City snapshot

• A community meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at City Hall to inform and receive feedback from the public regarding the findings of a recently completed utility rate study. Citizens will have the opportunity to hear recommendations from the study for water and sewer rates adjustments and to ask questions of the Public Works staff and representatives of FCS Group who conducted the study.

• Sisters City Council approved an ordinance amending the nuisance, abandoned vehicle, and dangerous building provisions in the Sisters Municipal Code, to make them clearer, and able to be more efficiently and effectively administered. Definitions and maintenance requirements are clarified to assist in abatement procedures and enforced compliance.

• The August 2017 receipts for the Creekside Campground were 20 percent higher than the same time last year but are expected to come in lower for September due to the impact of the Milli Fire on tourism.

• Coming up this fall, Sisters residents will have opportunities through surveys and public meetings to share their opinions on what they would like Sisters to look like - physically, economically, educationally, culturally and more - in three to five years. The consensus, expressed in the City's Vision Project, will form the foundation for the strategic plan that will guide City staff, City Council, and City boards in their planning and budgeting.

• Patrick Davenport, Community Development Director, announced the City received word they have been awarded the grant that will enable work to be done on the pedestrian bridge across Whychus Creek between Creekside Park and the campground. The approaches on both sides of the bridge as well paths leading to them will be altered to comply with ADA requirements.

• Council awarded to Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Design of Eugene the contract to design the landscaping within and around the Highway 20 and Barclay Drive roundabout. Following the selection of the design for the roundabout art piece in February, work will begin on the landscape design drawings and specs expected to be completed by June 1. Over next summer, the construction contract for installation of the landscaping will be awarded to another firm, with work to be done in July and August 2018. The landscape design will reflect the theme of "A Journey Through the Passes is a Journey Through a Land of Contrasts."

• As part of his monthly report to the City Council, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Patrol Division Captain Paul Garrison reported that as a result of retraining five animal control officers, the department would have five more road deputies able to patrol and provide code enforcement. In response to a question from Mayor Chuck Ryan, Garrison reported that there are no statistics to support a recent citizen allegation that crime is on the rise in Sisters. He also said the department is hoping to institute a patrol by an officer on bicycle in Sisters.