 multilane roundabouts, 35 city-owned traffic signals, and 21 state ODOT-owned traffic signals. We removed three traffic signals this year. We have two more roundabouts in design and they should be constructed next construction season.

"Bend is aiming to achieve Vision Zero - where it is simply unacceptable to have a single fatal or serious injury crash in our community. To do that we will be relying heavily on roundabout construction. The City of Bend has removed two traffic signals (3rd Street at Murphy Road at the south end of town and Reed Market at 15th Street on the east side of town). We replaced the traffic signals with modern roundabouts because of our positive crash and exceptional operational experiences at roundabouts.

"As for cost, we pay about the same whether it is a roundabout or a traffic signal. The underground utility work, right of way, and road geometric changes end up being similar for both control types, although the shapes are different it is about the same impact area for both."

I have driven through the two newest roundabouts, Murphy and Reed Market, with absolutely no problem navigating either one when first encountered.

Bend's experience is no different from the information and history presented at our meeting last week. The TSP committee examined the available data at the time (2010) and made their recommendation based upon the facts of the data. The members of the community who participated in the follow-up meeting in 2011, were equally convinced by the data, and supported the TSP recommendation.

It appears that the ensuing four years' worth of data have continued to show no fatalities or serious injury/property damage in roundabouts, due apparently to slower speeds.

Phyllis Lewis

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To the Editor:

I attended the informational meeting presented by ODOT regarding the roundabout at Highway 20 and Barclay Dr. Was it a waste of my time and energy? One gentleman asked pointblank if the roundabout was a done deal; however he didn't receive a straight answer. I also wonder if we have no other choice.

A roundabout will destroy the ambience and quaintness of Sisters and drastically alter the navigation of the city.

I presented my personal survey to ODOT and City officials of 52 businesses I interviewed during the first week of April. Forty-one were in favor of a traffic light at the above intersection, six favored a roundabout and five were on the fence or didn't care. Two businesses expressed a concern that if a bypass was built for oversized trucks, other travelers would use it to avoid driving through town, which could hurt the local economy.

Does ODOT and the City of Sisters have the right to arbitrarily make the decision to install a roundabout? In a true democracy, the majority rules. I think it would be fair to put this on a ballot and let the local owners of businesses and citizens vote on whether they prefer a roundabout or a traffic light at the intersection.

Donna Holland

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To the Editor:

I was part of the crowd of citizens that attended to Oregon Department of Transportation Informational Open House last Tuesday.

Congratulations to the ODOT and Kittleson & Associates team for their in-depth research, including creating and filming the exact layout of the proposed Sisters roundabout. They invited the trucking industry to test all forms and widths of trucks including Davis Towing pulling a large truck and trailer. The film confirmed that all forms of trucks safely passed through the proposed roundabout.

I joined the meeting with a strong leaning toward roundabouts in the belief that they represent a beautiful and artful gateway to our community.

However, number one on my list was safety.

The Highway 20/Barclay Drive intersection is frequented by our youngest drivers headed to high school and our senior drivers headed to shopping and medical appointments.

These two segments of the population are most prone to fatal accidents.

Using data from our neighboring state of Washington, who is well ahead of Oregon in number of roundabouts, the improved safety statistics are staggering.

Injury collisions show a 75 percent reduction and fatal collisions a 90 percent reduction over stop signs or signals.

Many of us baby-boomers grew up tuning our AM radios at red lights to catch the latest Beatles or Rolling Stones tunes. I noticed last night that the main thrust of concern was coming from my generation. In the past we have been universally frustrated by droning red lights. Now in the twilight hours we are experiencing a bit of nostalgia around red, yellow, and green. The future safety of our citizens is enhanced by low-travel-speed roundabouts. They represent a new benchmark in safety for our community. It's time for some new music.

Bill Willitts

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To the Editor:

Hemp is no more addictive and no more a health risk than cigarettes or alcohol. Both of which are protected by law. Why is it not allowed? Because if hemp were grown, half the cotton growers, nylon and rayon manufacturers and timber products in the world would go out of business.

Hemp happens to be one of the most usefuls, strongest, toughest, long-lasting material on our planet. You cannot produce a better fiber for clothes, a stronger substance for ropes, an easier-to-grow and harvest source for pulp. We cut down hundreds of thousands of trees per year to give ourselves Sunday's papers, so you can read about the decimation of the worlds trees and forests.

Hemp could provide you with millions of Sunday papers without cutting down one tree. Indeed it could substitute for so many resource materials at one-tenth the cost.

And that is the catch. Someone loses money if this miraculous plant, which also has extraordinary medicinal properties, incidentally, is allowed to be grown. And that is why marijuana is illegal in our country.

Linda Peck

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Dear Editor,

I urge all of the voters in the Cloverdale Fire District to re-elect the incumbents, Tom Barrier, Jerry Johnson, and John Thomas that are running for your fire district board. They have proven by their actions that they are forward-thinking and oriented toward improving the district's services for the future.

They all participated in developing the district's 20-year plan for future operations and improvements.

I have been regularly attending board meetings for the last three to four years. I have watched these three gentlemen help guide the direction of the board directly toward improving the safety of our volunteers, and the services that the district offers.

These board members have operated transparently at all board meetings that I have attended. They welcome public attendance at board meetings to ensure that they are spending public funds wisely and making the best decisions for the district's residents and visitors.

A fine example would be that the bond monies are being used to build pole barns that will serve the volunteers' and community's needs into the future, rather than expensive concrete block buildings that look good, but provide little functional improvement.

The incumbents are long-time residents of the district, with over 20 years of experience each in the fire service.

It is apparent to me as I watch these board meetings that Tom, Jerry, and John have the community's and volunteers' best interest at heart and make all of their decisions with this at the forefront of their minds.

I urge you to vote to re-elect Tom, Jerry and John.

Clinton Weaver

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To the Editor:

As a resident of the Cloverdale Fire District for the past three years, I would like to voice support for re-electing Jerry Johnson, Tom Barrier, and John Thomas to their current positions as directors of the fire district.

As the 2014 president of the Cloverdale Volunteer Fire Fighter's Association, I worked with these men as we served the Cloverdale community to bring the best level of protection we could while highly valuing responder safety and fiscal responsibility. They have never failed to scrutinize every dollar spent to assure it is used wisely and responsibly.

They have a proven history of working in harmony with the fire chief to establish a budget which maximizes the benefits to the taxpayers while providing for efficiency and effectiveness. The plan they have developed will provide for the necessities of the fire district without frivolous spending. They all have long histories of serving this community with honor and distinction. I trust their leadership and I ask you to do the same.

Damon E. Frutos

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To the Editor:

We are a community.

Sisters has long prided itself on being a "community." But over the last several months, debates in the Letters to the Editor section of The Nugget Newspaper have grown more corrosive, with name-calling and unsubstantiated accusations of criminality or immorality or malfeasance.

These comments do nothing but damage our community. The "shoot the messenger" attacks are not justified. They shine a brighter light on those engaging in this behavior than they do on the accused. They show the author to be angry and lacking in self-control, and unable to make a smart argument about law and policy.

There are mechanisms available to deal with actual disagreements - elections, recalls, public hearings - and letters written to the editor for public discussion. There are no mechanisms to deal with bad manners, incivility, rudeness, and anger. These lessons were supposed to have been learned in kindergarten.

To keep these toxins from damaging our community, like poison in a commonly shared well, I urge the editor to review the policy about what gets printed each week in The Nugget. A "free press" is not a "free pass" for anyone to spread ugliness and hate. With the essential and constitutional right to inform and discuss, the newspaper has the ability, if not the responsibility, to manage the forum in which discussion takes place.

I urge the editor, and those who would write letters to the editor, to stick to issues and to show respect for neighbors who have opinions that are sometimes different than our own.

Erik Dolson