Council gets a look at Creekside fixes

The Sisters City Council, in their May 21 workshop, took its first look at the comprehensive Creekside Campground improvement package forwarded to them by the City Parks Advisory Board (CPAB), following more than a year of meetings, discussions, public comment and deliberation.

The total package has planning-level cost estimates for the various improvements and ingress/egress revisions of approximately $456,100 (including $10,000 for a traffic study). A three-phase plan was recommended due to the scope and cost of the entire package.

After more than an hour of discussion, Council requested that staff return the package to the CPAB, with some recommended changes. Council also directed staff and the CPAB to proceed with the traffic study, as the information gleaned from the study would inform how to proceed with some of the recommended improvements to the campground, specifically the ingress/egress issue, which impacts other parts of the plan.

Following the traffic study, CPAB and staff will design a new master plan for the campground, which must be approved by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation. Once the master plan is approved, planning can begin for phasing-in improvements to the campground as the budget and grant opportunities allow.

In other business, Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Judy Trego gave a comprehensive presentation to Council regarding ways in which the Chamber is enhancing the economic vitality of Sisters Country through tourism development and promotion, business advocacy, and community support.

The small staff of one part-time and two full-time employees accomplishes much for the benefit of the city. Through collaboration with partners and leveraging of available dollars, the Chamber spreads the message that Sisters is a great place to visit, live, and work.

Following the airing of a television ad, "Live Life in the Moment," promoting Sisters during local and national programs more than 90 times, the transient room tax (TRT) income increased in both January and February of this year, usually a slower time for tourists.

Trego is hopeful that the Council will increase the percentage of the TRT received by the Chamber from its current 40 percent, which represents 43 percent of the Chamber's budget. Overall, City income from the TRT has increased 11.5 percent in the past year. Trego and her board are working on increasing year-round visibility of and opportunities in Sisters Country.

Addressing another hot topic for Sisters, representatives of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) presented their draft plan for outreach to the community regarding the proposed solution to the Highway 20/Barclay/McKinney Butte intersection. They have reviewed all feedback gathered over the past year from surveys, individual emails, letters to the editor, and public comment at meetings. The data has been compiled to identify recurring themes.

ODOT believes they have a responsibility to address the concerns of the citizens and, if contact information is available, ODOT will be responding directly to the individuals either in writing, verbally (via telephone), or in person.

The developer of the new Clear Pine subdivision, slated for construction north of downtown and bounded on the west by Pine Street, is offering to dedicate a proposed future one-and-a-quarter-acre park to the City as a public park.

The CPAB forwarded their recommendation to the Council to accept this offer of dedication subject to details of the terms of dedication and amenity development. Council is asking the CPAB for their recommendations regarding desired amenities, which will probably involve negotiations with the developer. Council directed staff to work with the developer and the CPAB to draft those conditions and report back to them.

Following an earlier request by Mayor Chris Frye, staff drafted a revision to the municipal code that would enable riding bicycles, scooters and skateboards on city sidewalks except for in the downtown commercial district. This would allow children to safely ride their bikes in residential areas that have sidewalks, without having to ride in the street.

Two remaining vacancies on the budget committee were filled with the appointment of Chuck Ryan and Vern Renner.