City snapshot — ADA work and visitors weigh in on Sisters

•?The ADA-update work on the bridge between Creekside Park and Creekside Campground is complete, although the decorative ends of the railings are not yet complete. They are in line for production at Ponderosa Forge. When they are complete, they will need to be welded on-site, and therefore it is necessary to have had sufficient rainfall to avoid any danger of fire in the dry surroundings. The bridge is open for use.

•?City Recorder Kerry Prosser announced that the City has received almost 1,500 responses to the visitor survey that was handed out this summer. She indicated they have been received from all over the country, confirming the popularity of Sisters as a tourist destination. A report on the findings of the survey will be reported to the City Council at a workshop on October 18.

•?The schedule for City Council meetings in October includes several variations. On Wednesday, October 13, the Council workshop will be held at 4 p.m., with a joint meeting of the Council and the Board of County Commissioners at 5 p.m., followed by the regular City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. On Monday, October 18, at 3 p.m., there will be an additional Council workshop. Check the City website to confirm meeting dates, times, places, and agenda items.

•?Design work has begun on the Pine Street multi-use path that will go from West Main Avenue to the northern city limits on the west side of Pine Street. It will intersect a new multi-use path already constructed along the north side of Barclay Drive.

•?During 2022, the Planning Commission and City Council will consider amendments to the Development Code proposed by City staff. The topics under consideration will include: temporary uses; storage uses; code housekeeping clean-up; trees; parking; and further study of outdoor lighting compliance (Dark Skies Ordinance).

•?After an almost four-month delay, the City has finally taken delivery of the new pump for Well 4 located at the south end of Creekside Campground. The pump has been installed and the final piping, wiring, and control programming is scheduled for completion by mid-October. The fencing went up around the pump house last week.

•?City Council voted to award a contract to Anderson Perry & Associates Inc. in an amount not to exceed $150,000 for the 2021-22 Water and Wastewater Master Plan updates.

The project will evaluate the City’s existing 2016 Wastewater and 2017 Water Master Plans to identify solutions to current and future system deficiencies over a 20-year planning period.

The plans will include updated growth projections as well as system demands within the current urban growth boundary and the additional development anticipated in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update.

The project includes a public involvement plan that will include quarterly meetings with the Public Works Advisory Board as well as City Council workshops and the necessary public hearings required for adoption by Council.

Completion of both Plan updates is scheduled for June 30, 2022, with adoption in July 2022.

•?In the month of August, the City of Sisters issued a total of 32 building permits with a total valuation of $1,209,764. Three of the permits were for new single-family dwellings worth $718,256. Two were for new construction of commercial buildings worth $200,508. The other permits were for alterations on residences, accessory buildings, commercial tenant improvements, alarms or suppression, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing.

•?With the approval of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and the adoption of the related ordinance by City Council, staff will forward the plan and supporting documents to the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) for their acknowledgment. Meanwhile, staff is preparing for the next steps in implementation of the plan, including “efficiency measures.”

Efficiency measures are strategies to promote infill development and otherwise develop land more efficiently within the existing municipal boundaries. Cities are required to consider these types of strategies prior to proposing an urban growth boundary expansion. The strategies can include: rezoning land from one designation to another to address imbalances in need and supply; development code amendments that allow increased building heights and allowed densities, smaller lot sizes, larger variety of housing types like cottage clusters or triplexes; or other actions. A city may determine that some efficiency measures are not viable in their community.

•?City staff submitted two grant requests, each for $50,000, through DLCD for consultant assistance on the Efficiency Measures project and Housing Plan Update. These projects are anticipated to begin early next year and continue throughout 2022.

•?Land use applications currently under review by the City include: the Woodlands Master Plan and Subdivision (the middle section of the former U.S. Forest Service property); a site plan for an 8,700-square-foot industrial building at 200 E. Sun Ranch Rd.; final plat for Three Peaks Industrial Subdivision (located on the corner of North Pine Street and West Barclay Drive), which when recorded will allow the sale of lots; partition on 1130 E. Cascade Ave. to create two lots; a site plan for a 2,400-square-foot eating establishment for Philly Cheesesteak at 273 E. Hood Ave. (on the empty corner lot); and a site plan review for 300 E. Sun Ranch Rd., for a four-lot subdivision and site plan review.