City snapshot

• Keep your eyes peeled for a bit of guerrilla art in downtown Sisters this weekend. In conjunction with the High Fiber Arts Symposium to be held at FivePine Lodge & Conference Center, local students have prepared to "yarn-bomb" locations in town. Those locations remain classified, but will become highly visible once the action is undertaken.

• Framing has begun on the Dairy Queen being constructed on the corner of Highway 20 and McKinney Butte. To meet City requirements, it will incorporate Western features and significant use of natural stone. There will be a drive-through window as well as 30 parking spaces.

• According to Public Works Director Paul Bertagna, the paving on Barclay Avenue for the roundabout will start this week and should be done by mid-April, when work will begin on McKinney Butte.

An arrangement has been agreed upon between the City and the owner of the property behind the new Dairy Queen. There will be access across that property between the Bi-Mart parking lot and the Ray's parking lot. The new access will replace that lost by the closure of the other cut-through when the Dairy Queen construction began.

• The new restroom/shower building for Creekside Campground will be delivered the week of April 3.

• Restrooms at Village Green Park are once again open and operational.

• Paul Bertagna reports that on a busy summer weekend, 50,000 vehicles pass through Sisters. On the weekend of the total eclipse, August 19-20, 2017, an estimated 100,000 vehicles are expected, as Madras is the epicenter for the best viewing of the eclipse. Rick Allen estimates that the week before and week after will also see increased tourist traffic.

• The Public Works Department, working with City Engineer Eric Huffman, have identified 18 projects that form the basis of the 2017 Water Capital Facilities Plan Update that provides a planning document good through 2037, when the population of Sisters is projected to be 4,579.

The plan looks at the current water production and demands, operation and maintenance needs, current water sources, and water distribution. It also looks beyond 2037 to new pipelines that will be determined by future development, a new transmission main to provide reliability and redundancy, and a new 1.6-million-gallon reservoir to meet fire-flow requirements. There will be a public hearing in April to provide an opportunity for the citizens to view the proposed improvements and make comments.

Sisters has the highest water usage per capita of any town in Central Oregon. Bertagna attributes that to the fact that Sisters' water is comparatively cheap, residents like to have green lawns, thousands of tourists visit Sisters annually, and everyone gets the first 7,500 gallons basically free.

• Council voted to approve requested street closures for 2017 events. My Own Two Hands parade on Friday, May 12, will close Hood Avenue from North Spruce Street to North Pine Street for 30 minutes. The Glory Daze Car Show, sponsored by Sisters Park & Recreation District, on Saturday, July 15, will close East Main Avenue from North Elm Street to the west side of North Larch Street.

SPRD Executive Director Liam Hughes reported that the growing popularity of the car show has created a capacity issue. Last year they had over 140 cars, up one-third from the previous year. This year they are expecting 200 cars, and they need increased capacity. Hughes said they are open to any suggestions as to how to accommodate the increased number of exhibitors.

Central Oregon Shows requested road closure for four events. Art in the Park and the Arts & Crafts Festival request closures on Friday and Sunday, June 9 and 11 and July 21 and 23, 4 to 7 p.m., for set-up and tear-down on East Jefferson Avenue between South Locust Street and Highway 20. The Wild West Show, Friday night, August 18 through Sunday night, August 20, will close North Oak Street from Highway 20 to West Main Avenue. The Fall Street Festival, Friday evening, September 1, through Sunday, September 3, will require the same closure of North Oak Street as well as West Main Avenue from North Oak Street to North Pine Street.

There are other closures for the Rodeo Parade and the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce's Harvest Faire and Christmas parade.