Letters to the Editor 09/21/2016

Correction

A typographical error was introduced into Bruce Mason's letter to the editor regarding the Sisters Eagle Airport last week. A second zero was cut off along with the % symbol when the % symbol was replaced with the word "percent."

The sentence should have read: "It appears that Sisters Eagle Airport is seeking an increase in their airport zone footprint of approximately 400 percent."

s s s

To the Editor:

Kudos to Sisters City Council President Nancy Connelly and Council members Andrea Blum and Amy Burgstahler for voting to provide financial support for the proposed Housing Works affordable-housing rental project. Thanks also to interim city manager Rick Allen for helping identify funds for the project and to former mayor Chris Frye for bringing this opportunity to the Council for consideration.

Meeting the acute need for lower-income housing in Sisters is vital to providing the workforce necessary to sustain our essential service and tourist industries. Depending upon private-sector developers to provide higher density, multifamily homes just isn't working. A recent case in point is the decision by Hayden Homes to withdraw its previously approved plan for building lower-cost housing units so they can continue building higher-end, low-density housing on Sisters' dwindling available land

inventory.

The long-term effects of the City contributing to affordable housing include providing housing for families bringing children to town to help reverse the declining enrollment in Sisters schools and providing the high-density development necessary to future efforts to expand the city's urban growth boundary.

Roger Detweiler

s s s

To the Editor:

Seeking quiet country living, I recently bought a house in Crossroads. The Sisters area has proved to offer many of the amenities I was seeking except, as it turns out, quiet skies.

This is due largely to the introduction of a skydiving operation at the Sisters Eagle Airport. What's next? Please, not helitours over our community and our nearby wilderness areas, which so many of us visit for peace, quiet, and sanctuary.

I hope the City will disallow activities such as commercial skydiving and helitours, which were prohibited when the airport was still under the jurisdiction of Deschutes County.

Sisters has a "Dark Skies" ordinance. How about "Quiet Skies?"

Susanna DeFazio

s s s

To the Editor:

First off, to avoid any misunderstanding, I feel the need to state that I am a dog-owner, a dog-lover and, frankly, prefer dogs to some people I know.

That being said, my house backs up to the elementary school and this morning around 6:30 a.m. was the second time in just over a week that I had to witness a pair of off-leash dogs take down a young deer, the animal crying in terror. This was one of the twin fawns we've all seen around town this year. Previously, it was the young buck (it's tongue was torn nearly out of its mouth as it finally limped away).

In the last year on three occasions I've seen terrified does just barely make the leap over the fence to escape, usually leaving skin behind. On another occasion the full-grown deer couldn't quite make it and was taken down by unleashed dogs.

I fully understand the dog-owners did not intend for this to happen, their distress was palpable as they tried to call off their animals, and I did and do feel sympathy for them. However - please remember that the schoolyard is NOT a dog park. And if your animal is not under voice control, then it should never be off leash.

And I'm not talking about pit bulls or Dobermans or any other large, supposedly aggressive dog. These incidents have happened with surprisingly small-breed dogs. It's just instinct and they can't

help it.

So once again, PLEASE remember the schoolyard is not a dog park, so if you are there with your pet, keep it leashed. And in any situation, if your dog is not under full voice control, then always keep it leashed.

Maureen Palmer

s s s

To the Editor:

In response to Jeff Mackey's letter in the September 14th edition of The Nugget newspaper: Thank you ever so much for your service, Jeff, and to all who have served, those serving and who plan to serve!

To Hillary Clinton, in her moment of showing her true self, it made one hell of a lot of difference!

Connie Ward